Women’s Rugby Rundown for Jun 26-Jul 2

Top Women’s Rugby Stories

XVs

International

• New Zealand easily defeated Australia 50-0 in the Pacific Four Series [link]
• Brazil and Colombia have announced their teams ahead of their WXV Challenge matches on July 5 and 9
• As part of their preparation for the WXV Challenge match against Italy on July 22, Spain is set to play Japan in Alcobendas on July 9, and again in Guadalajara on July 15 [link]
• World Rugby held a ‘Shape of the Game’ Conference last week and focused on improving player and fan experiences [link]
• Simon Middleton has joined Japan as the women’s High-Performance Adviser [link]

Premier & Club

• Premier 15s has undergone a name change and will now be known as Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) and will have 10 teams next year [link]
  • They also announced a partnership with the Women’s Sports Group to deliver their media rights strategy [link]
• Bulls Daisies continue to lead South Africa’s Premier Division but the race is tightening with DHL Western Province at 28 points, Border Ladies at 27 and the Golden Lions at 14 points. [link]
• Gemma Hallett breaks down the proposed club league structures for Wales where there is no longer a Premiership [link]
• Life West defeated Chicago NS in WPL’s Round 9; the league is on break until August 12 [link]

7s

International

• Great Britain triumphed at the Krakow European Games, earning their spot for the Paris 2024 Olympics [link]
  • With Poland securing second place and Czechia causing an upset against Spain to take third, both teams have clinched their positions in the Final Qualification Tournament set for June 2024
• Zambia, Ghana and Zimbabwe will join South Africa, Madagascar, Uganda, Kenya and Tunisia in Africa‘s Qualifier on October 14-15 for the 2024 Olympics [link]
• Japan announced that their 2024 Olympic Qualifier will be at Mikuni World Stadium in Kitakyushu on November 18-19

Domestic

• The Loonies won the Western Conference Kickoff for PR 7s [link]
  • After two stops of PR 7s, the Headliners are leading it all [link]

Women’s Rugby Features

• Alice Soper reminds us how the Pacific Four Series tournament came to be and how it can influence teams for the 2025 Rugby World Cup [link]
• Siobhan Cattigan’s family is still waiting for answers from the Scottish Rugby Union [link]
• Great Britain’s Abbie Brown and Danielle Waterman talked to RugbyPass about GB 7s first year competing on the World Rugby 7s Series [link]
• Rugby Journal features Wasps’ 40 year history [link]
• The US Rugby Hall of Fame was announced with Dr. Julia McCoy as the lone female [link]
• Kathryn Johnson is an Olympian, USA Eagle and Minnesota Firefighter [link]
• Rocky Clark opens up to Rugby Journal about the ups and downs of her English career and her ambition to become a top commentator [link]
• Su Carty and Ada Milby have been added to the World Rugby Executive Board [link]
• Ireland’s Anna Caplice writes that elite female athletes are forced to protest again and again to demand better [link]
• Claire Thomas takes a final look at Gloucester-Hartpury’s win and how their captain poured her World Cup heartbreak into a history-making campaign [link]
• Fiona Thomas writes for Telegraph that Allianz Women’s Premier Rugby has a new name but there are three further changes that need to be made [link]

Women’s Rugby Media

• A Conversation on Pride with Canada’s Paige Farries and Julia Schell [link]
• Jasmine Joyce reacts to qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics with Great Britain [link]
• It was quite the night as GB 7s booker their tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics [link]
• Canada’s Renee Gonzalez was on The Rugby Sevens Rollercoaster talking PR 7s [link]
• Relive the best of the action from an unforgettable day at Queensholm: the 2022/23 Allianz Premier 15s Final [link]
• Poland made history when they defeated Spain at the European Games, giving them a chance to make the Final Qualification Tournament [link]