Ok, so maybe I won’t have everything, but I aim to try and have as much info as possible! If I am missing something, please feel free to let me know! Let me know what information YOU want to see!

Schedule & Pools

Team Rosters

Match Tickets

Photos

Top Try Scorers 2006

Qualifying Matches

Facebook Event Page

Destination England

History of the Women’s Rugby World Cup

Broadcasts – Women’s Rugby World Cup Games to be Broadcasted by Sky Sports, get details here.

YSC Twitter – Providing LIVE updates

YSC Facebook – Providing LIVE updates

USA Specific

• Support the USA Women’s Eagle through their Donation program or their Shop, all proceeds go direct the USA Women’s National Team.
• Are you from the USA and heading over the pond to London? If so get together with other fans here.
• Are you playing in the Social Game against the British Police?
• Do you have your Bakline USA Supporters Tee? All proceeds go direct to the USA Women’s National Rugby Team.

England Specific

• Open Training Session – The England Women’s National Rugby Team has invited fans to participate in an open training session.
• Women’s Rugby Museum World Cup Special Exhibition

re-posted from ScrumQueens:

Sky Sports has confirmed that it will broadcast thirteen live games from the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

There will be nine pool games live, including all of England’s matches, highlights from the remaining games as well as full coverage of the third place play off, semi-finals and the World Cup Final being played at The Stoop in west London.

Asides from England’s pool games, Sky has selected some of the top games from the other pool stages to show live.

On day one they will broadcast Wales V Australia, New Zealand V South Africa and England V Ireland – three of the most exciting clashes on the day.

On the second day of action there will be full live broadcasts from the games between France and Scotland, England and Kazakhstan and the most highly anticipated match of the pool stages, New Zealand and Australia.

On day three the matches being shown are New Zealand V Wales, Australia V South Africa and England V the USA.

Both semi-finals, the third place play off and the World Cup final will also be shown live though full details of those broadcasts and where they will feature are to be announced.

Other countries who show the World Cup (for example the Rugby Channel in New Zealand will show the Black Ferns games) will also take the Sky feed and commentary.

The IRB is also planning to simultaneously stream the same games that Sky has selected live.

Sky Sports Coverage (live games in bold)

MATCH DAY 1: FRIDAY, AUGUST, 20

No. Kick-off Group Match Venue/Pitch

1. 12.00 C Canada v Scotland Surrey 2

2. 14.00 A Wales v Australia Surrey 1

3. 14.15 B USA v Kazakhstan Surrey 2

4. 16.15 A New Zealand v South Africa Surrey 1

5. 16.30 C France v Sweden Surrey 2

6. 18.30 B England v Ireland Surrey 1

MATCH DAY 2: TUESDAY, AUGUST, 24

No. Kick-off Group Match Venue

7. 12.00 A Wales v South Africa Surrey 2

8. 14.00 C France v Scotland Surrey 1

9. 14.15 C Canada v Sweden Surrey 2

10. 16.15 A New Zealand v Australia Surrey 1

11. 16.30 B USA v Ireland Surrey 2

12. 18.30 B England v Kazakhstan Surrey 1

MATCH DAY 3: SATURDAY, AUGUST, 28

No. Kick-off Group Match Venue

13. 12.00 C Scotland v Sweden Surrey 2

14. 14.00 A New Zealand v Wales Surrey 1

15. 14.15 C France v Canada Surrey 2

16. 16.15 A Australia v South Africa Surrey 1

17. 16.30 B Ireland v Kazakhstan Surrey 2

18. 18.30 B England v USA Surrey 1

The World Cup semis and final will also be shown. See here for the full list.

Monica from Beantown had an amazing idea of the weekend that we should make a Facebook Event Invite so that all the fans from the USA can know what’s going on! I created the Event earlier today, make sure you RSVP!

Facebook Invite

Where are you staying in London?

Are you playing in the Social game against the British Police?

Have you gotten your Bakline Supporters Tee? **TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY TO ORDER THESE SHIRTS!**

from International Rugby Suite by Sione A Mokofisi:

They fell off the top of women’s Rugby World Rankings; the U.S. Women Eagles national team can regain their former glory by kicking butts again.

How will the U.S. Women Eagles Rugby National Team reclaim their former world superiority in this summer’s World Cup 2010 being held in England?

The USA Rugby national office (Boulder, CO) should have better strategies to reverse the Women Eagles last two dismal showings in 2002 and 2006. Their so-called “high-performance goals” for the England campaign this summer are not convincing enough:

• Placed in the top four at the 2010 WRC.
• Placed as finalists at the 2014 WRC.

They should be expected to win the next two World Cups. Self-fulfilling prophecies are usually the best motivation tools with high-calibre championship teams like the U.S. Women Eagles. When expectations are raised to higher levels of expected performance, great teams have achieved great feats. If they go in expected to do mediocre performance, they will be awed by their opponents as the superior competitor.

U.S. Women Eagles’ History of World Dominance
Their superior performance in the inaugural Rugby World Cup 1991 looked as if the Americans were teaching the rest of the world a sport “Made in USA.” They went 4-0, and nearly shutting out all their opponents, 79-6, combined (Rugby Magazine, 2004) except England:

USA-7, defeated Netherlands-0.
USA-46, defeated USSR-0.
USA-7, defeated New Zealand-0.
USA-19, defeated England-6.
These Yankees continued their international prowess on the rugby “pitch” to include WC 1994 and 1998′s title matches. But the two title-game heart-broken losses may have had demoralizing effects on the entire American women’s rugby program. The evidence showed in WC 1998. It began a 12-year decline manifested in the 7th and 5th place finishes in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, respectively (Rugby World Cup Womens database, 2010):

1994 – England – 38, defeated USA – 23.
1998 – New Zealand – 46, defeated USA – 12.
2002 – (7th place) USA-23, defeated Spain-0.
2006 – (5th place) USA-24, defeated Scotland-0.

U.S. Women’s Rugby Declining Years
It was apparent other nations’ women’s programs improved each year while the U.S. was declining. New Zealand, for example. Losses in 1991 and 1994 made them stronger. Meanwhile, the Americans’ game may have grown stagnant, and predictable. It took heavyweights like England four years, and New Zealand eight years to figure out how to defeat the Yankees. Other rugby heavyweights like Australia, France, and South Africa in the men’s game have joined the ranks of bullies who are beating up on the Americans in the women’s game.

Perhaps those weak opponents in the early years contributed to the Americans’ losing their dominant strengths. For example in 1994: Beating Sweden, 111-0; Japan, 121-0; Ireland, 76-0; and Wales 56-15. Those cake-walks may have caused complacency and lack of respect for their opponents. England avenged their 1991 loss by winning, 38-23, in the 1994 championship match.

Conclusion: USA Rugby Takes Women’s Program for Granted

The USA Rugby Boulder office rationalized that the decline was due to, “…other rugby powerhouses that have made a commitment to support the women’s game.”

Is this verification that the U.S. Women Eagles were totally neglected? Did USA Rugby fail to increase funding and training to keep the ladies at their 1991, 1994, and 1998 successes level? Perhaps USA Rugby took the women’s program early successes for granted while concentrating most of its efforts on the men’s program?

Apparently, USA Rugby gambled and lost: The Men Eagles are still a Tier 3 international side while the Women Eagles’ – despite their disappointing showing in 2002 and 2006 – are still a Tier #1 squad feared by their opponents. To succeed in this summer World Cup 2010, the Americans must rediscover their early mojos from the early 1990s.

They must be prepared to pull themselves out of their 12-year hibernation, and play like angry, and hungry bears. They must play like angry champions who have been cooped up in training camp for too long, and kick some butts!

Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010: August 16 – September 6.
Hosted by Surrey Sports Park, Surrey University, England.

USA Women Eagles Pool Matches:
August 20, USA vs. Kazakhstan
August 24, USA vs. Ireland
August 28, USA vs. England.

REFERENCES
Ed F. Hagerty, “2004 Directory-Yearbook,” (April, 2004). Rugby Magazine, Vol. 30. No. 3. New York City, NY: The Rugby Press.

Rugby World Cup Womens database retrieved July 12, 2010. http://www.rwcwomens.com/history/index.html.

USA Rugby, “National Teams.” Retrieved July 11, 2010, from USA Rugby database http://www.usarugby.org.

A few people have emailed asking where others are staying for the Rugby World Cup so I thought I would stir up some dialogue. Where are you staying? With friends, hotel, hostel?

Post your details and maybe we can stay together so the USA fans (or any fans really) can unite! The Girl and I are going Aug 28 – Sep 6 and we are staying with another rugger blogger (Ali at ScrumQueens). We LOVE free housing, but we did want to stay in a hotel or hostel for a night or two…it would great to stay with all the other USA fans!

Ohh and if you haven’t heard, Dana and Tania are trying to put together a social game against The British Police at the RWC as well. Check out this post for more details.