Under the Posts – Women’s Rugby News for Jul 5-11

Welcome to the top women’s rugby news for July 5-11. The Olympic rugby schedule and squads are out! France and Fiji will begin the women’s event on July 29 and the medals will be handed out on July 31. We also learned that the HSBC 7s Series has been adjusted to six men’s and four women’s rounds. 

In more 7s news, Ukraine won Budapest leg of the Europe Trophy series while Czech took second. Fiji made news this week as some of their athletes caught flights to Tokyo on cargo/freight flights that were hauling frozen fish. 

In XVs news, Madagascar has beaten Kenya again to win the game series 2-0, Rugby Africa has announced their Cup matches, Uganda vs Zimbabwe on July 14 and the return fixture is on July 18. DHL Western Province and the Border Ladies will meet in the Premier Division final in Cape Town next weekend, but four teams – Free State, Griquas, Mastercard Golden Lions Women, and the Valke – are still in the running for places in the First Division final.

The Wallaroos are still reeling from their National Coaches being “stood down” and further sources confirmed that “Nestor and Tink’s comments referred to players’ mental health, as well as using derogatory language about other players.”

Canada are assembling for the first time since the pandemic in an East (now) and West camp (later). This begins their in-person preparation for New Zealand.

In “Other News”, columnist Sam Casey has lost his job at sports radio station SENZ after an opinion piece arguing too much money was being invested in women’s rugby for too little return, good riddance Sam! Wheeling University has announced the addition of women’s rugby to their University.

We close out the week with 18 features and 5 media.

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tl;dr: Under the Posts – Women’s Rugby News for July 5-11 sees the Olympic Rugby schedule released, the HSBC 7 Series adjusts their schedule and DHL Western and Border ladies will meet in the Premier Division final in Cape Town next weekend.

Video Summary

Skipped this week, big deadlines at work!

Featured Women’s Rugby News

The match schedule for Tokyo has been finalized! France and Fiji will begin the women’s event on July 29 and the medals will be handed out on July 31. We also learned that the HSBC 7s Series has been adjusted to six men’s and four women’s rounds.

Top Women’s Rugby News

XVs

• Madgascar beat Kenya again, 10-0 and they took the series 2-0
• Rugby Africa has announced their Cup fixtures of Uganda vs Zimbabwe on July 14 and 18
• DHL Western and Border ladies will face each other in the Premier Division final next week
• We learn more about Wallaroos coaches Dwayne Nestor and Matt Tink being “stood down” and eventually resigning
• Meanwhile the Wallaroos announced their Players of National Interest squad
• Canada has 36 athletes at their first training camp since COVID

7s

• Ukraine won Europe’s Trophy Series while Czech took second
• Stranded Samoa players were taken care of by Asia and UAE Rugby
• Olympic travel for Fiji was interesting as some of their players had to take a cargo flight that was hauling fish…
• Kenya is feeling confident ahead of the Olympics

Other News

• Columnist Sam Casey’s SENZ contract terminated after ill advised women’s rugby piece
• Ilaria Arrighett was awarded Italy’s Rebecca Braglia Trophy
• Wheeling University announced the addition of women’s rugby

Women’s Rugby Features

• South America’s Nerea Livoni has become a top referee in her country after taking the referee course in 2014 to learn the laws to become a better player
• New Zealand’s Alice Soper writes for Rugby Pass about “knowing when to call it quits”
• Australia’s Charlotte Caslick is on the cover of Australian Women’s Health
• USA’s Naya Tapper shares how she was cut from the 7s program but will now be an Olympian
• New Zealand’s Doris Taufateau returns to Auckland Storm
• USA’s Abby Gustaitis talks about the postponement of the Olympics and her hope for the event with the Washington Post and Pressbox
• Rugby Africa shares a Q&A with new Rugby High Performance Manager for Women’s rugby Lynne Cantwell
• USA’s Amelia Luciano talks with World Rugby about about her approach to the game, learning from some of the world’s best and helping create an environment in which future referees can flourish
• Stella Mills talks with England’s Claire Purdy for Rugby Pass about growth in the sport
• Detroit’s Kat Amrhein believes rugby is for everybody
• Russia’s Bayzat Khamidova spoke with Russian magazine Sport Express about her journey (Scrum Queens translates)
• WRCRA looks into their archives for the best team names over the years
• St. Louis Today features the Lindenwood Rugby program
• Blues’ Liana Mikaele-Tu’u was part of the first women’s Super Rugby Match and she was past of the first brother and sister duo to compete in Super Rugby
• Wales’ Amber Stamp-Dunstan shares her story of picking up the whistle two years ago
• USA’s Nicole Heavirland tells of her journey from being a traveling reserve in Rio to now traveling to Tokyo as on of 12 Olympians
• Japan’s Chiharu Nakamura is looking forward to the women’s game being in the spotlight at the Tokyo Games

Women’s Rugby Media

• New Zealand’s Alice Soper talks with Newstalk ZB Sport about trolls
• Off the Ball hosts South Africa’s HP Manager Lynne Cantwell
• Uganda talks with head coach Leonard Lubambula about new leadership on the team
• Rugby Europe provides highlights of 7s Trophy in Hungary
• Wallaroos highlight Coffs local Kaitlan Leaney