Welcome to the top women’s rugby news in under 60 seconds for Apr 10-16. Round 3 of the TikTok Six Nations saw England maintain the top spot in the standings followed by France and Wales, and Portugal continues to lead the European Trophy with a win over Germany 20-5.
In more XVs news, Round 1 of the WPL saw wins for Beantown, All Blues and the Gray Wolves, USA’s Club D1 saw no major changes while D2 crowned four Regional Champions, in Round 2 of the Super W, Western Force, Waratahs and Brumbies all won their matches, and we now know the four semi-finalists for Spain’s Iberdrola League which will be played this weekend.
In 7s news, the first stop of the World Rugby 7s Challenger Series is this weekend in Stellenbosch, South Africa while it was announced that Uruguay and the European Games will have Olympic Qualifying Tournaments on June 17-18 in Montevideo, Uruguay and June 25 and 27th in Krakow, Poland.
We close out the week with 30 features and 15 media.
We need you! Become a supporter of our site at https://www.patreon.com/yscrugby.
tl;dr: Women’s Rugby in 60 secs for Apr 10-16 saw England continue to lead the TikTok Six Nations and Portugal is still on top of the European Trophy.
60 Second Video Update
@yscrugby Your #wrugby News in under 60 seconds for Apr 10-16 saw England continue to lead the TikTok Six Nations and Portugal is still on top of the European Trophy. Watch our video & read the entire update using the link in our bio! #womensrugby #wrugby #rugbyunion #rugbytok
♬ original sound - YSCRugby
Can’t watch on TikTok? Watch on Youtube or any of our other social media channels.
Top Women’s Rugby Stories
XVs
International
- Round 3 of the TikTok Six Nations saw France win over Scotland 55-0, Italy beat Ireland 24-7, and England defeated Wales 59-3
- Matchday 2 and 3 for the U18 Six Nations saw wins for Wales, Ireland, England, Italy, and France
- Portugal beat Germany 20-5 in the European Trophy and they maintained their top of the table with 20 points, Finland has 9 and Germany has 8
- We’ve got all the Internationals listed on our website and we circle back with results, check it out here
Domestic
- Round 1 of the WPL saw wins for Beantown, All Blues and Gray Wolves
- USA Club D1 saw no changes while D2 crowned Regional Championships and are moving on to their respective Super Regionals:
- Capital – Severn River
- True South – Knoxville Minx
- Florida – Tampa Bay Krewe
- Carolinas – Charlotte Hurricanes
- USA Club National Championships will be June 2-4 in St. Charles, MO
- The Crocodiles, Majadahonda, El Savador and Eibar RT have qualified for the Iberdrola semi-finals on April 22-23; winners will move on to the Championships on April 29
- Western Force, Waratahs and Brumbies all won their Round 2 matches in Super W; Waratahs leads the table
7s
- Stellenbosch, South Africa, will play host to the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 on April 20-22 and April 28-30; the winner of the women’s competition will secure an automatic entry to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens World Series 2024:
- Pool D: Colombia, Hong Kong, Paraguay, Poland
- Pool E: Czechia, Madagascar, Mexico, South Africa
- Pool F: Belgium, China, Papua New Guinea, Thailand
- Uruguay will host the South American Qualifying Tournament for the 2024 Olympic Games in Montevideo on June 17-18:
- Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru and Costa Rica have been invited and must confirm participation
- The European Games will include rugby 7s for the first time ever this year and it will serve as a Qualifying Tournament for the Olympics; matches will take place on June 25 and 27th in Krakow, Poland
- Participating teams include: Belgium, Czech Republic, Spain, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Turkey
- The PR 7s Championships will take place at Audi field in Washington, D.C.
- They also confirmed that CBS Sports will broadcast three tournaments while Fox Sports will air two, including the final
Women’s Rugby Features
- Western Force wingers Manasa and Martha Mataele are Super Rugby’s first husband and wife to play together
- Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team Head Coach, Kevin Rouet, has signed a contract extension that will keep Rouet at the helm of the program until the end of the 2025 Rugby World Cup cycle
- The IRFU are still stuck in a vicious cycle of their own making when it comes to women’s game
- WPL’s Beantown: New Staff, New Faces, Same Desire
- US Rugby Foundation Grants College Scholarships to 17 Athletes for 2022-23
- CBS Sports and Fox Sports FS1 have picked up PR 7s primary broadcast rights for the upcoming season
- International Day of Human Space Flight: The USA rugby players making history in space
- How Rotorua and Tauranga may help the China Women’s Sevens get to the Olympics
- Wales’ Alisha Butchers World Cup dream was cut short five days into the tournament after suffering an ACL rupture
- WPL Preview: New York Enjoys Solid Pre-Season
- Wales’ professionalism is ‘good for everyone’
- Brumbie’s Lydia Kavoa destined for rugby greatness
- Waratahs young gun Caitlyn Halse has designs on Wallaroos jersey
- Alice Soper weighs in on the Black Ferns new assistant coaches
- New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has announced an experienced coaching trio of Tony Christie, Steve Jackson and Mike Delany will join Black Ferns Director of Rugby Allan Bunting
- ‘It’s time to talk about black rugby players’ hair’, Sadia Kabeya in her first BBC column
- ‘#IGiveAF—‘ trends on social media after Telegraph investigation into Irish rugby
- Phrasing is important – It’s imperative McWilliams can be a pillar for real, meaningful change for Ireland
- USA Rugby Referee & Laws Committee announce WPL Match Officials ahead of 2023 Kickoff
- Greg McWilliams’ side Ireland took on Italy in Parma but was shrouded by a cloud of tension, with the head coach needing to deny there’s a sexist culture
- Nadine Roos keen to see local support in Challenger Series
- Emma Orr’s journey from chasing rare sheep to getting Scotland call
- Forget closer kicks, these are the changes the women’s game should make
- Irish rugby likened to ‘old boys club’ with sexism commonplace
Ireland’s men are the best team in their world – but their women’s side face an uphill battle - Katy Daley-Mclean disagrees with goal-kicking rule change idea
- Wales’ Keira Bevan: ‘Taking our kicks closer to the posts was a bizarre suggestion’
- Success at top does not mean rugby is healthy, warns New Zealand players’ chief
- WPL’s Chicago North Shore: Don’t Sleep On Us
- The Japan Rugby Football Union (Chairman: Masato Tsuchida, Minato-ku, Tokyo) has formulated the “Women’s Rugby Medium- to Long-term Strategic Plan”
- Former Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap has spent no time looking to the past and reflecting on her career, instead putting her sole focus on the future
Women’s Rugby Media
- Rugby Union Weekly covers England’s win over Wales
- The Rugby Sevens Rollercoaster talked with USA’s Naya Tapper
- TW2 talked about why they give a f*ck about women’s rugby including inequality within Ireland, Wales’ period tracking and support and Middleton’s kicking comments
- Scotland’s Jade Konkel is on The Open Side where she chatted about the tough sides of both of her professions
- The Jack’s Rangers Show talked with USA and Harlequin Jenny Kronish
- England’s O2 Inside Line talked with Tatyana Heard
- HSBC’s World of Opportunity talked with Ima and Nathan, two of the Team Liaison Officers who volunteered their time at Singapore 7s
- That Rugby Girl did a series on the history of women’s rugby last year, it’s available now in one video
- The Scrum Down had USA’s Kristi Kirshe on to take about the World Series and the 2024 Olympics
- England’s Sarah Bonar was on The Good, The Scaz and The Rugby talking about how she fell in love with the game
- Youth Unstoppables is back with more incredible stories from our young girls taking up rugby around the world
- USA’s Richard Ashfield and Summer Harris-Jones was on Eagles Overseas USA Rugby Happy Hour
- World Rugby released a cool video of kickers landing sideline conversions at the 2021 Rugby World Cup
- Corren Grant joined the official Scottish Rugby Podcast to chat about life on and off the pitch
XVs
International https://twitter.com/FranceRugby/status/1647634605439176706 https://twitter.com/Federugby/status/1647295342453440513 https://twitter.com/EnglandRugby/status/1647255493491195906 https://twitter.com/SixNationsU20/status/1647301917947707397 https://twitter.com/rugby_europe/status/1647611870008729602 https://twitter.com/SixNationsU20/status/1645834263948926977 https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1645502162414313482XVs
Domestic https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1648008589997383713 https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1647956095078395905 https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1647954361790734339 https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1647257226430631942 https://twitter.com/ferugby/status/1647616714362830848What an absolute belter of a #superw match. These semi-final spots have never been tougher to get. pic.twitter.com/aTxZazfGG7
— Jilly Collins (@JillyCollins_) April 14, 2023
7s
https://twitter.com/WorldRugby7s/status/1647905129079746564
Uruguay será sede del clasificatorio a los Juegos Olímpicos https://t.co/ua8p2WfYwq #rugbyfem
— Rugby femenino (@Rugby_femenino) April 13, 2023
https://twitter.com/eg2023en/status/1646512310473637888
Premier Rugby Sevens (@prsevens), the new US men’s and women’s rugby competition, has secured domestic coverage of its 2023 season through deals with @CBSSports and @FoxSports.#sportsbiz #rugbyunion #rugbysevens #broadcasting #mediarights #dealhttps://t.co/lWOqprGPPp
— Sportcal (@sportcal) April 14, 2023
Tickets are on-sale now at https://t.co/7o40eda3Sv
— Premier Rugby Sevens (@prsevens) April 11, 2023
Don't miss the final festival of Premier Rugby Sevens summer of rugby sevens. Live music, games and fun with non-stop action on the field!
"For 35 minutes we really competed well, we competed hard. We had to be more patient in that period, but then we were up against it after that + France really upped the tempo."
— Gary Heatly (@G_HMedia) April 17, 2023
Via @ScotsmanSport, report on France 55 @Scotlandteam 0 in @Womens6Nations https://t.co/kNC0tZKrOp
https://twitter.com/westernforce/status/1647129621241147392
https://twitter.com/RugbyCanada/status/1646906264289509379
On the latest controversy engulfing the IRFU in relation to the women's game - a vicious cycle they can't escape
— Rúaidhrí O'Connor (@RuaidhriOC) April 14, 2023
Unless the archaic governance structure is reformed and players are engaged, we're doomed to repeat the same story over and over againhttps://t.co/GVbmdMtKDE
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1646589579762323472
US Rugby Foundation Grants College Scholarships to 17 Athletes for 2022-23 https://t.co/26khGrdSDn
— Eagle Impact Rugby Academy (@salty_thompson) April 13, 2023
EXCLUSIVE: CBS Sports and Fox Sports’ FS1 have picked up @prsevens' primary broadcast rights for the upcoming season.https://t.co/Vdnf7snrnb
— Sportico (@Sportico) April 13, 2023
International Day of Human Space Flight:
— Rugby Wrap Up (@RugbyWrapUp) April 12, 2023
The @USARugby players making history in space https://t.co/Y9nlow9Isd
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1646151696567922692
Sport can be cruel. Five days into the World Cup, @Alishabutchers1 was returning home with a devastating knee injury.
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 11, 2023
She spoke to @lucylomax16 about her ACL recovery and why more research is needed.#Wales #WomensRugby
https://t.co/sQtGIJeGVh
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1645894764108103686
Roos happy to be back in green and gold, urges crowd support in #7sChallengerSeries
— Springbok Women (@WomenBoks) April 17, 2023
More here: https://t.co/xvYui9EbST#RiseUp @WorldRugby7s pic.twitter.com/sKhrNMpDgc
Once again, this Irish team are having prepare for a game where the actual rugby is the secondary story of the week.https://t.co/y9Xft2Wya9
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) April 15, 2023
Official @WPLRugby Referee Panel set ahead of tomorrow's season kick off. https://t.co/kRdlXgkxQ1
— USA Rugby (@USARugby) April 14, 2023
https://twitter.com/TalkRugbyUnion/status/1646861996078317568
Telegraph Sport uncovered an alarming amount of sexism in the sport
— Telegraph Women’s Sport (@WomensSport) April 13, 2023
✍️ @fi_tomas_#TelegraphWomensSport #TelegraphRugby
In her first @BBCSport column, @SadiaKabeya talks about something that is rarely discussed, but requires a lot of effort from black girls in rugby ⤵️https://t.co/L5IHQKVhOO
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 12, 2023
https://twitter.com/BlackFerns/status/1646234516510642178
And here's my take on the artificially shallow pool, Allan Bunting was making his picks from. https://t.co/Nt4SquPC6M
— Alice Soper (@alicesoapbox) April 13, 2023
With backyard goalposts and a fence post as a passing partner, Waratahs' Caitlyn Halse was always going to be a star.
— ESPN Scrum (@espnscrum) April 12, 2023
Three weeks into her Super W career she's proving why. https://t.co/tJyKIOHhXj
Women's Six Nations 2023: #Wales professionalism is 'good for everyone' https://t.co/P81h3wBmgS
— Sara Orchard (@Sara_Orchard) April 11, 2023
As Scotland take on France in Brittany in the Six Nations this afternoon, centre Emma Orr tells @TimesSport @timesscotland how life on the farm helped her rise to Test rugby https://t.co/kcM2sjcO9l
— Mark Palmer (@MarkPalmerST) April 16, 2023
Women in the game haven't come this far to be pitied for their physiology. Equip them with the right tools, reverse decades of underinvestment and sure enough they'll drop over https://t.co/1b4k64Qp7k
— Fi Tomas (@fi_tomas_) April 15, 2023
“Who gives a f*** about women’s rugby?” said a prominent figure in Irish rugby at a president’s dinner last month in Dublin.
— Fi Tomas (@fi_tomas_) April 13, 2023
Players denied protein. 'Horror stories' over selection. A special report on the sexism that pervades @IrishRugby*
*in 2023 https://t.co/gj6OSGzcwf
Fair to say @katymc10 is not a fan… #WomensSixNations #kicking https://t.co/MfjvUs6Hlo
— Sara Orchard (@Sara_Orchard) April 14, 2023
Wales’ Keira Bevan: ‘Taking our kicks closer to the posts was a bizarre suggestion.’
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) April 14, 2023
By @AliDonnelly https://t.co/0gkCvxFZwG
“It’s not about a bunch of, dare I say it, historically appointed boards that are male dominated, telling the woman this is how your game is going to be played"
— Rúaidhrí O'Connor (@RuaidhriOC) April 8, 2023
Spoke to NZRPA chief Rob Nichol about the state of the unions. He believes change is neededhttps://t.co/DnDa7OYWxn
https://twitter.com/yscrugby/status/1646513836563005448
日本ラグビー協会ではこのたび、日本の女子ラグビーが今後目指すべき方向性とそのアクションプランを示すものとして、「女子ラグビー中長期戦略計画」を策定いたしました。
— 日本ラグビーフットボール協会 (@JRFUMedia) April 12, 2023
当協会では「ラグビーが世界一身近にある国」を目指し、引き続き取り組んでまいります。https://t.co/eG1Ku9nydW
https://twitter.com/Womens6Nations/status/1645743500607250432
https://twitter.com/Australian_Navy/status/1645627753272582145
Is @PhilipaTuttiett ok? Find out on our ‘on the whistle’ pod with Phil and @sarah_hunter8 #Wales v #England #WomensSixNations#RugbyUnionWeekly https://t.co/kVXzEZxizZ
— Sara Orchard (@Sara_Orchard) April 15, 2023
https://twitter.com/Dallen_Stanford/status/1646958808730849280
https://twitter.com/TW2_Podcast/status/1646594940686794754
"It does open your eyes to the real world"@Scotlandteam international and firefighter, #TheOpenSide with @JadeKonkel explores the tough sides of both professions
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) April 13, 2023
https://twitter.com/JacksRangers/status/1645826927809134599
https://twitter.com/EnglandRugby/status/1645686517283577858
https://twitter.com/GoodScazRugby/status/1647126605431439360
https://twitter.com/PhilipaTuttiett/status/1646763325928161283
Listen this week on @TheScrumDownPod as @KirsheBar talks World Series, Paris 2024, and more with @AlexCorbs ⏩️ https://t.co/24Mowr4hOk pic.twitter.com/0kDuWdub78
— USA Rugby (@USARugby) April 12, 2023
Leading up to the Women’s Rugby World Cup last year I did a series on the history of women’s rugby. I’ve put all three parts together. Let me know what you think#womensrugby #history pic.twitter.com/QP07Z1AUzz
— That Rugby Girl (@Frankies_rugby) April 12, 2023
"They treat me like family" ☺️
— World Rugby 7s (@WorldRugby7s) April 11, 2023
Meet Ima and Nathan, two of the Team Liaison Officers who volunteer their time with our teams at #Singapore7s #HSBCWorldOfOpportunity | @HSBC_Sport pic.twitter.com/nAjRh4XIOb
https://twitter.com/WorldRugby/status/1646936354557939713
https://twitter.com/EaglesOverseas/status/1646605434806063137
What happens when the memories of your greatest wins are lost forever? This is what Alix Popham experienced watching his games with no recollection of them whatsoever.
— Stories of Men: Beneath the Surface (@Storiesofmen) April 12, 2023
Listen to the full episode here: https://t.co/AxGoQTeaLA
In collaboration with @Rugbyworldmag , & @AlixPopham pic.twitter.com/xdOaFXIOck
https://twitter.com/rugbyworldcup/status/1646193536457490437
https://twitter.com/Scotlandteam/status/1645384882254753792