Five-win USA Women's Eagles target England to prove they belong among rugby's elite

The USA Women’s Eagles will face a wounded England side on Friday at Sports Illustrated Stadium, backed by their best winning run in two decades and a growing belief that they can compete with the world’s top teams.

Jack Hanratty’s Eagles have won five consecutive matches — including victories over Ireland, Wales and back-to-back wins against Italy — and arrive in sharp contrast to John Mitchell’s Red Roses, who have seen a 41-match unbeaten streak ended and lost consecutive fixtures for the first time in ten years.

Hanratty is not expecting England to experiment. “I think they’re going to put out an incredibly strong team to try and not only show the world that they’re, if not number one, they still want to show that they’re number one,” he said. “And to do that would be not only winning a game, but showing dominance in everything.”

At the centre of the USA’s resurgence is 19-year-old Bella Vogel, who has been nominated for the World Rugby Women’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year award — the first American to receive the honour. The Life University student will face England’s midfield of Meg Jones, Holly Aitchison and Tatyana Heard for the first time on Friday.

Vogel is acutely aware of the scepticism that surrounds the Eagles’ ambitions. “I think that all their fans are going to be like, ‘Oh, it’s just USA’,” she said. “I remember there was a post and people in the comments were like, ‘Oh, why would you compare England to USA?’ And I think that this is our chance to show them that we are comparable, and that we are just as good as any top-three team.”

The gulf between these sides was stark not long ago. England beat the Eagles 69-7 at the Stadium of Light in their Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 opener just 15 months ago. The transformation since then has been significant, but Hanratty is measured about what Friday represents.

“Our job this week is to challenge them,” he said. “We want to see what aspects of the game have we grown that we can challenge the world’s best?”

Hanratty has made just two changes to the side that beat Italy 54-24 in Nashville, with record appearance maker Hope Rogers returning to the starting XV after coming off the bench last week, and Abigail Paton named as starting scrum-half.