"It was such dumb luck that I started playing, but I feel like I'm very cut out for rugby in a lot of ways," Steele said. "In a fourth-grade game of capture the flag a kid was just standing in my way as I was about to cross the line, and it didn't even occur to me to go around him. I just dropped a shoulder and rammed into him."

"[Steele] is extremely aggressive," senior co-captain Erika Lundquist said. "She doesn't get tired. She always knows where she has to be, and she can always get there no matter how long she's been playing. She's very mean on the field."

Her teammates also note her extreme devotion to the game.

"Haley's dedication to rugby surpasses everyone else's," Brooks said. "She's been doing her own workouts all semester in preparation for this tour."

Steele envisions this tour as a highlight of her rugby career.

"Winning nationals last year was an extraordinary experience," Steele said. "If this comes anywhere near close to that, it will be one of the few truly extraordinary experiences that I have in my life. That's what it means to me."

Steele truly loves the game of rugby and everything about it. Rugby has been her niche at Harvard.

"Going to a place like Harvard, where some people are aiming to be senators or President, makes it sort of weird to have the only goal that I'm sure of be an athletic one and a sort of obscure athletic one at that," Steele said. "Nobody's going into rugby for the money or the fame or the glory. Winning nationals last year was literally one of the most gratifying experiences I've ever had, and definitely the most gratifying sports experience that I've ever had. It was just incredible. Everybody burst into tears after we won."

Although being named to the under-23 National Team is a tremendous accomplishment--the highest individual honor a U.S. player can earn at this stage in her career--Steele has long-term goals as well.

"I'd say that my ultimate goal would be to make the Senior National team and maybe some day to even play in the Olympics," Steele said. "It's a wonderful sport, and it's so much fun to be passionate about it. I just wish more people liked it and understood what a great game it is."