Women’s Elite Rugby set to launch on Saturday

USA Rugby celebrates the launch of a new semi-professional competition on Saturday. Women’s Elite Rugby will kick off with the New York Exiles hosting the Boston Banshees in Mount Vernon. On Sunday it’s the Chicago Tempest hosting the Twin Cities Gemini at Evanston.

Other competing teams in the inaugural campaign are the (San Francisco) Bay Breakers and the Denver Onyx. The regular season runs for 13 weeks through June 14 with the postseason dates yet to be confirmed. All matches will be streamed live on DAZN, free and on-demand.

While the competition is not fully professional, a number of overseas Eagles have returned from the English Premiership to take part. Among the most notable are Alev Kelter, Catie Benson, and Rachel Johnson. Filling out the rosters are the best of the domestic pool, many of whom featured in the former Women’s Premier League.

The launch of the WER is historic and timely, with the World Cup set to be played in England beginning in late August. Much of that roster will already be determined based on previous international and recent overseas form, but a handful of spots might still be up for grabs to standouts in the coming weeks.

A full season schedule can be seen here, with individual roster links below.

	Head Coach: Hannah Stolba	Full Roster: here
	Head Coach: Kittery Wagner-Ruiz	Full Roster: here
	Head Coach: Bryan Colbridge	Full Roster: here
	Head Coach: Sarah Chobot	Full Roster: here
	Head Coach: Diego Maquieira	Full Roster: here
	Head Coach: Sylvia Braaten	Full Roster: here