Under the Posts – Jul 27-Aug 2 features the return of International XVs rugby in October, a revised HSBC 7s Series, petitions to support trans athletes, rugby growth in Iran, South America hosts their first Coaching Academy, France is back to training, Premier 15s moves to non-contact training, four player features, five media events and three #RugbyJobs.
Featured Women’s Rugby News
Big news this week as World Rugby announced temporary global windows for Int’l XVs rugby to return and a shortened 2021 HSBC 7s Series. In XVs they are aiming to complete the Six Nations tournament, and four rounds of Internationals.
The 7s Series canceled the Dubai and Cape Town rounds and moved the Glendale stop alongside Langford 7s. We expect more news on 7s as they finalize schedules.
Weekly News
We start our women’s rugby weekly news with a feature on rugby growth in Iran where they saw 20% growth in the last year alone! South America held their first Coaching Academy with 21 representatives from its fifteen member unions, Louise Lawless highlights how hard it is to purchase an Irish Women’s Rugby jersey, Project Rugby Love helps us support trans women’s rugby players and USA Rugby is seeking feedback on the proposed World Rugby Amendments.
France is back in camp as they prepare for the completion of the Six Nations and the 2021 World Cup. Lastly, Premier 15s clubs are allowed to begin non-contact training. WE’re hopeful that news around their schedule will be coming soon.
Player Features
- Project Rugby (UK) features Jess who plays on one of the world’s first female mixed ability rugby teams
- Panashe Muzambe is the first black woman to play rugby for Scotland, she speaks about experiencing racism and more
- USA’s Cheta Emba speaks with Team USA about how she found rugby
- Wales Elinor Snowsill opens up about her journey through the game and states why “it’s still really important” to talk about LGBTQ+ issues today
Media
- New England Pathways podcast chats with XV Foundation founders Alicia Washington and Kristine Sommer
- Sports and the Feels podcast speaks with Sonja McLaughlan
- Greaux Rugby podcast speaks with Kelli Smith of American Rugby Pro Training Center
- Rugby Coaching Weekly podcast talks with Susie Appleby
- Rugby Hive podcast chats with Kayla Moleschi
#RugbyJobs
- MLR’s Dallas Jackals search for a S&C Coach
- Fiji Women’s Rugby is looking for a XVs Team Manager
- Wales Rugby has plenty of vacancies
Join Us
Can’t wait a week? Join us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram as we will be posting daily. We have a bit more dialogue on Twitter if you’d like to join in.
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1289304842435874816
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1289667284919705605
World Rugby made two major announcements this week, first that International XVs rugby would resume in October with a temporary window for matches. The temporary global window will accommodate the completion of the 2020 men’s and women’s Six Nations Championships on October 24 and 31, a rest weekend on November 7 and four consecutive rounds of international matches.
The other major news was that cancellation of the Dubai and Cape Town rounds of the 2021 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. The USA stop in Glendale, CO has moved to later in the schedule alongside the Canada Women’s Sevens in Langford, British Columbia. We expect more to come as the working group continues to work on the schedule.
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1289924020318568449
Rugby has been played in Iran since the 1940s and they’ve been growing their numbers year over year. According to data from the federation, the number of registered players in the country grew by 20%, from 10,000 to 12,000 players in 2019-20 alone.
Furthermore, 7,000 of these players are women. Nahid Biyarjomandi , who founded the first women’s club in the country, is an ambassador for the ‘Try And Stop Us’ campaign.
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1288882119280930816
South America held it’s first Female Coaching Academy with 21 representatives from its fifteen member unions.
“The goal that we set out for with Sudamérica Rugby is to help with making the game better in the region, fully committed to giving women more opportunities on the playing-side of rugby,” explains Bassino.
“We want to build capacity with women in the region that have the potential to push participation and growth under our high standards, utilising the weapons provided and being multiplying agents within their countries.”
https://twitter.com/louiselawless91/status/1288747114655354882
Buying a women’s rugby jersey seems like it would be an easy thing…but it’s not. The latest example is the Irish women’s rugby jersey, sponsored by AON. Their jersey doesn’t hang in shops, or feature in life-size window fronts, or even appear on the IRFU website.
Thus continues the circular argument that there isn’t a demand for women’s [insert choice of word: broadcast, merchandise, etc]…when in fact it can’t be quantified because generally [insert thing] isn’t available to the fans.
TAKE ACTION: https://t.co/dAin4ZxawZ One of the best things about rugby is there's a place for all.@WorldRugby is considering banning trans women. They’re collecting policy feedback til Aug 31. Let’s make our voices heard.#TackleTransphobia #LetUsPlay #RugbyForAll RT pic.twitter.com/ukhiGxPoID
— #ProjectRugbyLove (@ProjctRugbyLove) July 28, 2020
Project Rugby Love has put together a fantastic site that includes eight things you can do to support trans athletes in rugby. Sign the petitions, speak out and keep fighting!
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1289606869510627328
USA Rugby is seeking feedback from Youth & High School, College, Senior Club and International Athletes to send to World Rugby. Beyond doing everything above, we recommend that you reach out to your GU Leadership to express your opinion and thoughts on the proposed amendments.
Some news from across the Channel and it looks like @FranceRugby are back in camp as they also look to get return to the swing of things post-lockdown.
— The Womens Rugby Show (@WomensRugbyShow) July 31, 2020
Some huge names included (as expected) as we head into a @rugbyworldcup (& 1 & 1/2) @Womens6Nations year#nefaisonsXV pic.twitter.com/2a3SFIZtY0
France is back and holding a training camp with some big names. Great news ahead of the completion of the Six Nations and leading into the 2021 World Cup.
Clubs will now be able to return to stage one training once they have satisfied the relevant requirements to start.
— Allianz Premier 15s (@Premier15s) July 29, 2020
Please follow the link for more details: https://t.co/HCeBOfGNnG pic.twitter.com/bwVAqRWNGj
Premier 15s is returning to non-contact training as well but we still await news on a full return.
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1288263068091383808
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Coaching Laid Bare Episode Five with Susie Appleby: Liza Bird Burgess and LJ Lewis discuss a round of questions about the practicalities of the game. In this episode, they are with Exeter Chiefs director of rugby, Susie Appleby.
— Rugby Coach Weekly (@RugbyCoachWeek) July 29, 2020
Susie played over 50 ti ... https://t.co/u3bzPefV98 pic.twitter.com/t0l1jPkYqY
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