Date with Destiny: Woods Sisters Make Rugby National Team Debut
6/2/2026 12:17:00 PM | Women's Rugby
What a start to 2026 it has been for the rugby-playing Woods sisters.
What a start to 2026 it has been for the rugby-playing Woods sisters.
It all began with a trip to Chula Vista, California, for the USA Eagles camp in late January. Before Olivia and Reece Woods left California to return to the Sacred Heart campus, they were delighted to hear that they would be part of the team taking part in the Pac4 Series in April.
Before making their national-team debuts, there was work to do at Sacred Heart. In March, the Pioneers went undefeated to win a pair of championship brackets in Annapolis, Maryland. Plenty of wins followed before the twin sisters' date with destiny.
Reece played in all three games in the Pac4 Series, including a win over Australia. Olivia made her national team debut a week later against Canada.
"Being around the best rugby players in the country, training with them and learning from them, it was a great opportunity just to see what being a national-level player would be like," Olivia Woods said. "Of course, we both earned our first caps, which kind of puts us in the realm of professionals, even though it was one game and Reece had all three. It was an amazing feeling overall."
When Reece Woods stepped onto the field as a substitute in her first game with the USA Women's Eagles, it was an experience she won't soon forget.
"For me, it was pretty crazy. It is nothing that could quite prepare you for the level of rugby that you step onto the field to play," Woods said. "When I first got on the field, there was an adrenaline jump. The first time I got on, I started running and I immediately was tired. I was sitting on the sideline for the whole game and got in for like seven minutes. Players move so far, you really can't know what it is like until you are on the field. It was an amazing experience. It was super cool to get on the field with people I have watched for such a long time. The players who are now my teammates have Instagram reels and they are just larger than life. You get to play next to them and you get to practice next to them. You understand that they are people too, just like you, and they have been where we have been."
The journey for the sisters began fittingly enough for the two members of the USA Eagles in a place called Eagle, Idaho.
Reece was hooked on the sport after her first practice. It was more of an acquired taste for Olivia, who is 10 minutes older than her sister.
The Eagle High School girls' rugby program recently won its third consecutive national title. The Woods sisters were among those who paved the way for that success.
"I think we definitely left the program in a better place," Reece Woods said. "Olivia and I had the opportunity to go back there when we were back home this summer and just get back to the community that we came from. It is really amazing to see our coaches who are still there and still spreading the love of the game, not just making the girls on the team better rugby players, but better people."
They also made history in another sport in high school.
The sisters were key performers on the first girls' wrestling high school state championship team in Idaho's history.
"It was right in the middle of COVID and there were six of us on the team," Olivia Woods said. We called ourselves the Savage Six because we went in and started winning stuff.
"It really took off and the next year, our junior year, it got sanctioned so we got to go to the wrestling states with all the boys and what an amazing experience to be kind of pioneers of that sport as well. It really teaches you a different lesson. While they both are contact-heavy sports, it kind of shows you what women are capable of, what young girls are capable of when they are given the right support via coaching, mentors and when their parents support them as well in being in sports that aren't so popular to girls. It taught us how to grow a team, how to mentor other people and how to sympathize with people who don't have that support in their sport."
In their final competition as wrestlers, Reece was the state champion at 185 pounds and Olivia reached the 235-pound championship match to lead Eagle High School to a second consecutive state title.
It was their exploits in rugby that attracted the attention of college coaches.
"The coaches really sold us to come here, the campus was really pretty and you tell the passion was there and we rose in the ranks through NIRA (National Intercollegiate Rugby Association)," Olivia Woods. "It has been cool to see, it has been a great thing to be a part of."
The Pioneers were 19-11 when Olivia and Reece were freshmen, including three wins in the CRAA Women's Collegiate 7s Championship Tournament. Sacred Heart, which was 11-21-1 two years before the Woods sisters arrived with a talented recruiting class. Over the last three seasons, Sacred Heart is 57-29-2.
"The East Coast was definitely a big option for us," Reece Woods said. "I have really grown to love Sacred Heart. I love the campus, I love the community, and I really love our rugby team. This is the best decision I could have made for my college career.
"There are days when I (think, why am I so far away from home, I miss my parents, I miss the mountains and Idaho in general. Other days, (she realizes) I couldn't have made a better decision."
Reece and Olivia might be twins, but they admit that their personalities aren't the same. That serves them and their teammates well when they step on the field.
Olivia usually plays the tight head prop position and Reece is at home as the loose head prop.
Here are the scouting reports for the two national team players from those who know each other best.
"On the field, I think Olivia does a better job of doing the dirty work," Reece said of Olivia. "She is always in the position that other people don't want to be in, 'oh that looks like hard work' and Olivia is always doing it. I feel like she is always doing the work behind the scenes.
"Reece is a little more showy, a big tackle, a random kick even though Reece isn't a kicker," Olivia Woods said. "She does the dirty work as well. She is a momentum changer."
The sisters left their national team teammates and coaches eager for more opportunities. They received words of wisdom from the USA coaching staff.
"It is always super constructive," Olivia Woods said. "They see us as future players, so they are looking to build our skill. It is also on us to keep building our skill. Overall, the feedback, it is not just about being good rugby players, but it is being good people. That was some of the best feedback we got. It is not always about your athletic ability; they are looking to incorporate good people into the program."
Those lessons will benefit both them and the Sacred Heart program when the 2026-27 rugby season gets underway.
