‘rugby Is Growing In America’: Sammy Sullivan On Life As A Us Eagle, Army Captain And Lego Influencer

On Saturday, World Rugby’s HSBC SVNS lands successful New York – well, New Jersey – for 2 days astatine Sports Illustrated Stadium successful Harrison, a short thrust from downtown Manhattan. The governing assemblage will beryllium watching keenly, arsenic 2 days of accepted warm-weather athletics are held astatine nan extremity of a north-eastern winter. In New York/New Jersey connected Thursday, it snowed.

The men’s US Eagles are not playing, having mislaid their spot astatine nan apical table. But nan Eagles women person hopes of a home-soil triumph aft a third-place decorativeness past week successful Vancouver, beating France successful a thriller aft a constrictive nonaccomplishment to New Zealand. Coach Emilie Bydwell’s squad are 3rd successful nan season standings, group for Championship tournaments successful outpouring and summer.

Bydwell tin nary longer telephone connected Ilona Maher, nan breakout star of nan 2024 Paris Olympics, astatine which nan Eagles took a historical bronze medal. But Sammy Sullivan, different standout connected nan section and connected societal media – successful her lawsuit via the improbable mean of Lego – is backmost successful nan squad aft six months disconnected attending to her duties arsenic a skipper successful nan US Army.

Sullivan discussed her singular American rugby life and challenges to come. The speech has been edited for clarity and length.

You recovered rugby astatine assemblage – but did you cognize nan crippled before?

When I was little, for illustration 7, and we were surviving successful bluish California, astir service installations had a rugby team. My dada [a Green Beret] served complete 20 years, and there’s pictures of maine astatine my dad’s rugby games, which is chaotic to deliberation astir really afloat circle that’s each come. He grew up playing football, past for illustration astir shot players erstwhile he tried rugby, concussed himself 3 times successful his first practice, knocked himself out, but he loved it. I’d ne'er played earlier college, but I knew a small spot done him. I’d seen clips of nan Black Ferns and nan All Blacks, South Africa, viral clips. I benignant of thought, ‘Well, that’s a bosh athletics if I’ve ever seen one.’

So really did you travel to play?

My dream was to play assemblage soccer, but my bigger dream was to spell to [the United States Military Academy] West Point. I had gone to shot camps astatine West Point. I tried to get noticed by nan coach. I sent movie in, and benignant of my past edifice was trying to locomotion connected to nan squad during Beast, which is basal training for West Point cadets. And she wanted thing to do pinch me.

But Bill LeClerc [a erstwhile US Eagles prop, past West Point coach] reached retired to maine because erstwhile each nan sports went astir and said, ‘Hey, this is what our woody is,’ I checked nan ‘interested successful rugby’ box. Bill was each successful connected trying to get maine into nan team. So I’m really grateful for him for doing that. One doorway closes, different doorway opens, for sure.

West Point is simply a four-year hothouse. I fishy you couldn’t person had a amended clang people successful rugby?

I don’t cognize if I could person gotten done West Point and go nan serviceman I americium coming without rugby, because it’s a athletics wherever you’re successful high-intensity moments and making split-second decisions and having to enactment cool nether pressure, and that straight translates to nan military.

My first 2 years, I was an affectional wreck. Getting a starting position really early successful my freshman twelvemonth owed to wounded but not being nan champion astatine it really disappointment me. I was crying aft each game. But eventually, learning to hone and usage that emotion, connected nan rugby section and often successful my subject service, it was life-changing. One would not person happened without nan other. I’d opportunity I was either gonna spell done West Point and play rugby, aliases neither.

How did you make it to playing rugby full-time?

When I was graduating from West Point, nan norm to get into nan Army’s World Class Athlete Program was you had to do your cardinal activity time, which arsenic a lieutenant is platoon leadership. And it worked retired very good for me, fixed that nan Tokyo Olympics were pushed backmost to 2021. I graduated successful 2020 and location was nary measurement I was going to make nan team.

I went to West Point wanting to beryllium a platoon leader. That was 1 of nan champion experiences of my life. The service is simply a enslaved dissimilar immoderate other. People from each backgrounds, coming together for a communal goal. It’s for illustration being connected a sports team. I was besides fortunate to spell to Fort Carson successful Colorado, which meant I was capable to play rugby successful Denver, keeping up those skills.

Sammy Sullivan successful her US service uniform, pinch her bronze badge from nan 2024 Paris Olympics. Photograph: SSG Antony J Martinez/Antony J Martinez

You won 1 headdress for nan US astatine 15s but recovered your niche successful sevens. Paris 2024 was an bonzer infinitesimal for American rugby. But it wasn’t easy for you?

I was already dealing pinch a torn labrum. For nan months starring up to Paris, I was taping my enarthrosis each day. It was hurting beautiful bad. Then days earlier getting to nan Olympic Village, we had a scrag against Ireland, a small friends scrimmage, and an Irish woman tackled maine weird and my collarbone somewhat separated from my sternum.

It felt for illustration I collapsed my collarbone. I instantly went to nan hospital. I was calling my parents, like, ‘Hey, guys, mightiness person conscionable surgery my collarbone a week earlier nan Olympics. Don’t alert retired yet.’ So erstwhile I recovered retired it was conscionable a sprain, I was like, ‘OK, well, it’s gonna hurt. I don’t care. I’m conscionable gonna support playing for illustration this. This whitethorn beryllium my only opportunity to spell to nan Olympics.’

I could not person done that without Nicole Titmus, our trainer. She recognized really to talk maine done that injury, what to opportunity during a crippled erstwhile I’m hurting. She’s an astonishing individual.

What stands retired successful memories of Paris, different than winning bronze against Australia?

What I will everlastingly clasp connected to is that group of women. It was conscionable truthful special. The enslaved we had. The culture. I’ll everlastingly retrieve nan hugs aft the people that won nan bronze. I’ll retrieve looking up and seeing my family, really beyond happy that we could do that for Em, nan first female caput coach astatine nan Olympics, conscionable to show nan world what an astonishing coach she was, to bring a squad that had gone 5th and sixth to nan podium. It was awesome.

How has nan squad managed nan comedown from Paris, nan request to move on?

Em and nan unit really had a reliable task, because that group of women had conscionable woken up America to rugby. You get a sensation for illustration that, you want more. But truthful galore of those girls were tired, aliases moved on, which they were ever going to do, sloppy of if we won. The unit is still rebuilding, while keeping those halfway principles that nan 2024 Olympic squad cultivated.

I deliberation you could spot it successful Vancouver past weekend, we sewage bronze successful a very akin way, a very back-and-forth game. And these young players are showing truthful overmuch committedness and grit and activity ethic and skill. They’re truthful young, because rugby is increasing successful America, 100%.

Two younger players I picked retired are Sariah Ibarra, 20, and Tahna Wilfley, 19.

Sariah, I person nary doubt, is going to beryllium a immense leader connected this team. She has specified rugby knowledge, she stays truthful calm and collected successful pressurized moments, and is conscionable really skilled – her measurement is unmatched connected our team. She’s making big-game decisions and we each backmost her.

As Tahna goes, I emotion her truthful much, for illustration I spot truthful overmuch of myself successful her activity ethic, her determination. She plays pinch anger and spunk and is specified a ray connected this team. She is truthful energetic, ne'er complains, conscionable a awesome heads-up rugby player, making split-second decisions. When I was 19, I can’t moreover ideate doing nan things she’s doing now.

About this weekend, nan SVNS successful New York. How’s nan weather?

It was very windy, rainy and acold astatine our training convention this morning, which I deliberation was benignant of a daze to nan system, particularly erstwhile Vancouver was beautiful mild-mannered this year, which is usually our acold stop. So I deliberation each nan teams are getting a spot of a daze here. We’ve been really moving connected our attraction and consciousness successful adversity. And what amended adversity than classic, windy, rainy, precocious wintertime time successful New York? I deliberation we’re fresh for nan challenge.

Sammy Sullivan celebrates an Eagles effort during a crippled against Japan. Photograph: Alex Ho/World Rugby

Win aliases lose, I presume your Lego videos will continue?

Yeah, it is fundamentally therapy. I was coming location each day, obsessing complete believe movie and going into that rabbit hole. And I was conscionable successful Barnes & Noble, I saw a Lego set, and was like, ‘I haven’t done Lego since I was, like, 14. I should get one.’

It’s conscionable specified a awesome measurement to move your encephalon off, to benignant of abstracted myself. I person a Lego group connected circuit correct now. In Vancouver I was stepping from nan warm-up for nan New Zealand crippled and a instrumentality gave maine nan caller McLaren F1 car. So that’s what I have. I’ll astir apt build that today.

Really what I’ve liked, really I’ve used my societal media, is encouraging group to clasp what they like. I’m a 27-year-old woman, and I’m proud to emotion playing pinch Lego. I deliberation erstwhile group are authentically themselves, for illustration Ilona is connected societal media, group respond well.

Everybody should find immoderate their outlet is. If your life is conscionable going to work, coming location and preparing for nan adjacent day, that’s not very fun. It’s truthful important to person work-life balance.

I conscionable hap to really deliberation everyone should beryllium building Legos.

• Martin Pengelly writes astir rugby successful nan US connected Substack, astatine The National Maul. A longer type of this portion appears there.