USA Rugby's national team is nicknamed the Eagles.

The United States have always been considered a rugby union minnow, but through professionalism the Eagles are making improvements in coaching, management and player development, and as a result have improved on the field. The Eagles have a potentially huge pool of players as many Americans play American football in college but give up playing afterwards. However, because very few Americans grow up playing rugby union, with the majority of players not taking up the game until college (or even later), the average American player has far less rugby experience than most players of the same age in the rest of the world. Ireland v the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby union is a team sport that was developed from the rules used to play football at Rugby School in England. ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... Ireland v the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby union is a team sport that was developed from the rules used to play football at Rugby School in England. ...

With the sheer size of the USA, coupled with relatively few fixtures, the Eagles squad only get together before games and for periodic evaluations. Selections are in part made from talent spotting done at USA Super League matches.

Ranked 16th in the world the Eagles participate annually in the Can Am trophy match against Canada. There are also the bi-annual Pan American championships, which can also double as the Americas zone World Cup qualifiers.

The USA is also involved in the implementation of the NAWIRA zone competition, which will give North American and West Indies sides regular competition.

The one area that has seen improvement for the USA internationally is in the game of Sevens where the Eagles have impressed on the IRB World Sevens circuit, making it regularly to play-off rounds of the top tournaments in the world.

History

Rugby was introduced into the United States by English soldiers and colonists in the mid-1800s. The sport of rugby union in the United States has always had a close relationship with the sport of American football. Games of rugby, soccer and hybrid games had always been played between American universities, the first recorded game took place in May 1874 between Harvard University and McGill University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The English are an ethnic group generally associated with England and the English language. ... Ireland v the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby union is a team sport that was developed from the rules used to play football at Rugby School in England. ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... McGill University (Université McGill), is a publicly funded, research-intensive, non-denominational, co-educational university located in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ... Cambridge City Hall Cambridge is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. ...

In 1876 Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, which used the rugby code, except for a slight difference in scoring. The modern sport of American football is a descendant of these rules. Rugby union continues to be played in American universities, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton being two of the most famous players. Yale can refer to an educational institution: Yale University, one of the United States oldest universities. ... Princeton University, incorporated as The Trustees of Princeton University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, is the fourth-oldest institution to conduct higher education in the United States. ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ...

The sport was one of the most popular in the country around the turn of the 20th Century and the United States won the gold medal at the last two of the four Olympic Games to feature rugby in 1920 and 1924. Shortly after the 1924 Olympics, however, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) removed rugby union as an Olympic sport. Without the Olympic incentive, the sport’s growth in America collapsed and the game remained dormant.

However, the sport then enjoyed a renaissance, beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. This created the need for a national governing body to represent the USA in the International rugby community. Four territorial organizations formed the United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby) in 1975.

The National Men’s Team first took the field in 1976. Competing in international tournaments like the Churchill Cup and the Pan American Championship, as well as specially scheduled matches against world powers such as France and Ireland, the Eagles have qualified for four of the five Rugby World Cup, missing out in 1995. The Churchill Cup is an annual rugby union tournament contested by representative mens and womens teams from Canada, England, and the United States, with a fourth invited team. ...

The Eagles qualified for the 2003 Rugby World Cup by beating Spain twice in April followed by victories over Japan and Canada. This was the first time the Eagles had won four consecutive tests since making their international debut in 1976. The 2003 Rugby Union World Cup was the fifth world cup in rugby history. ...

Famous players

• Paul Emerick
• Mike Hercus
• Dave Hodges
• Dan Lyle
• Kort Schubert

Mike Hercus (born in Virginia) is an American rugby union footballer. ... Dan Lyle (born 28 September 1970 in San Diego, California) is an American rugby union footballer. ... Kort Schubert (born July 24, 1979) in Berkeley, California is an American rugby union footballer. ...

Women's National Team

The U.S. Women's National Team, officially formed in 1987, has been an international powerhouse since its inception. The Eagles won the first official World Cup in 1991, and finished second in the two following World Cups (1994, 1998).

The Eagles have set the standard for international competition, leading an ensuing wave of women's Rugby growth and game development worldwide.

The next Women's Rugby World Cup is in August/September 2006 in Edmonton, Canada. Despite finishing 7th in the 2002 tournament, the USA is actually seeded 6th. They are bumped up ahead of Australia, who beat the USA in the 2002 tournament 17-5, because Australia hasn't played any international matches since the last World Cup.

The USA Rugby Women’s National Team will have its first test matches in over a year when the Women Eagles travel to the United Kingdom in January to play Scotland (Jan. 21), Ireland (Jan. 25) and England (Jan. 29). The Eagles’ travel squad includes 30 players, including 19-capped veterans.

See also

• Super Powers Cup
• Churchill Cup
• Rugby Union World Cup
• American football

The Super Powers Cup is an annual international Rugby Union competition contested by national teams from Canada, Japan, Russia and United States. ... The Churchill Cup is an annual rugby union tournament contested by representative mens and womens teams from Canada, England, and the United States, with a fourth invited team. ... The Rugby Union World Cup is the premier international Rugby Union contest in the world, first held jointly in Australia and New Zealand in 1987, a full 33 years after the first Rugby League World Cup and now held every four years. ... United States simply as football, is a competitive team sport that is both fast-paced and strategic. ...

External links

• Official site
• US rugby union news from Planet Rugby
• Coverage of all American rugby union at GoffonRugby
• up to date information on the Women's Eagles