Maya Learned (born 1 January 1996) is an American

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. She plays at Prop for the

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internationally and recently joined Denver Onyx for the inaugural season of Women's Elite Rugby. She previously played for Gloucester-Hartpury in the Premier 15s.

Rugby career

Learned was a High School and Junior All-American, she later played for

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. She is proficient on both sides of the scrum and has also played

Lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

for the Glendale Merlins. She made her international debut for the

against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in November 2019. She signed with Gloucester-Hartpury in 2021. She later extended her contract to the 2022–2023 Premier 15s season. In June 2022, she was named in the Eagles squad for the Pacific Four Series in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. She came off the bench and featured in all three matches against Canada,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and

. She was selected in the

Eagles Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

squad for the delayed

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the Rugby World Cup (women), women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally sche ...

. Learned was named in the

traveling squad for their

test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

against

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, and for the 2023 Pacific Four Series. She was named on the bench in the Eagles 20–14 win against Spain. In 2025, she joined the Denver Onyx squad for the inaugural season of the Women's Elite Rugby competition. She played in the

against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

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on 26 April, the Eagles lost the closely contested game 33–39.

References

External links

Eagles Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Learned, Maya Living people 1996 births American female rugby union players United States women's international rugby union players Harvard Crimson rugby players Sportspeople from Denver Rugby union players from Colorado Rugby union props Gloucester-Hartpury Women players American expatriate rugby union players American expatriate rugby union players in England 21st-century American sportswomen