United States men's national rugby league team

History

Early years

One of the earliest attempts to introduce rugby league to the United States was in 1953, when wrestling promoter, Mike Dimitro was asked to organize an American rugby league tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The team, known as the American All-Stars, was given a huge schedule that included 26 matches against Australian and New Zealand sides. None of the 22 American players had played rugby league before the tour, and they presented themselves in American football-like attire early on in the tournament. The team won six games and tied two.

Their second match of the tour, a 52–25 loss to a Sydney side, drew a crowd of 65,453 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Three days later a crowd of 32,554 at the SCG watched New South Wales defeat the Americans 62–41. After a consistent lack of competition, crowds were reasonable, but never reached the great height that the match at the SCG did.

The tour did not result in any meaningful growth for American rugby league. However, Mike Dimitro did not give up; he was able to organize two exhibitions against Australia and New Zealand in California that did not turn out to be a big success.

1987–1999: Revival

In an attempt boost rugby league's popularity in America, a 1987 State of Origin series match was held in the Long Beach, California. The Blues won 30–18 in front of 12,349 at Veterans Memorial Stadium. That same year the United States played their first international game since 1954 against Canada. The also competed as the USA Patriots in the Rugby League World Sevens tournaments between 1992 and 1997.

In 1997 Super League America formed to organize a national team, establish an amateur domestic competition, and build the sport in the United States. The organization was initially established by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in an attempt to spread rugby league to the United States. The United States Tomahawks warmed up for the 2000 Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament with a three-match tour of New South Wales, Australia. On Friday August 11, they took on Forster XIII, drawn from Forster's two clubs, the Hawks and the Dragons. The Americans were defeated 32–12. They also played the South Sydney Rabbitohs at the old Redfern Oval during Souths' appeal to return to the Australian NRL.

2000–2010: Regular competition

In 2001, as a response to the September 11 attacks, the AMNRL set up a rugby league match between local U.S. born players (USA All Stars) and AMNRL players who were born overseas (World Allies All Stars). The match was won by the USA All Stars 27–26. Proceeds from the game were donated to the Red Cross to help with cleanup operations. Since 2002, the Tomahawks have been playing regular international competition in the United States. In 2002, the United States were defeated by Russia 54–10 in front of over 5,000 spectators in Moscow.

On December 1, 2004, the Tomahawks played their first ever international game against the Australian Kangaroos, the reigning World Cup champions. The game was known as the Liberty Bell Cup and was played at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania and was played on a grid iron size synthetic field (Fox Sports Australia commentators Warren Smith and former Australian captain Laurie Daley reported that the Kangaroos were not too enthused about playing on the synthetic turf). It was also played in 20 minute quarters rather than the normal 40 minute halves. The Tomahawks shocked the Australians by quickly racing to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter. A third converted try just 4 minutes into the 2nd quarter saw Americans lead by the unbelievable score of 18-0 until replacement forward Petero Civoniceva sent fullback Matthew Bowen on a 60-meter run to score under the posts with 5 minutes remaining in the first half. However, a fourth converted try saw the home side lead by the World Champions 24-6 at half time. The Americans actually led for most of the game until the Kangaroos' superior fitness saw them rally in the last quarter of the game to win 36–24. Although they lost the game, many consider this to be the American's finest moment in international rugby league competition.

In October 2006, the U.S. were placed in a four team Atlantic World Cup qualifying pool along with South Africa, West Indies and Japan. South Africa and the West Indies withdrew from qualifying so therefore the group was reduced to a single game between the U.S. and Japan which the U.S. won 54–18. They then advanced to the Repechage Semi Final where they lost 42–10 to Samoa. Despite playing well against Samoa and coming within two games of qualifying for the World Cup, the United States were dropped from 14th down to 15th place when the new world rankings were released after the tournament.

In 2009 and 2010 the United States hosted other emerging North American teams in the Atlantic Cup.

2011–2013: First World Cup

In 2011, seven teams in the AMNRL domestic competition broke away to form the USA Rugby League. The AMNRL denied selection to players affiliated with USARL teams, including players who had been selected for the Tomahawks previously.

In 2012, the U.S. entered World Cup qualifying for the second time in another bid to qualify for their first World Cup in 2013. They began with a comprehensive 40–4 victory over the South Africa in Philadelphia, and followed it up with a 40–4 victory over Jamaica to qualify for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup for the first time.

The Tomahawks won a warm-up match against 4th-ranked France, defeating them 22–18 in Toulouse in the U.S. best victory to date.

In the finals, they were drawn in a group with the Cook Islands and Wales as well as an inter-group game against Scotland. They began by beating the Cook Islands 32–0 and then Wales 24–16, before losing 22–8 to Scotland, although they still ended up winning their group. As group winners, they advanced to the quarter finals to face Australia, losing 62-0 to be eliminated from the tournament.

2014–present: USARL

Following the World Cup, the national team was put on hiatus while the governance dispute between the AMNRL and the USARL was resolved. The team subsequently lost the right to automatic qualification for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. In November 2014, stewardship of the national team was transferred to the USARL, and the team was rebranded from Tomahawks to Hawks. Brian McDermott was subsequently appointed head coach and his first job was to help the U.S. re-secure the World Cup qualification that they first won four years earlier. The team performed the qualification tournament, held in the United States, in December 2015. The team qualified for their second consecutive World Cup after winning both their matches.

The United States were drawn in a tough group with Fiji, Italy and Papua New Guinea. They lost their first game against Fiji 58-12, following it up with a 46-0 thumping by Italy and finally losing 64-0 in their final pool game against Papua New Guinea.

Coaching history

Current squad

Head coach: Australia Sean Rutgerson

Squad selected for the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s:

• Sean Hunt
• Nick Newlin
• Ryan Burroughs
• Mike Elias
• Brandon Anderson
• Rafael Mendez
• Jay Robinson
• Dane Wilcoxen
• Jerome Veve
• Joel Luani
• Chris Wiggins
• Bureta Faraimo
• Junior Vaivai
• Kyle Grinold
• David Washington
• Joe Eichner
• Chris Frazier
• Kyle Denham
• Andrew Kneisly
• Corey Makelim
• Mark Offerdahl
• Curtis Goddard
• Connor Donehue
• Cody Blackwell
• Justin Branca
• Eddie Pettybourne
• Sonny Pettybourne
• Danny Howard
• Kristian Freed
• CJ Cortalano

Competitive record

Main article: List of United States national rugby league team results

Overall and IRL Rankings

U.S. national side's competitive record up to date as of 28 February 2025.

World Cup

Main article: Rugby League World Cup

The U.S. have competed in 2 World Cups. In 2007 they entered into qualifying for the 2008 World Cup but were unsuccessful. However, they qualified for the following 2013 World Cup and reached the quarter finals.

Colonial Cup

Main article: Colonial Cup (rugby league)

The Colonial Cup is an international Cup competition between the U.S. and Canada.

World Cup 9s

World Nines results

• Tonga def. United States 26–4 (1997)
• Fiji def. United States 18–8 (1997)
• Cook Islands def. United States 24–6 (1997)
• Papua New Guinea def. United States 38–8 (1997)
• Western Samoa def. United States 30–10 (1997)
• Australia def. United States 24–0 (1997)
• Cook Islands def. United States 22–0 (1996)
• United States def. Morocco 18–4 (1996)
• Western Samoa def. United States 14–6 (1996)
• Australia def. United States 30–16 (1996)
• Scotland def. United States 12–6 (1996)

World Sevens results

• Illawarra def. United States* 18–6 (1997) *unofficial team
• United States* def. Japan 18–14 (1997) *unofficial team
• Italy def. United States* 22–0 (1997) *unofficial team
• Gold Coast def. United States* 40–8 (1996) *unofficial team
• United States* def. Japan 20–8 (1996) *unofficial team
• Melbourne def. United States* 18–14 (1996) *unofficial team
• Australian Aboriginals def. United States* 28–0 (1996) *unofficial team
• Tonga def. United States 20–4 (1995)
• United States def. Russia 28–8 (1995)
• United States def. Italy 22–4 (1995)
• United States def. Russia 20–6 (1995)
• Sydney Tigers def. United States 24–10 (1995)
• South Africa def. United States 20–8 (1994)
• New Zealand def. United States 20–12 (1994)
• France def. United States 18–12 (1994)
• Wainuiomata def. United States 34–8 (1993)
• South Sydney def. United States 28–6 (1993)
• Illawarra def. United States 28–4 (1993)
• Fiji def. United States 30–10 (1992)
• United States def. CIS Red Arrows 12–8 (1992)
• South Sydney def. United States 12–0 (1992)
• Newcastle def. United States 16–0 (1992)

Student results

• United States def. Japan 54–10 (1996)
• Wales def. United States 22–18 (1996)
• Western Samoa def. United States 82–8 (1996)
• New Zealand def. United States 62–10 (1996)
• United States def. Ireland 22–20 (1996)

Other representative results

• USA All Stars def. World Allies All Stars 27–26 (2001)
• Sydney def. USA All Stars 52–25 (1953)

Margins and streaks

Biggest winning margins

Biggest losing margins

Stadium

Since 2009, the U.S. have primarily used Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville to host international rugby league matches. Garthwaite Stadium in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania has also hosted several international rugby league fixtures.

References

References

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3. Mathers, Jim. (31 May 1953). "64,953 Fans Flock To See League'S Yankee Doodle Dandies". National Library of Australia.
4. Corbett, W.F.. (2 Jun 1953). "N.S.W. Players Hold Off As Game Finishes In Farce". National Library of Australia.
5. "USA Tomahawks: A brief history of American rugby league".
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9. Matthew Wicks. (November 20, 2010). "Atlantic Cup Rugby Tournament". [[The Florida Times-Union]].
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11. (October 15, 2011). "RLEF". Rlef.eu.com.
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13. Andy Wilson. (October 18, 2013). "Rugby League World Cup 2013: USA shock France in warm-up | Sport". theguardian.com.
14. GMT. (2013-10-30). "BBC Sport - Rugby League World Cup: USA 32-20 Cook Islands". Bbc.co.uk.
15. Williams, Aled. (2013-11-03). "BBC Sport - Rugby League World Cup 2013: United States shock Wales". Bbc.co.uk.
16. Cartwright, Phil. (2013-11-07). "BBC Sport - Rugby League World Cup 2013: Scotland 22-8 USA". Bbc.co.uk.
17. "Hawks swoop in for new USA National Team Name".
18. [http://www.loverugbyleague.com/news_18989-brian-mcdermott-to-coach-usa-hawks.html Brian McDermott to coach USA Hawks]
19. (November 12, 2017). "Rugby League World Cup live scores: PNG v USA live updates, live blog".
20. (November 5, 2017). "RLWC 2017: Italy exorcise demons in huge World Cup win over USA".
21. (18 October 2018). "USA announce train on squad for Americas Championship". rlwc2021.com.
22. "United States of America - Results - RLP".
23. "Hodges Stadium".