A spot in the World Cup Quarter Finals is on the line on Saturday when the USA squares off against Australia at York Community Stadium on Saturday. The Wallaroos got the better of the Eagles during the Pacific Four tournament, and will be feeling confident after a blowout win over Samoa last weekend. On the other hand the Eagles need to overcome the disappointment of a heavy defeat to England to have a chance of making the knockouts.
Current World Ranking: 9 (72.05 points)
2025-08-22 – England 69, USA 7 (Sunderland)
2025-08-01 – Canada 42, USA 10 (Ottawa)
2025-07-20 – USA 31, Fiji 24 (Washington DC)
2025-05-24 – New Zealand 79, USA 14 (Auckland)
2025-05-17 – Australia 27, USA 19 (Canberra)
Current World Ranking: 7 (76.31 points)
2025-08-23 – Australia 73, Samoa 0 (Manchester)
2025-08-01 – Australia 36, Wales 5 (Sydney)
2025-07-26 – Australia 12, Wales 21 (Brisbane)
2025-07-12 – New Zealand 37, Australia 12 (Wellington)
2025-05-23 – Australia 7, Canada 45 (Brisbane)
 |
IN | OUT |
| 4 | Hallie Taufo’ou | Tahlia Brody |
| 6 | Freda Tafuna | Georgie Perris-Reading |
| 9 | Cassidy Bargell | Olivia Ortiz |
| 11 | Erica Coulibaly | Bulou Mataitoga |
| 14 | Cheta Emba | Alev Kelter |
|
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Tania Naden | Katalina Amosa |
| 3 | Bridie O’Gorman | Eva Karpani |
Sione Fukofuka (Head Coach)
“The players have been dialed in since we started our preparation this week as we know we are in knockouts. The pressure we face this week is a privilege and we are fortunate to know that we hold our destiny in our own hands this week. We reviewed the English game in detail and identified the positives that we want to replicate and the areas that we felt we fell short of our own standards and let England put us under pressure.”
Jo Yapp (Head Coach)
“Overall we were pleased with our performance against Samoa last week but in the context of our campaign, we know the match coming up is a big one for us. The USA will be physical and we’ll need to match that. We have been happy with how we’ve trained this week and we are excited for the challenge on Saturday.”
Recent matches between the two have been competitive and this should be no exception. Sione Fukofuka has notably left Alev Kelter out of his Eagles backline, but has added speed out wide. Freda Tafuna brings power to the back row in the absence of Georgie-Perris Redding, but their opponents feature dynamic ball carriers in Piper Duck and rising star Caitlyn Halse. On form the edge goes to the Wallaroos. Australia are slight favorites at York.
USA
1 Hope Rogers, 2 Kathryn Treder, 3 Keia Mae Sagapolu, 4 Hallie Taufo’ou, 5 Erica Jarrell-Searcy, 6 Freda Tafuna, 7 Kate Zackary (capt.), 8 Rachel Johnson, 9 Cassidy Bargell, 10 McKenzie Hawkins, 11 Erica Coulibaly, 12 Emily Henrich, 13 Ilona Maher, 14 Cheta Emba, 15 Lotte Sharp
Replacements: 16 Paige Stathopoulos, 17 Alivia Leatherman, 18 Charli Jacoby, 19 Rachel Ehrecke, 20 Tahlia Brody, 21 Olivia Ortiz, 22 Gabby Cantorna, 23 Sariah Ibarra
AUSTRALIA
1 Faliki Pohiva, 2 Tania Naden, 3 Bridie O’Gorman, 4 Kaitlan Leaney (co-capt.), 5 Michaela Leonard, 6 Piper Duck, 7 Emily Chancellor (co-capt.), 8 Tabua Tuinakauvadra, 9 Samantha Wood, 10 Faitala Moleka, 11 Desiree Miller, 12 Cecilia Smith, 13 Georghina Friedrichs, 14 Maya Stewart, 15 Caitlyn Halse
Replacements: 16 Katalina Amosa, 17 Lydia Kavoa, 18 Eva Karpani, 19 Annabelle Codey, 20 Ashley Marsters, 21 Layne Morgan, 22 Trilleen Pomare, 23 Tia Hinds
Date: Saturday, August 30
Venue: York Community Stadium, Huntington
Kickoff: 19:30 local (11:30 Pacific, 14:30 Eastern)
Weather Forecast: cloudy with showers, 64°F (18°C), wind S 16-24mph (26-39km/h)
Broadcasts: Paramount+ (USA), TSN 5 (Canada), RugbyPass TV
Referee: Sara Cox (England)
Assistants: Precious Pazani (Zimbabwe) & Maria Heitor (Portugal)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Scotland)
HEAD-TO-HEAD (9): USA 6, Australia 3
2025-05-17 – Australia 27, USA 19 (Canberra)
2024-05-17 – Australia 25, USA 32 (Melbourne)
2023-07-08 – USA 17, Australia 58 (Ottawa)
2022-06-12 – Australia 14, USA 16 (Auckland)
2014-08-13 – USA 23, Australia 20 (Marcoussis)
2006-09-12 – USA 29, Australia 12 (St. Albert)
2006-09-08 – USA 10, Australia 6 (Edmonton)
2002-05-21 – USA 5, Australia 17 (Barcelona)
1997-08-02 – Australia 24, USA 28 (Brisbane)
