Women’s Rugby in 60 secs – Apr 11-17

Welcome to the top women’s rugby news in under 60 seconds for Apr 11-17. Monday morning saw the release of the Black Ferns Cultural Environmental review. Most of us were shocked when head coach Glenn Moore remained because the report pointed to an utter failure of leadership among other key points. By Saturday Moore had resigned and we’re expecting an announcement around a new coaching appointment this week.

In more XVs news, Italy announced centralized contracts for 25 athletes, Japan announced their squad ahead of their three matches in Australia, and Ireland has moved up to 7th in the World Rugby Rankings while Italy fell to 8th. 

In domestic XVs news, Waratahs booked their place in the Super W final which will be a rematch against Fijiana Drua on April 23 and Harlequins and Exeter will face off in the Allianz Premier 15s Cup on April 23 and round 2 of USA’s WPL saw wins by Life West, Berkeley, San Diego and New York.

We close out the week with 7s news, 2 articles in our “Other News” category, 15 features and 7 media.

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tl;dr: Women’s Rugby in 60 secs for Apr 11-17 saw Glenn Moore resign after the Black Ferns Cultural Environmental review was released and Italy announced 25 centralized contracts.

60 Second Video Update

Featured Women’s Rugby Stories

What a whirlwind week for New Zealand. The Black Ferns Cultural Environmental review was released on Monday with 26 recommendations. The report was sparked by the 2021 Instagram post by touring squad member Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate alleging inappropriate comments and language used by head coach Glenn Moore. 

The review, which interviewed 52 players, management and people recently associated with the team, found major shortcomings in the way the Black Ferns organization operated and produced 26 recommendations under seven themes. At initial release Moore was “committed to learning from the review” and remained coach.

By Saturday, head coach Glenn Moore had resigned. Seems the least that could be done as the report originated from his comments and clearly showed the failures of leadership around the Black Ferns. It is understood that an update around coaching appointments will be provided next week. Have to wonder if there will be a transparent process as “shoulder tapping” was clearly called out in the report…

Top Women’s Rugby Stories

XVs

International

  • Italy announced a series of new investments for their women’s side:
    • Eleven Sport will broadcast a weekly match and the final stage of their Series A Championship
    • Title Sponsorship of that league now matches the main sponsor FIR Bitpanda
    • 25 centralized contracts to support professional or University careers
  • Japan announced their touring squad for their matches in Australia in May
  • Ireland moved up in the World Rugby Rankings from 8th to 7th while Italy moved from 7th down to 8th

Domestic

  • Waratahs booked their place in the Super W final which will be a rematch against Fijiana Drua on April 23
  • Harlequins and Exeter will face off in the Allianz Premier 15s Cup on April 23
  • Round 2 of USA’s WPL saw wins by Life West, Berkeley, San Diego and New York
  • The USA Club Super Regionals are coming together

7s

  • World Rugby has provided a preview of the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa from September 9-11
  • 32 nations have entered the 2022 European Sevens Championships

Other News

  • Our raffle for a signed women’s England warmup top or Japan jersey continues, be entered by becoming a supporter on Patreon
  • USA Rugby announced a new referee development structure

Women’s Rugby Features

  • Ahead of their remaining Six Nations matches, Ireland Head Coach Greg McWilliams has revealed that he may have to plan without up to half-a-dozen players for the last two rounds due to conflicting 7s duties
  • England’s Nolli Waterman is featured by The Rugby Journal
  • The Rugby Breakdown shares that USA’s Rob Cain has embarked on his annual tour of domestic competitions, focusing on the Women’s Premier League (WPL), the country’s top club league
  • England’s Shaunagh Brown column for BBC: ‘They didn’t know the Women’s Six Nations existed, now we break records’
  • England’s Claudia MacDonald: England scrum-half says she may not play again after neck injury
  • Ali Donnelly writes for The Guardian about how England and France lead way but women’s rugby is being badly let down elsewhere
  • Jim Brown, executive chairman of the USA Rugby World Cup Bid Committee in an interview with Sportico says that with World Cups, Rugby can be America’s next sport
  • World Rugby Museum covers “The Rise of the Black Ferns”
  • Jess Watkins will become the second rugby player on the ISS when her mission launches later this week
  • Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi earned nine caps for Wales, appearing at a World Cup & being part of a Benetton Treviso set-up years ahead of its time. At 50, she can still be tempted to put on her boots…
  • In a Talking Rugby Union exclusive: Jo Yapp talks uni rugby and growing Worcester Warriors Women
  • ‘Aunty Rana’ honored for contribution to Northland Rugby
  • Roost­er Chicken Fijiana Drua head coach Senirusi Seruvakula has put out a clear message to his players, “Women who want to repre­sent the Fijian rugby team to the Rugby World Cup from October 8 to November 12 in New Zealand, must prove them­selves”

Women’s Rugby Media

  • Prior to the historic announcement from Italy, forward Giada Franco spoke to #TheNickandMoShow about the advantages of being a full-time player
  • Scrum V has an impressive panel including Philippa Tuttiett, Nick Robinson, Alisha Butchers and Ali Donnelly talking about the progress of women’s rugby in 2022
  • Squidge does Wales and their phenomenal performance in the Six Nations
  • Women’s Rugby Pod talks Six Nations, Rugby World Cup and other news with Poppy Cleal and Fiona Lewis
  • Marlie Packer like you’ve (probably) never heard her before – on balancing motherhood with professional rugby
  • Claudia McDonald shares more about her fear of never playing rugby again
  • Izzy Mayhew, Jess Breach, and Beth Blacklock discuss what they would do if they weren’t a professional rugby player
Featured Women's Rugby News

Top Women's Rugby News

XVs

International

https://twitter.com/Federugby/status/1514185213819199490

https://twitter.com/JRFURugby/status/1514822487506251778

https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1513517449802616839

XVs

Domestic

https://twitter.com/rugbycomau/status/1513415191870193668

https://twitter.com/rugbycomau/status/1514545525068300290

https://twitter.com/Premier15s/status/1515378504329834496

https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1515814845270134798

7s

https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1513638025774997515

Other News

https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1513573526711808008

Women's Rugby Features

https://twitter.com/JournalRugby/status/1513778540042502147

https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1513925098545287174

https://twitter.com/Sara_Orchard/status/1514226512152899598

https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1513562541871579139

https://twitter.com/wrugbymuseum/status/1513819487312793607

https://twitter.com/AlixPopham/status/1513798986628579330

https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1513592752319213580

https://twitter.com/TalkRugbyUnion/status/1513773915339988992

https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1514242279300636677

https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1514287342743347202

Women's Rugby Media

https://twitter.com/Womens6Nations/status/1514229608396296202

https://twitter.com/BBCScrumV/status/1514128753953320962

https://twitter.com/EnglandRugby/status/1513778832540643329

https://twitter.com/podwomensrugby/status/1515250347572449281

https://twitter.com/HarlequinsWomen/status/1514990154225758208

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