The Most Famous

RUGBY PLAYERS from United States

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This page contains a list of the greatest American Rugby Players. The pantheon dataset contains 35 Rugby Players, 8 of which were born in United States. This makes United States the birth place of the 8th most number of Rugby Players behind Argentina, and Ireland.

Top 8

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary American Rugby Players of all time. This list of famous American Rugby Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Carlin Isles

1. Carlin Isles (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 28.05, Carlin Isles is the most famous American Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 11 different languages on wikipedia.

Carlin Isles (born November 21, 1989) is an American rugby union player who plays for the United States national rugby sevens team. With 202 tries, Isles is second for the United States in career tries scored, behind teammate Perry Baker. Isles has been touted as the fastest rugby player.

Photo of Asaeli Tuivuaka

2. Asaeli Tuivuaka (b. 1995)

With an HPI of 24.37, Asaeli Tuivuaka is the 2nd most famous American Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 8 different languages.

Asaeli Tuivuaka (born 22 December 1995) is a Fijian rugby union player. His usual position is wing or Centre. He currently plays for French Top14 team Racing 92.

Photo of Alev Kelter

3. Alev Kelter (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 23.33, Alev Kelter is the 3rd most famous American Rugby Player.  Her biography has been translated into 13 different languages.

Leyla Alev Kelter ( LAY-lə ə-LEV KEL-tər; born March 21, 1991) is an American rugby sevens and rugby union player.

Photo of Ilona Maher

4. Ilona Maher (b. 1996)

With an HPI of 23.29, Ilona Maher is the 4th most famous American Rugby Player.  Her biography has been translated into 12 different languages.

Ilona Delsing Rosa Maher ( il-OH-nə MAR; born August 12, 1996) is an American rugby union player. As of December 2024, she has signed for Bristol Bears in the Premiership Women's Rugby league and began playing for them in January 2025. She won bronze with the United States in rugby sevens at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Maher took up rugby at age 17, and went on to win three National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) championships as a college player at Quinnipiac University. After debuting in 2018, she represented the United States national team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics. She is also known for her body positivity advocacy.

Photo of Martin Iosefo

5. Martin Iosefo (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 18.34, Martin Iosefo is the 5th most famous American Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 4 different languages.

Martin Iosefo (born January 13, 1990) is an American rugby union player who currently plays for the Seattle Seawolves in Major League Rugby (MLR). He previously played several seasons with the United States national rugby sevens team.

Photo of Ben Pinkelman

6. Ben Pinkelman (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 11.97, Ben Pinkelman is the 6th most famous American Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 5 different languages.

Benjamin Joseph Pinkelman (born June 13, 1994) is an American professional rugby union player who plays as a forward for the United States national sevens team.

Photo of Stephen Tomasin

7. Stephen Tomasin (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 5.88, Stephen Tomasin is the 7th most famous American Rugby Player.  His biography has been translated into 3 different languages.

Stephen Tomasin (born September 25, 1994) is an American rugby union player who plays for the United States national rugby sevens team in the World Rugby Sevens Series. During his high school years, Tomasin played American football as a running back. In his senior year at Cardinal Newman High School, he was voted North Bay League Offensive MVP. He began playing rugby in high school in 2012. Tomasin played college rugby with the San Diego State Aztecs. In 2013, Tomasin was played with the USA Rugby Men's Collegiate All-Americans during his freshman year of college. Tomasin plays his club rugby with OMBAC in the Pacific Rugby Premiership.

Photo of Alena Olsen

8. Alena Olsen (b. )

With an HPI of 1.00, Alena Olsen is the 8th most famous American Rugby Player.  Her biography has been translated into 7 different languages.

Alena Olsen ( ə-LAY-nə; born December 6, 1995) is an American rugby sevens player. She captains the Headliners women's team in the Premier Rugby Sevens competition. In 2021, Olsen and some of her teammates released a video that urged fans to sign the Global Climate Pledge, an initiative by the United States Green Chamber of Commerce. Olsen competed for the United States at the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town. They lost to France in the bronze medal final and finished fourth overall. In 2024, Olsen competed for the United States in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she and her team won a bronze medal, a first for Team USA Rugby Sevens.

People

Pantheon has 8 people classified as American rugby players born between 1989 and 1996. Of these 8, 8 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living American rugby players include Carlin Isles, Asaeli Tuivuaka, and Alev Kelter. As of April 2024, 8 new American rugby players have been added to Pantheon including Carlin Isles, Asaeli Tuivuaka, and Alev Kelter.

Living American Rugby Players

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Newly Added American Rugby Players (2024)

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