Women’s Rugby in 60 secs – Apr 18-24

Welcome to the top women’s rugby news in under 60 seconds for Apr 18-24. Round 4 of the TikTok Six Nations saw wins for France, Italy and England. The final round is this weekend with England at the top of the table. They will face France for the Grand Slam.

In more XVs news, the Black Ferns coaching structure was confirmed with Wayne Smith, Wesley Clarke and Whitney Hansen taking the reins until after the World Cup while Spain promoted assistant coach Juan González Marruecos to head coach.

In domestic XVs news, Fijiana Drua have won the Buildcorp Super W Championship. A quick reminder that this is their first year in the competition, they went undefeated and they did it with only six players ever having played internationally for Fiji. If we were excited about the World Cup later this year before…now we’re full of anticipation.

Exeter took home the inaugural Allianz Premier 15s Cup over Harlequins and Bristol narrowly defeated Worcester for third. South Africa’s Premier Division kicked off with wins by the DHL Western, Blue Bulls, and EP Queens.

In 7s news, Canada qualified for the 2022 Rugby World Cup 7s after they took home the title at RAN 7s and Emilie Cherry Barton joined Australia’s coaching staff.

We close out the week with 14 features and 9 media.

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tl;dr: Women’s Rugby in 60 secs for Apr 18-23 saw England remain on the top of the TikTok Six Nations table as well as coaching announcements for New Zealand and Spain.

60 Second Video Update

Top Women’s Rugby Stories

XVs

International

• England is at the top of the Six Nations table ahead of the final round this weekend; England and France will go head to head for the Grand Slam title
  • Another attendance record has tumbled as 15,836 turned out for their match against Ireland 
  • Results
    • Wales 5 France 33
    • Italy 20 Scotland 13
    • England 69 Ireland 0
• The Black Ferns coaching structure was confirmed with Wayne Smith, Wesley Clarke and Whitney Hansen taking the reins until after the World Cup
• Ireland Women set for their first-ever summer tour in Japan

Domestic

• Fijiana Drua have won the Buildcorp Super W Championship
  • This is their first year in the competition, they went undefeated and they did it with only six players ever having played internationally for Fiji. If we were excited about the World Cup later this year before…now we’re full of anticipation.
• Exeter took home the inaugural Allianz Premier 15s Cup over Harlequins and Bristol narrowly defeated Worcester for third
• South Africa’s Premier Division kicked off with wins by the DHL Western, Blue Bulls, and EP Queens
  • The Blue Bulls Women shocked defending champions Border Ladies 12-0 in Pretoria in the opening round to lay down an early marker in the new season
• The USA Rugby Club D1 & D2 Super Regionals are set!
  • Championships will be in Atlanta, GA this year at Silverbacks Park

7s

• Canada qualified for the 2022 Rugby World Cup 7s after they took home the title at RAN 7s
• Emilie Cherry Barton joined Australia’s coaching staff
• USA’s National Collegiate Rugby’s National 7s Championship will be April 30-May 1 at Pittsburgh Harlequins Founders Field

Other News

• On May 12, the World Rugby Council will select the host nations for every Rugby World Cup (men’s and women’s) between 2025 and 2033
  • Council will consider England (2025), Australia (2027 and 2029) and USA (2031 and 2033) as hosts of the sport’s biggest events within a new partnership hosting model with World Rugby that will underpin the growth of the sport over the next decade and beyond
• President Joe Biden expressed support for USA Rugby World Cup Bid
  • The President’s letter to World Rugby pledges his full support, stating that “the United States strongly supports the effort to bring the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup Tournament and the 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup Tournament (‘Tournaments’) to our country, and looks forward to working with Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) to help deliver the most successful Rugby World Cup’s in history.”
• Our 16 Year Raffle is still ongoing! Sign up as a Patreon supporter and you’ll be entered into a raffle for a women’s England warmup top or a signed women’s jersey from Japan

Women’s Rugby Features

A quick reminder that these are articles from the past week so many speak about events that have already occurred.

• Patrick Skene writes a very revealing feature on Fijiana Drua and their rapid rise in Australia’s Super W
• Ireland’s Lindsey Peat writes that her “heart was breaking for the Ireland players forced to compete in an unfair fight” against professionals England
• Ireland has decided to prioritize 7s and play the remainder of the Six Nations without their best backs, Scrum Queens dives into why this decision was made
• Franc’es Caroline Boujard made her first appearance of the 2022 TikTok Women’s Six Nations against Wales
• England’s Amy Cokayne has spent nearly 10 weeks on the sidelines due to a calf injury
• Wales’ Donna Rose is nothing short of an inspiration; dubbed a thug in her youth, she faced doubts at every turn and struggled so much she tried to take her own life
• The Black Ferns have announced a trio of men’s World Cup-winning coaches to lead Black Ferns – but can they cut it in women’s game?
• Wales’ Kayleigh Powell always knew she wanted to play for Wales, after years of hard work the fullback is living her best life – and still striving for more
• Wales fly-half Elinor Snowsill spent years juggling her work with being a fully-fledged international rugby player, until in January her life changed when the WRU made her one of 12 professional players
• Black Fern’s Whitney Hansen tells Suzanne McFadden why she had to seriously contemplate stepping up to the assistant coach role with the Black Ferns
• Former Leicester and England lock Louis Deacon stepped in as forwards coach for England and it’s made all the difference
• Scotland’s Evie Gallagher believes that her team can get over the “mental block” they have had in recent times
• Ioan Cunningham says he is fully committed to his role as Wales women’s head coach after being linked to another job
• Scotland’s Sarah Bonar has revealed she has been given elite athlete status by her employers the Royal Air Force which will allow her to focus on rugby on a full-time basis through to – and beyond – the World Cup later in the year

Women’s Rugby Media

A quick reminder that this is media from the past week so many speak about events that have already occurred.

• The Office-Field Rugby Pod talks with Naya Tapper about her journey to becoming USA’s all time leading try scorer
• Wales’ shared behind the scenes training video and interviews with Hannah Jones and Sioned Harries before their clash against France
• Oceana is World Rugby’s next #YouthUnstoppable
• Off The Ball questions if Ireland can upset England with Guests Former Ireland international FionaHayes and founder of Scrum Queen Ali Donnelly
• Sara Orchard, Katy Daley-McLean and Ciara Griffin react to England’s victory over Ireland on Rugby Union Weekly
• Canada’s star Olivia Apps has an incredible story to tell
• Cliodhna Moloney joins Sinéad Kissane and Cian Tracey on the latest episode of the Left Wing to look ahead to Ireland’s Women’s Six Nations game against England in Leicester