France wins the 2021 International Rugby 7s

Under the Posts – Women’s Rugby News for May 10-16

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Welcome to the top women’s rugby news for May 10-16. World Rugby announced dates for the 2021 Rugby World Cup and the 2022 Rugby World Cup. News that mostly flew under the radar was that Dr. Jonathan Webb was elected as the newest World Rugby Executive Committee member. While Webb was a fantastic candidate, they missed an opportunity to begin moving towards balancing the genders of the group and they could have chosen a candidate from an emerging nation.

In XVs news, we look at Round 2 of South Africa’s Premier Division, Australia announces two matches against Samoa, London Irish will launch a women’s side, Wales begins a mid-term review of their women’s “performance rugby strategy” and RTE and Virgin Media agreed to a joint broadcasting deal that includes the women’s Six Nations.

In 7s news, France won Great Britain’s International Rugby 7s, Europe announced their 7s series and USA announced a few teams for their Quest for Gold 7s tournament.

We wrap up the week with 7 articles in “Other News”, 15 player features and 9 media.

tl;dr: Under the Posts – Women’s Rugby News for May 10-16. The Rugby World Cup 2021 will take place October 8 -November 12 and the Rugby World Cup 7s 2022 will be September 9-11. 

Video Summary

Featured Women’s Rugby News

Weekly Women’s Rugby News

XVs

  • South Africa’s Premier Divisions Round 2 saw defending champions DHL Western Province, Border Ladies and Cell C Sharks all win
    • Last week South Africa broadcast their first XVs match and will continue to do so for the entire season
  • Australia announced two tests against Samoa on July 17 and 22
  • RTE and Virgin Media agreed to a joint broadcasting agreement that includes next years Women’s Six Nations matches
  • London Irish is launching a women’s side and has their sights set on joining Allianz Premier 15s
  • Wales begins a mid-term review of their women’s performance rugby strategy, it will be completed in June

7s

  • France won Great Britain 7s over the hosts and Ireland
  • Europe announced an extended 7s series and a format that is closer to their XVs competition
  • USA Rugby announced that they will be joined by  Japan, Kenya and two other to be confirmed teams
  • Spain is back in camp after a week off
  • UAE and Israel will play a friendly international match on May 21; it will be broadcast

Other News

  • Maria Thomas becomes the first female leader and President of the Trinidad and Tobago Rugby Union
  • Did the social media blackout actually help? Stella argues for RugbyPass that it didn’t accomplish it’s goals and it actually hurt women’s rugby
  • South Africa makes major changes including mandating that their General Council must include at least one female representative among other things
  • Zimbabwe continues their focus to train female coaches, administrators and referees
  • Alice Soper starts Women in Rugby Aotearoa as the trusted and independent voice for women’s rugby in New Zealand
  • Brianna Kim has been promoted to Director of the Old Glory DC Academy
  • Algeria and Burundi become the newest members of World Rugby

Women’s Rugby Player Features

  • Rugby Africa’s Paula Lanco shares her journey and vision for rugby
  • New Zealand’s Kendra Cocksedge opens up about mental health and physical fatigue after  decades in sport
  • Australia’s Alicia Quirk opens up about choosing motherhood over the Olympics
  • Leinster’s Daisy Earle shares her journey from the start to the top of her game
  • The WRCRA Coaches Bank aims to develop more sustainable and thriving rugby programs in the United States
  • Australia’s Alysia Lefau-Fakeosilea might just be Australia’s awaited not so secret weapon for their Tokyo Olympic Games campaign
  • Waitaki Wahine’s Cheyenne Cunningham became the first person to play 50 games for the club
  • USA’s Natalie Klotz joins four American players who will play for Israel in their first match against United Arab Emirates
  • Tumut’s Jess Howarth and Ella Bradshaw go the length to play rugby
  • New England Free Jack’s Devin Ibanez writes for Openly that transgender rugby players should be welcome in our sport
  • South Africa’s Zinhle Ndawonde knows that nothing is impossible
  • England’s Alex Matthews “hated sevens” but now is looking forward to the Olympics

Women’s Rugby Media/Podcasts/Videos

  • Greaux Rugby Show has Carille Guthrie on to talk about her work with James G. Robertson & Clive Sullivan Rugby Foundation
  • Women’s Rugby Pod talks with New Zealand’s Chelsea Alley about being a “professional rugby player” with three jobs
  • Girls Rugby Club talks to Rachel Malcolm about the concussion that saw her sidelined from rugby for 5 months & her journey back to playing at the top level 
  • Allianz Premier 15s shares the try of week by Sales’ Lauren Verona Delany
  • South Africa’s Neil Powell shares comments around their Solidarity Camp
  • Women’s Six Nations shares a video looking back on the tournament
  • Try Hards Podcast talks 7s including “Beauty Secrets and Ankle Grabbing”
  • The Black Ferns found out what it’s like to face their own haka at the All Blacks Experience in Tāmaki Makaurau
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Featured News

It was a big week of news from World Rugby. The news started with the Rugby World Cup 2021 revised tournament dates which will see New Zealand host the tournament between 8 October-12 November, 2022. We also learned that the tournament window increased from 35 to 43 days. All fixtures will be played on weekends with triple-header matches scheduled per day. 

Also announced, World Rugby confirmed South Africa  as the host of the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 in Cape Town will take place from 9-11 September, 2022. 24 men’s and 16 women’s teams will fight for their title. To reach the event a new qualification process will see non-qualified teams qualify only through regional competitions. The World Rugby Sevens Repechage will be June 19-20 in Monaco, Spain. 

Women's Rugby News

XVs

Defending South Africa Women’s Premier Division champions, DHL Western Province, and the Border Ladies earned back-to-back wins in the competition in a gripping second round on Saturday, while the Cell C Sharks Women earned their first win of the season.

World Rugby spoke to Babalwa Latsha and Lynne Cantwell following the historic broadcast of the Women’s Premier Division match between Western Province and Boland Dames last weekend.

The Wallaroos have confirmed that they will kick off their 2021 schedule with a two-test series against Samoa. It will be a test match doubleheader at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday 17 July.

Six Nations rugby will remain free to air in Ireland after RTE and Virgin Media agreed a joint broadcasting deal. Virgin will show games from the women’s and U20 tournaments for the first time.

London Irish Rugby Football Club has declared its intention to launch a team to enter the top-flight of the women’s game. Preparations are underway with a view to formally applying for a place in the Allianz Premier 15’s for the next intake of teams, due in 2023.

The Welsh Rugby Union has commissioned a mid-term review of the women’s “performance rugby strategy” in Wales. The review is set to be completed by late June, after which recommendations will be made to the WRU board.

7s

 

France took the overall title in the Great Britain International 7s tournament over the weekend. They faced Ireland and Great Britain in round robin matches behind closed doors.

Rugby Europe has announced the 7s season for 2021 with 108 national teams from over 35 countries taking part in fourteen competitions throughout June and July.

The sevens structure has also undergone a rebrand with its new identity now closer aligned to the Rugby Europe XV’s competitions, with the Trophy and Conference divisions underneath the top-level Championship.

With the Tokyo Olympic Games quickly approaching, ‘Quest For Gold Sevens’ has confirmed international men’s and women’s teams to compete in an exhibition tournament at Dignity Health Sports Park, June 25-26. With a majority of the participating teams being regulars on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, the exhibition sets a perfect stage for pre-Olympic trials ahead of the Tokyo Games.

Spain took a week off but now they are back in camp in Valladoid as they continue preparing for the Rugby Europe 7s Grand Prix Series 2021.

UAE and Israel are set to play in a friendly international match on May 21 in Netanya, Israel. The match will be broadcast with details to be shared on Israel Rugby Facebook page.

Other News

Maria Thomas is the new president of the T&T Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) and is the first women’s leader of the local rugby football union. 

“I am grateful to those who have paved the way before us and laid the foundation from which we have grown. The engagement of the rugby community has increased the sense of responsibility that I feel to match the investment and secure opportunities that will carry us through to a safe return to play.

“The new executive team has already demonstrated a willingness to go above and beyond to serve rugby and I am privileged to call them colleagues. As we are on the pitch, we are a team in governance and administration. This is our strength.”

Stella writes for RugbyPass that the recent social media blackout didn’t accomplish what it set out to do. 

South Africa accepted two constitutional amendments at their Union’s annual meeting on Tuesday. The first mandates that each union’s delegation to General Council meetings must include at least one female representative. The second ensured female representation on the Executive Council (Exco) of SA Rugby.

To accommodate the changes, the representation of Union’s at Council meetings was increased from two to three, with each member receiving a vote. There are three such meetings per year, including the annual meeting. Similarly, a constitutional change to ensure at least three women served on the 12 to 14 person Exco was accepted for the period from 2021 to 2025 after which the constitution was amended to ensure that the number of Exco members of one gender does not exceed the number of members of the other gender by more than three.

Seventeen dynamic Zimbabwean women participated in World Rugby Training and Education match officiating courses last week as more females continue to make inroads into the game of rugby across the African continent.

Alice Soper asks the two candidates to chair New Zealand Rugby, Stewart Mitchell and Bailey Mackey how they will back women’s rugby.

Brianna Kim has been promoted to Director of the Old Glory DC Academy

Algeria and Burundi become full members of the international federation following approval at the World Rugby Council meeting

Player Features

Media

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