Women’s Rugby News for May 1-7

Welcome to the top women’s rugby news in under 60 seconds for May 1-7. We learned that WXV 1 will be played in New Zealand Oct 21, 28 and Nov 4, WXV 2 will be played in Cape Town, South Africa on Oct 14, 21 and 28 and WXV 3 locations and dates will be announced soon.

In more XVs news, Greg McWilliams stepped down from Ireland while England announced John Mitchell is taking over as head coach but won’t take on the role until after the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Fijiana Drua won back to back Super W titles, South Africa’s Premier Division kicked off with wins by EP Queens, Bulls Daisies and DHL Western Province, Watsonian beat Corstorphine to win Scotland’s Sarah Beaney Cup, Beantown leads USA’s WPL and we will know the Final Four teams in USA’s D1 and D2 by May 21.

We close out the week with 11 features and 12 media.

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tl;dr: Women’s Rugby in 60 secs for May 1-7 saw more details about World Rugby’s WXV announced and Fijiana Drua won back to back Super W titles.

60 Second Video Update

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Your wrugbyNews in under 60 seconds for May 1-7 saw more details about World Rugby’s WXV announced and Fijiana Drua won back to back Super W titles. 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

• Netherlands beat Hong Kong 19-17 in a friendly International
• Hong Kong beat Sweden 22-17 in a friendly International
• Ireland confirmed the departure of Greg McWilliams after less than 18 months in charge and a disastrous Six Nations campaign
  • John McKee will oversee the management team while assistants Niamh Briggs and Denis Fogarty remain in place
• World Rugby finally announces more details about the WXV
  • WXV 1 will take place in New Zealand (exact locations TBD) on the weekends of Oct 21, 28 and Nov 4
  • WXV 2 will be played in Cape Town, South Africa on Oct 14, 21 and 28
  • WXV 3 locations and dates are still TBD
• World Rugby and Gallagher, a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services company, announced a multi-year global partnership establishing Gallagher as an Official Partner of women’s rugby and Rugby World Cup 2025
• John Mitchell has been named the new head coach of the Red Roses, and will take up the role after the 2023 Rugby World Cup
  • Louise Deacon continues as forwards coach and will lead the team until Mitchell joins
  • Sarah Hunter is appointed as transition coach and Lou Meadows has been promoted to attack coach while Charlie Hayter becomes head of women’s performance
• Brasil announced the Americas Rugby Trophy and WXV 3 Qualifiers but then deleted the tweet…

Premier & Club

• Fijiana Drua won back to back Super W titles when they beat the Reds 38-30
• EP Queens lead South Africa’s Premier Division but only on differential, they are chased by Bulls Daisies and DHL Western Province
  • Bulls Daisies became the first professional club in South Africa with 35 contracted players
• Watsonian beat Corstorphine 26-25 to win the Sarah Beaney Cup
  • Hullhead Jordanhill beat Perthshire for the National Bowl Final
  • West of Scotland defeated Cartha Queens 19-12 for the National Shield Final
  • Grangemouth beat Oban Lorne 31-22 for the National Plate Final
• USA’s WPL sees Beantown lead but only by differential, Colorado Gray Wolves and Berkeley also have 10 points each
• USA Club D1 saw no changes but we will know all of the Final Four teams by next weekend
• USA Club D2 saw Knoxville win the Gulf Coast Super Regional over Tampa Bay; next up is the Pacific Super Regional on May 12-13 and Norther Super Regional May 20-21

College

• USA’s Spring Championship was this weekend and the Claremont Foxes won back to back in D2 while the D1 was cancelled due to one team being unable to field an eligible side

7s

International

• The last stop of the HSBC 7s Series is in Toulouse, France this weekend, we’ll have more on that soon on the site
• Ruby Tui announced she had re-signed with the Black Ferns and that she was taking a sabbatical; we now know that the sabbatical was so she could play PR 7s in the USA
• RAN 7s will be in Langford, BC this year August 19-20 and it also serves as an Qualifier for the 2024 Olympics

College

• Life University took home the Championship at the CRRA 7s

Women’s Rugby Features

• Black becomes first woman to chair Scottish Rugby
• “I’m so proud of this team”: Portugal women’s captain Correia enjoys Trophy success
• USA’s Kate Zachary talks with Rugby Pass about how far apart club and the International game are
• Physiotherapy PhD student & Irish Rugby International Kathryn Dane led this groundbreaking research to amplify women’s voices of their experiences of tackle injury in women’s rugby union
• The new coach guiding the Black Ferns, Allan Bunting, has a sit-down chat with Alice Soper on the environment he’s trying to create, closing the yawning gap for women’s rugby and what’s next for Ruby Tui
• ‘We have taken massive steps’: Scotland’s women striding cautiously into a promising future post-Six Nations
• The Amy Cokayne column: Q&As, record crowds and a nervy watch
• How are brands harnessing the power of women’s sport?
• Jessy Trémoulière’s message to the next generation
• Jodie Ounsley: Exeter Chiefs winger leaves Premier 15s side to join Gladiators TV series
• Irish problems run far deeper than a change of coach

Women’s Rugby Media

• 14 year old Miangola has her heart set on rugby
• Make sure to listen to WRP 146 and 147
• Sarah Nicholas has a busy life juggling playing for the Warriors and a career in Warwickshire Police
• Jodie Ounsley was on the Gladiators Fury & Steel debut show on BBC One
• Abby Guistaitis shares how she found rugby with the Rugby Sevens Rollercoaster show
• Queensland winger Heleina Young shares her journey to rugby
• Is winning the World Cup the only marker of success for the Red Roses and their new coaching team?
• Nick Heath breaks down the World Rugby WXV in a 2 part video
• England’s Sadia Kabeya is looking into developing a satin scrum cap
• Sue Day MBE discusses the work that went into forging the Red Roses record-breaking day in the sun
• Episode 6 of HerStory from Wales rugby
• What next for the Irish women’s rugby team, with head coach Greg McWilliams set to depart?