Steinberg staying on as Women’s Eagles coach through 2017

USA Rugby announced Wednesday Pete Steinberg has agreed to continue in the role of Women’s Eagles head coach through the next Women’s Rugby World Cup cycle to 2017.

Steinberg led the Eagles to sixth place at IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014 in France this past fall, earning wins against Australia and Kazakhstan with tough losses to Ireland and New Zealand.

“Pete has done a good job the last three years developing the Eagles program,” USA Rugby Chief Executive Officer Nigel Melville said. “The team’s performance at the World Cup demonstrated that the Eagles can play with the best teams in the world. Now we want to be able to beat them.”

Steinberg first took charge of the Eagles at IRB Women’s Nations Cup in 2011, which preceded 2012 tours of Italy and France. Steinberg’s Eagles defeated France in 2013 before finishing third in that year’s Nations Cup, hosted in Greeley, Colo. In the months prior to the World Cup last year, Steinberg’s preparatory tour saw the Eagles travel to Canada and England for warm-up matches.

“I am excited to continue with the program after the World Cup experience,” Steinberg said. “The last cycle was filled with strong performances but not consistent results. We demonstrated that we can play with the top teams in the world, but we struggled to turn those performances into results.”

Steinberg will be faced with the challenge of replacing an experienced pack, with multiple forwards nearing retirement. The back line at the World Cup was full of youth and will bring plenty of experience in its own right to the next World Cup cycle.

“There will be a lot of opportunity over the next year for players to put their hand up and get a chance to be seen,” Steinberg said. “We had a number of young players in our pool, but the development of the high school and college game means that there are better athletes playing the game at younger levels. The trick is how to accelerate their development.”

Steinberg and other members of the Women’s Eagles, including Peter Baggetta, Jamie Burke, Emilie Bydwell, Kate Daley, and Roshna Wunderlich, will present at the USA Rugby 2015 National Development Summit in Chicago Jan. 23-25 as part of an exclusive Women’s Rugby World Cup track.