Women’s Rugby News for Apr 24-30

Welcome to the top women’s rugby news in under 60 seconds for Apr 24-30. Five teams have qualified for the WXV, England won the Grand Slam (again) and South Africa qualified for the 2024 HSBC 7s Series.

In more XVs news, France placed second in the Six Nations, Wales third, Scotland fourth, Italy fifth and Ireland got the Wooden Spoon. This means that England, France and Wales qualified for WXV 1 while Scotland qualified for WXV 2, Italy will face the European Champion Spain where the winner qualifies for WXV 2 and the runner-up goes down to WXV 3, and Ireland qualified for WXV 3 by placing last in the Six Nations.

In domestic XVs news, Exeter won back-to-back Allianz Cup titles, Majadahonda won the Iberdrola League, and Fijiana Drua and the Reds will face off in the Super W Final this weekend.

We close out the week with 9 features and 6 media. 

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tl;dr: Women’s Rugby in 60 secs for April 24-30 saw five teams qualify for WXV, England won the Grand Slam (again) and South Africa qualified for the 2024 HSBC 7s Series.

60 Second Video Update

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@yscrugby

Your #wrugby News in under 60 seconds for April 24-30 saw five teams qualify for WXV, England won the Grand Slam (again) and South Africa qualified for the 2024 HSBC 7s Series. 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

• Who has qualified for WXV already and how will the rest of the teams be determined? We’ve got you covered with our infographics and accompanying explainer!
• England won the 2023 TikTok Six Nations winning 38-33 over France
  • This is their fifth Grand Slam in a row
  • England and France have qualified for WXV 1
• Wales placed third overall beating Italy 36-10
  • Wales has qualified for WXV 1
  • Italy will face Spain (European Champion) where the winner will qualify for WXV 2 and the runner-up goes to WV3
• Scotland placed fourth by beating Ireland 36-10
  • Scotland qualified for WXV 2 while Ireland qualified for WXV 3
• The 2024 TikTok Six Nations fixtures have also been released with play beginning March 23 and ending April 27

Domestic

• Exeter has won back-to-back Allianz Cup fixtures beating Saracens 29-19
• Majadahonda beat the Crocodiles 39-22 to win the Iberdrola League
• Fijiana Drua and the Reds move on to the Super W Final after beating Waratahs 20-17 and the Brumbies 23-20 respectively
• USA Club saw action in D1 and D2 this week:
  • D1
    • NOVA won the Atlantic Championship over Raleigh 66-4 and moves on the Final Four
  • D2
    • Severn River defeated Phoexniville 36-31 in the Atlantic Championship
    • Atomic Sisters beat Las Vegas 31-20 in the Southwest Championship
    • Sacramento Amazons won the NorCal Championship

7s

International

• South Africa won the second leg of the Sevens Challenger Series over Belgium 17-14 and secured their place in the 2024 HSBC 7s
  • China placed third beating Czechia 31-15
• Europe announced the dates for their 7s Series which include Olympic Qualification and the European Games

Domestic

• CRC 7s crowned four Champions who battled treacherous rain and wind:
  • Premier: Brown University
  • DI: Clemson University
  • DII: Roger Williams University
  • Small College: Endicott College
• CRAA Premier 7s kick off in Houston, TX this weekend with four pools:
  • Pool A: Life, Army, Davenport, CRAA Selects
  • Pool B: Dartmouth, Central Washington, Long Island, West Chester
  • Pool C: Lindenwood, Sacred Heart, AIC, California
  • Pool D: Harvard, Penn State, New Haven, Grand Canyon

Women’s Rugby Features

• Becky Grey of BBC looks at the key questions for the future after a record-breaking Six Nations tournament
• Deirbhile Nic a Bháird is one of the standout performers for Ireland says Independent journalist Sinéad Kissane
• Capgemini Women in Rugby Leadership Programme 2023 scholars announced to support the new generation of female leaders in rugby
• Black Ferns’ were inspired by World War II heroine Nancy Wake during the 2017 Rugby World Cup
• Preparations for England’s Rugby World Cup 2025 hosting have reached another significant milestone with the appointment of Sarah Massey as Managing Director of the Local Operating Company (LOC), a joint venture between World Rugby and the RFU
• Charlie Morgan writes for Telegraph about Gabrielle Vernier, whose Six Nations has been one big highlight reel
• Sara Beckett decided to reinvent herself after World Cup heartbreak, Telegraph shares her journey
• World Rugby launches Accelerate to fast-track the development of women’s rugby on the road to RWC 2025
• Tournament organizers released the five stats and records from the 2023 Six Nations
  • Twickenham hosted 58,498 attendees, breaking the stand-alone women’s rugby fixture previously placed at the 2021 RWC
  • Marlie Packer scored a sensational 7 tries during the tournament, the most of any player
  • Alex Callendar scored the first try of the tournament back on March 25
  • Three big names are retiring including Sara Barattin, Jessy Tremouliere, and Sarah Hunter
  • 2.2 million likes were suprassed during the Championship with the preview of the Grand Slam decider gaining 6.2 million views alone

Women’s Rugby Media

• BBC ScrumV had Philippa Tuttiett and Laura- Jane Jones on to look ahead to Wales’ final Six Nations match in Italy
• Sage reveals the power of the data behind the 2023 TikTok Six Nations tournament
• 20 years since the Red Roses played their first fixture at Twickenham Stadium, captain Maxine Edwards and tryscorer Claire Frost return to relive a special day
• Former captain Gill Burns delivers a speech to match the occasion as the past and current players come together to unveil the first women’s honours board at Twickenham Stadium
• Level interviews Sadia Kabeya ahead of her 13th camp for England in the Grand Slam
• Abby Dow catches up with Claudia MacDonald and a host of England teammates to remember a special try from the 2021 RWC