USA's Olivia Ortiz on life in the PWR and her aims for RWC 2025

“I felt really confident and happy with how I was progressing as a player. Getting injured halted that a little bit.

“I want to find my groove again. I have started one game and got some good minutes off the bench. I am building.”

Ortiz and her Eagles teammates enjoyed a transformative first year under the guidance of Sione Fukofuka.

The Australian arrived in his new post after years at the heart of the Wallaroos’ advancement as an assistant coach and brought all he had learned during that time to the USA.

Adding more depth to the squad, establishing new standards and providing a consistency that the playing group had not seen since the postponed 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, results soon started to show on the field.

At the end of their nine Tests in 2024, the Eagles had won three, drew one and lost five.

It was their best return on results since 2022 and included gritty wins over Australia in Melbourne and Japan, but saw the side fail to register a point at WXV 1.

While there were shoots of promise in each outing for the USA north of the border, it showed that there was still work to be done.

With the odds stacked against them and with a playing squad around the world, Ortiz is certain that her head coach is the right person to lead the side to success.

“Sione has probably been the best thing that has come to USA Rugby and the women’s 15s game,” Ortiz said.

“He has been demanding that we push our standards, doing our extras in our own time, but the level of detail that goes into it, he has really made sure that we finesse that.

“If you watch the games, we are all talented individuals, but we struggle to string things together. With the USA, and Sione stresses this to us, we have so much less contact time than a lot of other countries - we have to do so much more on our own.

“He has been phenomenal for the programme. The coaching staff have been so supportive, but demanding standards. If it is not good enough, he lets us know.

“It has been a pivotal point for us because we continue to grow every single time. We keep building, which is so exciting to see.

“We had a win on every tour, until WXV, with Sione, which is something special.”

It is safe to say that Ortiz has no lack of motivation to get back in the Eagles matchday 23.

After the PWR regular season concludes in February, the half-back is not ruling out a return home to get more match minutes in Women’s Elite Rugby’s inaugural season before contending for selection in the Pacific Four Series.

The Eagles will take on Canada before travelling to the southern hemisphere to play Australia and New Zealand in preparation for the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Fukofuka’s Eagles will be the centre of attention when the competition gets underway in August when the side take on host nation England in the tournament opener at the Stadium of Light.

That fixture is the starting point for what is already guaranteed to be the best-attended Women’s Rugby World Cup ever with over 220,000 tickets sold for the tournament.

It will also see a return for the 27-year-old to the North East after spending six months with Darlington Mowden Park in her first taste of English club rugby two years ago.

“Whenever I am having a bad day that I am not feeling motivated, I ground myself with wanting to be in that starting shirt for that match,” Ortiz said.

“I think England is the best country to be hosting the World Cup right now. They are on such a high.

“They have been playing some phenomenal rugby and really investing in women’s rugby.

“I think that is going to be an exciting game. We have seen how tight it can be against England at WXV 1. We can put a stamp on what it means to be playing against England at the Stadium of Light.”

To achieve her goals Ortiz is hoping to have a positive impact on the rest of Sale Sharks’ season.

Battling with Italy half-back, Sofia Stefan, for a starting spot in the Sharks backline, the American has started once for the club since her return from injury against Leicester Tigers Women at Salford Community Stadium in December.

Having failed to register a single point this season, Sharks sit at the foot of the PWR table, 13 rounds into a troublesome campaign for the Northerners.

So far, the club have looked unlikely to get close to their three league wins last season, with their closest losing margin coming in November when the club were bested 29-19 by Exeter Chiefs.

Most recently Sharks lost 38-17 to fellow PWR strugglers Leicester Tigers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in which the squad enjoyed a strong second-half performance.

Sale will have to wait even longer in their hunt to register a first win of the season after this weekend’s clash with Trailfinders Women was called off.

With the pitch at CorpAcq Stadium frozen, the side will have to wait until next week and a visit from high-flying Harlequins to prove that they are not just there to make up the numbers.

With five games left to play this season Ortiz believes that the playing group’s commitment and return of first-team players from long-term injury, there can be cause for celebration in the North West.

“Everyone has moments when we are down,” she said. “Through the season we have had our losses, but we have had some brilliant moments.

“It is about putting those together for more than 20 or 30 minutes. It has made us stronger as a core group, which is nice to see because we want to bring out the best in each other and push each other.

“It has been a hard season for us. We have struggled with a lot of injuries. Molly Wright, who came back at the weekend, has been out for a long time and Morwenna Talling only came back the other weekend.

“It has been a struggle but brings us closer at the end of the day and we have one common goal in mind and want to right some wrongs this season.”