Women’s Rugby News for Feb 27-Mar 5

Welcome to the top women’s rugby news in under 60 seconds for Feb 27-Mar 5. Wales announced more professional player contracts, World Rugby shared details for the 2023 Pacific Four Series, and the Black Ferns won their fourth HSBC 7s Series stop.

In more International XVs news, Portugal leads the European Trophy after defeating Czechia 51-0 while Germany defeated Belgium 14-10 and with the announcement of the 2023 Pacific Four Series we learned that the top three teams will qualify for WXV 1 with the fourth-placed team qualifying for WXV 2′.

In domestic XVs news, the Black Pearls have won the Central Uganda League while remaining undefeated, Exeter leads Allianz Premier, Railway Union and UL Bohemian are tied in the top spot in the Energia AIL Cup, the Crocodiles lead the Iberdrola League, Chiefs Manawa leads Super Rugby Aupiki, Bordeaux continues to leads Elite 1 and USA Club remains mostly unchanged from last week.

We close out the week with 25 features and 7 media.

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tl;dr: Women’s Rugby in 60 secs for Feb 27-Mar 5 saw Wales announce more professional player contracts, we learned more about the 2023 Pacific Four Series, and the Black Ferns won their fourth HSBC 7s Series stop.

60 Second Video Update

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Your #wrugby News in under 60 seconds for tl;dr: Your Women's Rugby in 60 secs for Feb 27-Mar 5 saw Wales announce more professional player contracts, we learned more about the 2023 Pacific Four Series, and the Black Ferns won their fourth HSBC 7s Series stop. Watch our video & read the entire update using the link in our bio! #womensrugby #wrugby #rugbyunion #rugbytok

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Top Women’s Rugby Stories

XVs

International

• Wales initially announced 12 professional player contracts a few months ago, they’ve now expanded it to 25 ahead of the TikTok Six Nations
• Portugal leads the European Trophy after defeating Czechia 51-0; Germany also defeated Belgium 14-10 over the weekend
• World Rugby confirmed details for the 2023 Pacific Four Series, the annual cross-regional tournament contested by Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA that acts as one of the principle qualification routes for the top two tiers of WXV
  • Top three teams qualify for WXV 1 with fourth-placed team qualifying for WXV 2 
• The Wallaroos will play eight Test matches this year including events in the Pacific Four Series and the O’Reilly Cup
• A feasibility study into the possibility of holding a Lions women’s tour has been completed with positive initial findings

Domestic

• The Black Pearls kept their undefeated streak alive and won the Central Uganda’s competition
• Exeter continues to lead after Round 13 of Allianz Premier but are chased by Gloucester-Hartpury, Saracens, Bristol and Harlequins
• Railway Union and UL Bohemian continue their unbeaten streaks in Ireland’s Energia AIL Cup
• Spain’s Iberdrola League restarted and the Crocodiles remain on top with 47 points
• Chiefs Manawa leads Super Rugby Aupiki with 9 points
• Bourdeaux continues to lead France’s Elite 1 with Montpellier, Toulouse and Lons Section Paloise in pursuit
• Valsugana continues to lead Italy’s Excellence and is followed by Villorba, Color and Milan
• Not much has changed in USA Club Women’s D1 or D2 Rugby
  • D1
    • Two matches with Seattle beating ORSU and Surfers defeated Tempe, no lead changes as a result
  • D2
    • Red River saw leaders swap from San Antonio to Little Rock
    • Southwest may also have a lead change as Phoenix and Atomic Sisters had a double match weekend but we’re awaiting results

7s

• New Zealand has won their fourth HSBC 7s Series stop, they’ve qualified for the 2024 Olympics and they remain undefeated since Dubai 2022
  • Australia placed second, USA third and France placed fourth
  • The race to Paris continues for Australia, USA and France but Ireland aren’t quite out of the race yet
  • Other big milestones this past weekend included :
    • Canada’s Bianca Farella tied Australia’s Sharni Williams for with 44 tournaments, the all-time women’s record
    • Australia’s Charlotte Caslick  hit 250 World Series matches
• The next HSBC 7s Series stop is Hong Kong:
  • Pool A: New Zealand, Canada, Great Britain, Hong Kong
  • Pool B: Australia, Fiji, Ireland, Brazil
  • Pool C: USA, France, Japan, Spain
• Premier Rugby Sevens Confirms Coaching Staffs for 2023 Season
• Three more teams qualified for NCR’s CRC 7s: Michigan, Notre Dame College and Aquinas

Other News

• England and Ireland released their 2023 TikTok Six Nations squads
• South Africa named their traveling roster for their upcoming Spain tour
• USA announced their traveling roster for the 2023 Pacific Four Series

Women’s Rugby Features

• TikTok Six Nations has dived into the archives to have a look at past games where both teams have scored over 20 points
• Lowri Norkett’s journey to the Wales side has comprised tragedy, three international sports, and more determination than most could muster
• Black Ferns prop Amy Rule happy to take ‘risk’ to play back-to-back Super Rugby competitions
• 2023 Rugby Americas North U19s Tournament Venue Confirmed
• Welsh rugby scandal could put girls off rugby, Elinor Snowsill warns
• New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has today launched the “Love Every Minute” campaign to support significant predicted growth in women and girls’ participation this season
  • Suzanne McFadden and Alice Soper dig further into the data
• The Rugby Breakdown shares the truth of a murky LAI 7s
• Thistles head coach Claire Cruikshank is excited to see how the Scottish players who have been involved in the inaugural Celtic Challenge progress moving forward
• Super Rugby Aupiki week two review from Alice Soper: Is this the try of the season?
• New Italy women’s coach Giovanni Raineri could not have asked for a better collection of coaches to work alongside in his first steps into his post-playing career
• Anne Young impressing as the prop swims with the Sharks – and she is hoping to make a splash during the rest of 2023
• England fly-half Zoe Harrison ruled out of Women’s Six Nations due to torn ACL
• Linda De Ensaio spoke with Isabel Ozório about about her career and what women’s rugby needs to fulfil its potential
• Louis Koen, Stan Raubenheimer lead race for vacant Springbok Women’s head coach job
• Elma Smit was the first female face of rugby in South Africa, she’s been at three Rugby World Cups and hosts on of the largest podcast in the women’s game
• Women’s rugby revolution gathers pace but the sums don’t yet add up
• Super Rugby Aupiki is not just an opportunity for new players to make a case for higher honours, but coaches have the chance to improve their craft and inspire the next generation
• World Rugby caught up with French veteran Chloé Pelle to discuss her 200th match in Sydney, her Olympic and refereeing ambitions … and her passion for cryptography
• The All-Stars, the Circus, and the Wolfpack: ‘The big three’ hurtling towards the Allianz Premier play-offs
• ‘Hammer everyone else’: Women’s British & Irish Lions tour questioned
• Super Rugby Aupiki: Luka Connor leads form XV, Matatū halfback emerges as Black Ferns contender
• Receiving an early onset dementia diagnosis at the age of 40 was ‘pretty soul destroying’: Lipman
• Former Ireland prop Tony Buckley set to sue IRFU and Munster Rugby for concussion-related head injuries
• World Rugby says there IS evidence to suggest women are more ‘susceptible’ to concussion

Women’s Rugby Media

• A look back at Lekuru Emily predicting that the Black Pearls would win it all
• Women’s Rugby Pod episode 138 returned with Johnnie Hammond, Ali Donnelly, Simon Middleton and Jilly Collins
• NZR has launched the Love Every Minute campaign to help make rugby visible and accessible to wāhine across Aotearoa and support a predicted 40% increase in participation this season
• Shaunaugh Brown discusses the possibly of a Lions tour with fellow members of the feasibility study steering group
• Abi Burton’s story of preparing for the Commonwealth Games when warning signs first appeared and how she ended up in a coma
• The Good, The Scaz and The Rugby sees Mo speak out against the critics of the RFU’s decision to hand Kingsholm the Premier 15s final
• Check out all the highlights from 3 days of action at Canada 7s