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USA Ones to Watch in 2025: Who might Ilona Maher be competing with?
With Ilona Maher drawing new fans to rugby as well as Rugby World Cup 2025 kicking off in less than six months, this year will likely be a pivotal moment in growing the USA rugby fanbase.
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For fans new to the 15s game, here’s a brief rundown of some players to watch, upcoming matches, and where Maher might fit into the existing squad.
Hope Rogers
The USA Eagles prop is one cap away from equalling the most-capped USA women’s record at 51 caps, which is currently held by former player Jamie Burke. Rogers has been an Eagle since 2013, when she made her debut against France, and has to date played in three Rugby World Cups (2014, 2017, 2021).
She won the inaugural MA Sorensen Award for Best Female Collegiate Player in 2016, and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Childhood and Early Adolescent Education from Penn State. There, she was involved in winning four National Championship titles, and was named MVP twice.
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Rogers won her 50th cap, becoming only the second American woman to do so, in the USA’s last match of WXV against Ireland in Canada last year. In December 2024 she was named in the World Rugby Women’s 15s Dream Team of the Year.
Such is her talent, USA head coach Sione Fukofuka told RugbyPass at WXV: “If I had 15 Hope Rogers, we would be world number one.”
She’s continued her indefatigable form into the PWR, currently with nine tries from seven games.
Alev Kelter
Currently, Alev Kelter is the only other Paris 2024 bronze medallist in the PWR alongside Maher. Kelter has a track record of successfully transferring between sevens and 15s, and has previously played in the PWR for Saracens, where she was part of the title-winning team in 2022.
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The Alaska native has represented the USA at two 15s Rugby World Cups (2017 and 2021), and three Olympics (2016, 2020, 2024). She made her sevens debut in 2013, and her 15s debut followed three years later in 2016 against France.
Her recent involvement in WXV proved her to be a key asset to the Fukofuka’s USA side and she has continued to display her prowess in her second stint in the PWR with Loughborough Lightning. Kelter shone at WXV, particularly in the USA’s opening match against England where she scored twice. Kelter is currently second for defenders beaten in the PWR this season (66).
Kelter attended University of Wisconsin-Madison where she played ice hockey and soccer with a full Division 1 scholarship, and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (sculpture and glassblowing). She started playing rugby when she was invited to a High Performance Training Camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Site by Ric Suggitt.
Prior to picking up a rugby ball, she led the USA U18 women’s hockey team to a gold medal at the IIHF World Women’s U18 Championship and was named NCAA All American Academic Athlete alongside other accolades in hockey and soccer.
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Kate Zackary
‘Captain America’ Kate Zackary currently plays for Trailfinders in the PWR. A well-respected leader, Zackary has been captain of the USA national team since 2018, and also co-captained PWR side Exeter Chiefs before joining Trailfinders ahead of the 2023/24 season.
The 35-year-old has represented the USA in both sevens and 15s, and at three Rugby World Cups (2017 and 2021 for 15s,
After a stint at centre, Zackary has now cemented her place in the back row at both club and international level. With 186 tackles so far this season, she sits third on the tackles table in the PWR.
Zackary has been an accomplished athlete across multiple sports, notably soccer, for which she earned Newcomer of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, and NSCAA Scholar All-American honors at Benedictine College. In her senior year, she took up rugby, but only played her first match until she was invited to their alumni match.
At Benedictine College, she earned a Bachelor of Arts focused in Mass Communications, and currently is heavily involved with growing girls’ rugby in Ealing. She is the club’s Girls’ Rugby Development Officer, and is a coach (alongside Trailfinders teammate Abi Burton) of Brunel University’s women’s team, who recently earned promotion to BUCS Super Rugby.
Charli Jacoby
Charli Jacoby was the first American player to play in Australia’s Super Rugby Women’s competition when she represented the Queensland Reds in between her stints at Exeter Chiefs, where she first joined ahead of the 2022/23 PWR season.
Jacoby has also played for another PWR side, first playing for Loughborough Lightning in the 2021/22 season before relocating to Devon after she represented the USA at the 2021 Rugby World Cup.
A competitive cheerleader in high school and at Kent State, Jacoby placed fifth at the NCA Championships. The USA rugby website states that she was approached at cheerleading practice at college by some rugby players, who said she’d be great in a scrum, and decided to give the sport a try.
Jacoby is heading back to Australia this year for the Super Rugby W season, and has been a key part of the Exeter Chiefs squad in the 2024/25 season. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English Studies and a Master’s Degree in Education, and is a qualified teacher.
Rachel Johnson
Rachel Johnson made her debut for the USA in 2018 against New Zealand at Soldier Field. Originally Johnson started playing rugby for the purpose of gaining extra physical education credit while she was at Reed College, but she later went on to become the program’s Head Coach. In 2014, she won a National Championship with Oregon Rugby, and was named nominated for the Club Sevens Dream Team two years later.
A defence-rattling ball carrier, Johnson made the most carries of any player in round 15 of the PWR with 24, and the most gain line carries with 15. She additionally scored in the USA’s WXV match against France last October.
She represented the USA at Rugby World Cup 2021, and made her debut against New Zealand in 2018. Educated at Portland State University, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Health.
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Who might Ilona Maher be competing for a place with?
It is yet to be known exactly where USA head coach Sione Fukofuka might see Ilona Maher fitting into the USA Eagles squad, but he has expressed his interest in seeing her play a range of positions. So far for Bristol Bears, she’s played on the wing and at centre.
For a place on the USA roster at centre, she’ll be competing for places with the likes of Kelter, Atumata Hingano, Emily Henrich, Eti Haungatau, and Katana Howard. Henrich has been named as a member of the foundational five for the Boston Banshees in the new Women’s Elite Rugby league.
Multiple other USA-capped players have been named as Foundational Five members in the WER: Rachel Ehrecke, McKenzie Hawkins, Maya Learned (all Denver Onyx), Emerson Allen (Twin Cities (TC) Gemini), Cassidy Bargell, Paige Stathopoulos, and Henrich (all Boston Banshees).
With Kelter well versed in both sevens and 15s, having already represented the USA at one 15s Rugby World Cup in 2022, Maher’s USA sevens teammate may well provide significant competition for a starting shirt.
The back row, while we’re yet to see Maher play there, also boasts strong talent already including the likes of Freda Tafuna, Georgie Perris-Redding, Rachel Johnson, Rachel Ehrecke, Tahlia Brody, and Zackary.
Maher made two appearances for the USA XVs team and made her debut in 2021 against Canada at the Pacific Four Series on the wing.
Quinnipiac’s Maher was the second player to be named MA Sorensen Award when she won in 2017, and every other player who has gone on to win the award, apart from Canadian Idia Ihensekhien, have gone on to represent the USA in sevens or 15s (McKenzie Hawkins, Henrich, Spiff Sedrick, Richelle Stephens, and Keia Mae Sagapolu).
Who are the USA playing in 2025?
The main competitions the USA will be competing in in 2025 will be the Pacific Four Series and Rugby World Cup 2025.
The date and location for USA vs Canada at Pac 4 is yet to be announced, but the USA will face Australia on 17 May in Canberra, and defending world champions New Zealand on 24 May in Auckland.
At RWC 2025, the USA will play England in the opening fixture (22 August, Sunderland), Australia (30 August, York), and Samoa (6 September, York) in the pool stage.
The winner and runner-up from Pool A will progress to the quarter-finals, which will be held in Bristol against the runner-up and winner of Pool B respectively. Quarter-final 2, which features the winner of Pool B and the runner-up of Pool A will take place at Ashton Gate on 13 September, and the winner of Pool A versus the runner-up of Pool B will follow on 14 September.
Pool B for RWC 2025 is made up of Canada, Scotland, Wales, and Fiji. From the quarter-finals, the winner of QF1 and the winner of QF 2 will face each other in the first semi-final on 19 September at Ashton Gate, and then the winner of QF 3 will play the winner of QF 4 at the same venue on 20 September.
The bronze final and final will both take place on 27 September at Twickenham Stadium.
Warm-up fixtures will take place prior to the competition, giving fans extra opportunity to watch the USA before the World Cup. The USA are currently ranked ninth in the World Rugby rankings.
What is Women’s Elite Rugby?
Women’s Elite Rugby is a new professional league in the USA, the first of its kind, which will feature 180 players across six teams and kicks off in March.
Many USA players currently compete in the Premiership Women’s Rugby league in England, but with the regular season ending on 21 February, some USA players may make their way over to join WER teams.
The full squads are yet to be announced but the team names and crests were recently released.
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Depends what position she pays, she is certainly not an international winger.