USA hope to 'dent' England at Rugby World Cup

The United States have the potential to "put a dent into England" when they meet in the opening match of the Women's Rugby World Cup, says Eagles prop Hope Rogers.

Once the powerhouses of the women's game, having beaten England to win the inaugural World Cup in 1991, the US are now ranked ninth in the world but head into the tournament as professionals for the first time.

"We have that ability to be a top team in the world, and it's just really starting to step into that and own that and embrace it," Rogers, who plays club rugby for Exeter Chiefs, told BBC Sport.

"What you're going to see at the World Cup is hopefully a peaked USA side that can play for 80 minutes and win."

It's strong talk from 32-year-old Hope who could play at her fourth tournament after featuring in 2014, 2017 and 2022.

She played in a record 89-0 defeat by England in 2021, while the US lost all three of their recent Pacific Four Series matches, beaten by New Zealand, Canada and Australia, who were all in the top five in the world rankings at the time.

However, Rogers stood out with a hat-trick of tries in their 27-19 defeat by Australia.

"I want to keep raising the limits and break barriers of what it means to be a prop," she said at the event to mark 50 days until their game against England, which is being held in Sunderland.

"There are other props in the world that are doing the same thing, but I want to be known as one of them as well, and I want to be the best loosehead."

Rogers is the Eagles' most-capped women's player on 53. She made her 52nd appearance in their 26-14 defeat by Canada.

The Exeter Chiefs prop led out the side in front of a record-breaking crowd for a US women's rugby match of 10,518 in Kansas.

"It was amazing," she said. "You could feel the support and love, I've never felt that in my 12 years of playing for USA."

When Rogers walked out, she made a heart symbol to the crowd and TV cameras which made quite a stir, as to who the heart was for.

The answer from the prop was straightforward.

"It was for my team-mates because they were just there in full support in full love," she said.

"And I think that's one thing that's special about our USA team is, you know, we talk a lot about how we have a great culture. We get along very well."