France and England Triumph in Women’s Six Nations Festival, New Zealand Rugby Unveils 10-Year Strategy for Women’s Rugby | WRR 099

Welcome to the top women’s rugby news in under 60 seconds for April 3-9. Round one of the Women’s Six Nations Festival saw wins for France and England, while New Zealand Rugby launched a 10-year strategy to support the growth and development of women’s rugby in the country.

In XVs news, the Waratahs lead the Super W with Queensland and Fijiana Drua chasing while the Energia AIL Cup Finals are set between Railway Union and UL Bohemian, and the Allianz Premier Semi-finals will be June 10-11 with the Final on June 24 at Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester…both weekends will be shown live on BT Sport, the BBC and Premier15s.com. 

In 7s news, the qualification for USA’s Collegiate Rugby Championship 7s is almost complete with qualifying tournaments finishing up this coming weekend and then we will know the entire field for the event on April 28-30 in Washington, DC.

We close out the week with 15 features and 9 media.

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tl;dr: Women’s Rugby in 60 secs for Apr 3-9 saw France and England leading after Round 1 of the Women’s Six Nations Festival and New Zealand launched a 10-year strategy to support the growth and development of women’s rugby in the country.

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Your #wrugby News in under 60 seconds for Apr 3-9 saw France and England leading after Round 1 of the Women’s Six Nations Festival and New Zealand launched a 10-year strategy to support the growth and development of women’s rugby in the country. 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

• Round one of the Women’s Six Nations Festival at Wellington College in Berkshire saw France and England win both of their opening fixtures and wins for Wales and Ireland:
  • England U18 10-0 Wales U18
  • England U18 21-0 Scotland U18
  • Wales U18 17-7 Scotland U18
  • France U18 24-15 Ireland U18
  • Italy U18 0-55 France U18
  • Ireland U18 10-0 Italy U18
• We’re all anxious for updates from World Rugby about the new WXV competition and it’s rumored that RAN’s XVs Champion will not be included this year but could be in the future
• New Zealand Rugby has launched a 10-year transformative strategy to support the growth and development of women and girls rugby in the country

Domestic

• The Waratahs lead the Super W with 3 wins and 15 points, Queensland is in second with 14 points and Fijiana Drua follow in third with 9 points
• The final round of the Energia AIL Cup has completed and we now know who will play in the Cup, Plate and Shield Finals on April 23:
  • Cup Final: Railway Union v UL Bohemian
  • Plate Final: Galwegians v Blackrock College
  • Shield Final: Wicklow v Old Belvedere
• The Allianz Premier Final will be June 24 at Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester and will be live on BT Sport, The BBC and Premier15s.com
  • Semi-finals will be June 10-11 played at the home ground of the higher placed semi-finalist and these matches will also be broadcast on the above channels

7s

• Qualification for USA’s CRC 7s on April 28-30 in Washington, DC are almost finished:
  • 16 Premier Cup teams
    • Aquinas College, Brown University, Iowa State University, Iowa State University, Kutztown University, Michigan State University, Montana State University, Southern Nazarene University, U.S. Military Academy, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, University of Northern Iowa, Virginia Tech
  • 8 Division I Club teams
    • Boise State University, Clemson University, Colgate University, Cornell University, University of Pittsburgh
  • 12 Division II teams
    • Colorado School of Mines, Coastal Carolina University, Grand Valley State University, Roger Williams University
  • 12 Small College teams
    • Missouri Science & Technology, St. Bonaventure University, University of South Dakota

Women’s Rugby Features

• The Rugby Breakdown previews the Twin Cities Amazons ahead of the start of the WPL
• Scotland head coach Bryan Easson insists there is a lot to be positive about despite his side’s difficult start to the 2023 TikTok Women’s Six Nations
• Preliminary data from Worl Rugby instrumented gum shield trials finds women players sustain 55% of higher force impacts (40G+) in training
• We share our top women’s rugby books
• WPL announced their new Board of Directors
• In her BBC Sport Wales column, Wales number eight Sioned Harries talks about the elation of winning in Edinburgh and looks ahead to the challenge of England
• Black Ferns Sevens captain Sarah Hirini is heading to Japan to play professional sevens for the Pearls club
• Fiona Coghlan says she saw more “fight” in the Irish side that fell to a record defeat to France but talk of an improvement on their defeat to Wales is “a bit patronising”
• Wales’ Natalia John is playing for her three-year-old nephew Morgan who is battling a rare form of cancer
• Wales women are using a menstrual-cycle tracking app in an effort to improve the team’s performances at the Women’s Six Nations
• England fly-half Holly Aitchison opens up about her battle with the skin condition
• Zainab Alema quit nursing, and defied cultural expectations, in order to pursue her dream of playing for England
• When Tanya Dearns started as CEO of Mid-Canterbury Rugby Union last year, she asked a simple question: Why were girls who wanted to play rugby being treated like boys?
• The 2023 MA Sorensen Award Nominees have been named
• In her second installment of her TikTik Women’s Six Nations column, Amy Cokayne reflects on a memorable weekend in Northampton

Women’s Rugby Media

• Wales’ Kerin Lake opens up on the devastation of getting injured weeks before the RWC
• Get to know Marlie Packer from O2 Inside Line
• Happiness is Egg Shaped talks with Ireland’s Anna Caplice
• Rugby Hive features Ireland’s Alan Gattinger and her Canadian roots
• Recharged looks back at Round 2 of the Six Nations
• International Rugby Players talks with Dr. Deirdre Lyons about the importance of players to prepare for life after sport
  
   
• Allianz Premier caught up with the Robinson sisters from the Quins and Exeter
• Zainab Alema is a trained neonatal nurse and mother of three hoping to become the first Black Muslim woman to play rugby for England
• Premier Rugby Sevens introduced a new series where they are hoping to Find America’s Next Great Rugby Stard