Women’s Rugby News for Apr 17-23

Welcome to the top women’s rugby news in under 60 seconds for April 17-23. England and France will face off in the TikTok Six Nations Grand Slam while Wales and Scotland fight for third place AND automatic placement in WXV 1.

In 7s news, South Africa won the first leg of the Sevens Challenger Series while Belgium placed second, China third and Poland fourth. The final leg is this coming weekend and the overall winner will receive automatic entry to the 2024 HSBC Sevens Series.

In domestic XVs news, Railway Union won the Energia AIL Cup, Exeter and Saracens will contend the Allianz Cup on Sunday, the Crocodiles and Majadahonda will battle in the Iberdrola semi-finals this weekend, Fijiana Drua, Waratahs, Reds and Brumbies are into the Super W semi-finals this weekend, USA Club is getting closer to knowing all the Super Regional teams, USA’s WPL saw Berkeley move to the top of the standings and the Dr Farah Palmer Cup fixtures have been released.

We close out the week with 12 features and 9 media.

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tl;dr: Women’s Rugby in 60 secs for April 17-23 saw England remain undefeated along with France meaning they will face off in the TikTok Six Nations Grand Slam while Wales and Scotland fight for third place AND automatic placement in WXV 1.

60 Second Video Update

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@yscrugby

Your #wrugby News in under 60 seconds for April 17-23 saw England remain undefeated along with France meaning they will face off in the TikTok Six Nations Grand Slam while Wales and Scotland fight for third place AND automatic placement in WXV 1. Watch our video & read the entire update using the link in our bio! #womensrugby #wrugby #rugbyunion #rugbytok

♬ original sound - YSCRugby

Top Women’s Rugby Stories

XVs

International

• Scotland beat Italy 29-21 to move up to 4th place in the table
• England kept Ireland scoreless winning 48-0 and they maintained their top spot in the standings
• France defeated a feisty Wales 39-14 to maintain second place in the standings
• WXV is starting to come into focus:
  • WXV 1: England and France are now confirmed; Wales and Scotland fight for the last spot
  • WXV 2: Italy, Wales/Scotland
  • WXV 3: Ireland
• The European Trophy returns June 16-18 in Zagreb, Croatia and July7-8 in Budapest, Hungary
• The Pacific Four Series will have matches on July 8 and July 14 in Ottawa, CA
• New Zealand announced 34 contracted players as they build towards the 2025 Rugby World Cup

Domestic

• Railway Union captured a back-to-back Energia AIL title, this time in the Cup competition as they beat UL Bohemian 28-12
• Exeter and Saracens will contest the Allianz Cup on Sunday while they also play out the rest of the placements
• The Crocodiles and Majadahonda will battle in the Iberdrola semi-finals this weekend
• Fijiana Drua, Waratahs, Reds and Brumbies are into the Super W semi-finals to be played on April 30
• USA Club is getting closer to knowing all the Super Regional teams
• USA’s WPL saw Berkeley move to the top of the standings with New York, Beantown and Chicago NS in the hunt
• The Dr Farah Palmer Cup fixtures have been released, matches will begin July 15 with the Championships in late summer

7s

• South Africa has claimed the first leg of the 2023 Sevens Challenger Series after beating Belgium 17-10
  • China placed third, Poland fourth, Madagascar fifth and Colombia sixth
  • Saturday saw heavy rain and the live stream struggled with technical issues
  • The second leg and final leg is Apr 29-30, winner receives automatic entry to the 2024 HSBC World Series
• PR7s has released their entire schedule starting on June 17 in Austin and culminating in the Championship on August 6 in Washington, D.C.
• USA’s CRCs has announced their Premier, Division 1, Division 2 and Small College teams ahead of their event on April 28-30 in Washington, D.C.

Women’s Rugby Features

• Defending Super W champions the Fijiana Drua were forced to rely on Brisbane families to feed them in the lead-up to a crunch game against the Reds last week
• Tatyana Heard’s various battles through serious injury have imbued her with the kind of resilience needed to thrive in international rugby
• Nelly Strickland joins the Black Ferns as a manager, previously she worked with the Black Ferns 7s side
• The Irish Times writes the only way is up only if IRFU listen to people who ‘give a f**k’ about women’s rugby
• Susie Appleby, former England international and current head coach of the Exeter Chiefs. Appleby, who was capped for England 65 times, disclosed that the IRFU has ignored her calls and messages
• Wales wing Carys Williams-Morris ‘so grateful’ for RAF support
• Alena Olsen is driving sustainability efforts at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center (EATC), where she organized and participated in several events this week to celebrate Earth Day
• Brian O’Driscoll speaks all things women’s rugby and women’s sport – calling for more visibility in the media and more support from men
• World Rugby Museum looks back at the Red Roses match at Twickenham Stadium
• Fans are right to ask the question: does Ireland really care about women’s rugby?
• Ireland captain Nichola Fryday spoke out against the negative comments about her teams commitment and ability that has been plastered all over social media
• Stop proposing different rules for women in sport and start treating them like the badasses they are

Women’s Rugby Media

• The episode of Her Sports Six Nations from earlier in the week is worth the listen
• South African high performance manager Lynne Cantwell recounted an incident when filming with Springbok Babalwa Latsha
• Eagle Jess Feury spoke with The Rugby Network about recent USA matches
• World Rugby has introduced their new crop of Youth Unstoppables
• Ireland captain Nichola Fryday and Dorothy Wall’s interview before their match against Ireland is a must watch
• Lindsay Peat has her say on the recent controversy surrounding an investigation into Women’s Rugby in Ireland
• YSC’s editor Wendy joined the Jack’s Rangers Show last week to talk about being the first MLR female play by play announcer, being a technical zone manager and more
• TW2 takes on the new WXV tournament, the challenges of commentating on the Six Nations tournament and how important third place is at the Six Nations
• Detysha Harper discusses her life on & off the pitch in the latest England Rugby Podcast: O2 Inside Line