Welcome to the top women’s rugby news in under 60 seconds for Nov 8-14. We begin and end with Ireland. Anthony Eddy, the IRFU’s Director of Rugby held an interview where he spoke about the women’s failure to qualify for the 2021 Rugby World Cup. He pinned the fault directly on the players and he defended the systems the IRFU has in place. Very quickly former players spoke out against his comments and current players followed a few days later. Meanwhile, we await the results of the “independent” review. We’ll have to see if any of this negative press has an effect. If we look at history, it won’t…the IRFU will just wait for it to blow over. A light in the tunnel came at the end of the week when Ireland beat #7 ranked USA 20-10.
In XVs news, we look at the other seven International matches over the weekend, the standings for Hong Kong’s Premiership, the Allianz Cup and France’s Elite 1.
In 7s news, Brazil and Columbia qualified for the 2022 Rugby World Cup after placing first and second in the South American Championships. This is Brazil’s 20th title in a row and they remain the dominant team on the continent.
We close out the week with 15 features and 8 media.
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tl;dr: Women’s Rugby in 60 secs – Nov 8-14 begins with Ireland’s Anthony Eddy comments around the women failing to qualify for the 2021 Rugby World Cup and we look at the 8 International matches over the weekend.
60 Second Video Update
Featured Women’s Rugby Stories
Ireland went through a tough week when Anthony Eddy, Ireland’s Director of Rugby defended his Union and pushed blame onto the players for not qualifying for the Rugby World Cup. First, former players spoke out against his comments and then current players also broke their silence. As Adrian Barry on the Off The Ball podcast said the IRFU need to “stop trying to manage the message and realize that the best thing to do is listen”.
Top Women’s Rugby Stories
XVs
International
- Ireland defeated USA 20-10 a huge turnaround from their losses in the Women’s Six Nations; this is the third loss in a row for the USA
- Czechia defeated Switzerland 27-0 and they stand firm on top of the European Trophy with two remaining fixtures
- Wales has won two in a row after defeating South Africa 29-19
- France handed New Zealand their third loss 38-13
- Zambia blasted Namibia 75-5 in the Africa Cup
- Italy defeated Netherlands 41-0
- England recorded their 17th win in a row after beating Canada 51-12
- Scotland had a second-half performance to beat Japan 36-12
Domestic
- Societe Generale Valley continues to lead Hong Kong’s Premiership and is chased by DAC Kowloon, Natixis HKFC and Gai Wu Falcons
- Harlequins, Exeter and Saracens recorded wins in the Allianz Cup
- Massy Essonne leads France’s Elite 1 with Valence Romans Drome, Stade, and SC Albi
7s
- Andrey Kuzin stepped down from Russia and the interim coach is Aleksandr Alekseenko
- Argentina’s women’s 7s team is now officially known as Las Yaguaretés; the name refers to the largest feline on the American continent
- Brazil took home their 20th title at the South American Championships by defeating Colombia 36-5 and they qualified for the 2022 Rugby World Cup
Women’s Rugby Features
- New Zealand’s Tiana Ngawati is only the second woman to referee a Bunnings NPC match
- England’s Shaunagh Brown shares the progress of the game and the issues still facing the players around pregnancy and maternity leave
- Former Wales international Rebecca Rowe to embark on epic skiing mission to inspire rugby’s next generation
- The Roar’s Hugh (Hugh_96) comments how Australia is oddly absent from the Autumn Internationals
- Clubmates Hannah Botterman and Alex Ellis meet on international stage
- Canada shares a bit about their new Rugby Development Officers
- Rugby Americas North profiles Vanessa Robertson of Nova Scotia
- Canada’s Renee Gonzalez made her debut this past weekend
- Former Captain of England Paula George is now helping Kiwi kids build their own resilience and happiness
- BBC shares England Sadia Kabeya’s journey to the Red Rose
- Canada’s Sophie de Goede was honored as U SPORTS women’s rugby Player of the Year Thursday, her second time
- The World Rugby Museum shares the story of a group of women who formed the RFU’s ‘Women’s Rugby Union Association’
- Rachel Steinberg spoke to England hooker Amy Cokayne ahead of this weekend’s test against Canada
- New Zealand Rugby should take a leaf out of the thriving Red Roses’ playbook, writes Alice Soper for News Room
- England’s Natasha Hunt shares how ‘commentating on England has been crazy – [and] shows how far women’s rugby has come’
Women’s Rugby Media
- Wales’ Hannah Jones comments on the recent contract announcement
- Ireland’s Captain Ciara Griffin speaks with Sinead Kissane about recent comments by IRFU DOR
- Adrian Ball of Off the Ball comments on a turbulent week for the Irish women
- Meet Teani, World Rugby’s newest Youth Unstoppable
- England’s Amy Cokayne breaks down why being a hooker is so unique
- Try Hards releases another episode
- Game on 2FM spoke with Ali Donnelly about the unrest in Ireland
- Women’s Rugby Pod had Scrum Queens’ Ali Donnelly and Wale’s Kerin Lake on
https://twitter.com/ScrumQueens/status/1457807671151763461
https://twitter.com/cmoloney3/status/1458054973204353025
Ireland captain Ciara Griffin has said the squad were disappointed by comments made by the IRFU's director of women's rugby.
— BBC SPORT NI (@BBCSPORTNI) November 11, 2021
More ⤵️ #bbcrugby
XVs
International
Tough day in the office.
— USA Rugby (@USARugby) November 12, 2021
The team fought hard till the end. pic.twitter.com/ZSjDGyQrrL
Czechia have beaten Switzerland 27-0 in Nyon, a win that should put them top of the European Trophy table by a point over Sweden. However the Swedes still have one game to play, against Switzerland next year. @rugby_europe
— Scrumqueens - Women’s Rugby (@ScrumQueens) November 13, 2021
https://twitter.com/WelshRugbyUnion/status/1459525196839272448
https://twitter.com/FranceRugby/status/1459549101503221763
TRY no 13 for Zambia - Namibia turned over after a long period of pressure and Zambia race away to score. #NAMvZAM 5-75 @RugbyAfrique Cup.
— Scrumqueens - Women’s Rugby (@ScrumQueens) November 13, 2021
And that is also full-time in Windhoek.
Final result of the day - Italian XV 41, Netherlands 0.
— Scrumqueens - Women’s Rugby (@ScrumQueens) November 13, 2021
https://twitter.com/EnglandRugby/status/1459918045405720581
FULL-TIME | A strong second-half performance secures Scotland with a comfortable victory over Japan this evening.#AsOne #SCOvJPN pic.twitter.com/8I0OR78N6K
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) November 14, 2021
XVs
Domestic
A recap of the actions from today’s Dettol Hong Kong Women’s Premiership. Gai Wu RFC concluded the Game of the Week with a dominant 48-7 victory over @SCAACausewayBay at So Kong Po. Check out the highlights below!#hkrugby #ProtectTheBestMoments #AGameForAll pic.twitter.com/EtmWD7eop0
— HKRU (@HongKongRugby) November 13, 2021
Allianz Cup Round 3 results ⬇️#Premier15s pic.twitter.com/FgKhaADLhP
— Allianz Premier 15s (@Premier15s) November 14, 2021
https://twitter.com/Elite1Feminine/status/1449043639783591942
7s
Андрей Кузин покинул пост главного тренера женской сборной России по регби-7
— rugger (@ruggerinfo) November 8, 2021
Временно исполняющим обязанности назначен Александр Алексеенко. https://t.co/IxamWhDWdr pic.twitter.com/ChSQPz1JqC
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1458570195090513920
¡¡Al Mundial!!
— Sudamérica Rugby (@sudamericarugby) November 13, 2021
Felicitaciones a @fecorugby y a @brasilrugby por su clasificación a la Rugby World Cup 7s 2022 Ciudad del Cabo para #AsYaras y #Tucanes pic.twitter.com/uutYwfNoIJ
After just two years with a whistle, Tiana Ngawati has become only the 2nd woman to referee a men's @BunningsNPC match. She tells @merryn_anderson why she didn't give the players an inch
— Suzanne McFadden (@suzemcfadden) November 8, 2021
and didn't hesitate to send one to the sinbin. @NZRugby@BlackFernshttps://t.co/x2wFOYsNVM
https://twitter.com/JournalRugby/status/1458366252225900552
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1458811771746193408
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1458887362419822594
https://twitter.com/TalkRugbyUnion/status/1459125179209105415
Another piece I’ve written for @RugbyCanada.
— Karen Gasbarino XV (@gasbarnut12) November 7, 2021
As a supporter, the best part about writing these pieces is seeing how hard people are working at the grassroots level. Development Officers like Bailey Andrews are also trying to bridge the high school gap. https://t.co/gNy9sOVApY
https://twitter.com/RugbyAmericasN/status/1458514797582946304
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1458857177054076929
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1458932569395929092
Meet 19 year old Sadia Kabeya, she'll be wearing 7 for England tomorrow. Her PE teacher @BryonyCleall isn't too bad at rugby either: https://t.co/2bbOc2sp0L
— Sara Orchard (@Sara_Orchard) November 13, 2021
"For the second time in her career, Queen's No.8 Sophie de Goede has been named U SPORTS Player of the Year."
— Rugby Canada (@RugbyCanada) November 12, 2021
Read: https://t.co/7l73TIlDVA#RugbyCA Rugby football | @USPORTS_Rugby
https://twitter.com/wrugbymuseum/status/1457634224127741952
Rugby and Remembrance special for Cokayne
— Scrumqueens - Women’s Rugby (@ScrumQueens) November 11, 2021
Rachel Steinberg spoke to England's in-form hooker @amycokayne ahead of this weekend's test against Canada. https://t.co/bB7bQIQKXs pic.twitter.com/bcYXq8tCyN
With 11 months till the Rugby World Cup on Black Ferns' home soil, New Zealand Rugby should take a leaf out of the thriving English Red Roses' playbook, writes Alice Soper. @alicesoapbox@BlackFerns @WRugbyWorldCup @EnglandRugbyhttps://t.co/0M1G8U1m88
— Suzanne McFadden (@suzemcfadden) November 11, 2021
Natasha Hunt: 'Commentating on England has been crazy – it shows how far women's rugby has come' https://t.co/1GGgWYII6x
— Women's Sport Trust (@WomenSportTrust) November 14, 2021
Wales centre Hannah Jones says "It’s exciting times in women’s rugby" after WRU's announcement on giving 25 professional contracts to female internationals pic.twitter.com/cTaonxlfiW
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) November 9, 2021
Big show of support today by Ireland players for Cliodhna Moloney.
— Sinéad Kissane (@sineadkissane) November 11, 2021
Captain Ciara Griffin says she supports Cliodhna 100%. Ciara says she was disappointed by Anthony Eddy's comments & said he apologised "in case people took offence to his comments.."@VirginMediaNews pic.twitter.com/2fbDqFStmN
https://twitter.com/offtheball/status/1459074708662632489
We’re not saying that @MissLJJ has a massive ego… but she did manage to publish today’s podcast with just her voice on it.
— Try Hards Podcast (@TheTryHardsPod) November 9, 2021
For those who jumped on immediately, don’t panic… @nolli15 has been restored to her rightful place as a Try Hard now. #ShoutyWoman pic.twitter.com/o3YASd3ysd
https://twitter.com/EnglandRugby/status/1458721161626337280
https://twitter.com/WorldRugby/status/1459778125940801541
Scrumqueens' @AliDonnelly spoke to @GameOn2FM earlier to discuss ongoing issues in Irish women's rugby. The chat is from 52 mins https://t.co/gsr02DGAGa
— Scrumqueens - Women’s Rugby (@ScrumQueens) November 10, 2021
https://twitter.com/podwomensrugby/status/1459135983862038534