Women’s Rugby Rundown for Sep 25-Oct 1

Women’s Rugby Rundown News

XVs

International

• New Zealand retained the Laurie O’Reilly Cup after they defeated Australia 43-3 [link]
• Wales will head to New Zealand for the inaugural WXV1 on the back of a morale boosting 38-18 win over the USA in horrendous conditions [link]
• England triumphed over a valiant 14-player opposition (due to a red card for the majority of the match), securing a 29-12 victory [link]
• Scotland Women triumphed 36-9 against Spain [link]
• Japan beat Italy for the first time ever in a close fought match 25-24 [link]
• Barbarians defeated a spirited Munster side in the final match of their tour 45-12 [link]
• Hong Kong announced that they will face Colombia in a WXV warmup match on October 6 [link]
• Wales has made key appointments for the Wales Women’s senior squad: Gwennan Williams as team doctor, Elin Drake as sports therapist, Eve Holcombe as kit coordinator, and Angela Daw as team manager for the WXV1 and Six Nations, covering for Hannah John on maternity leave [link]
• USA has appointed Tamara Sheppard as the General Manager of High Performance, with Sheppard joining the organization from her previous role as High Performance Director at Swimming Australia, where she led their world-class programs for both men and women for five years [link]
• Round 3 of the 2023 RWC saw wins by Uruguay, Japan, New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji, Scotland, Australia and South Africa [link]

Premier & Club

• Bristol and Gloucester-Hartpury lead the Allianz Cup Pools with 20 and 16 points respectively after four rounds [link]
• Llandaff North continues to lead Wales’ Premiership after four rounds [link]
• Watsonian 

7s

International

• China secures their second Asian Games gold in an intense match at Hangzhou Normal University, holding off Japan’s brave comeback [link]
• In the second round of the Fiji Mini 7s, Australia Green and France both achieved seven wins, leading the standings, while Fiji, New Zealand, the USA, and Australia Gold secured the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth positions, respectively. [link]
• Oceania Rugby confirmed that the 2023 Oceania Rugby Sevens Championship will be held at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane, Australia on November 10 – 12 [link]
• Australia’s Emily Chancellor spoke for the first time about the outcome of the Wallaroos’ co-ordinated action on social media last month, where anger and frustration of fed-up players finally reached boiling point [link]
• Wales captain Hannah Jones has launched a scathing attack on the lack of TV coverage in women’s rugby and has demanded answers [link]

Women’s Rugby Rundown Features

• Urban Rugby America launches to revolutionize youth empowerment through rugby in under-resourced communities [link]
• Mike Meehall Wood wrote for The Roar that the success f the National Rugby League Women’s Premiership is stealing young talent from Rugby Australia [link]
• Gary Heatly talked with Scotland’s Helen Nelson about the improving threats of their backline and how the attack can improve even more [link]
• YSC continued our ‘Pioneers of the Pitch’ series with an article about Olympian Ariana Ramsey [link]
• Maggie Alphonsi: ‘Female rugby players were treated as second-class citizens’ [link]
• Flanker Alisha Butchers went into Saturday’s WXV1 warm-up Test against the United States with the firm belief Wales’ standards have risen considerably since she was last involved [link]

Women’s Rugby Rundown Media

• England kicked off United Kingdom Black History Month by sharing Maggie Alphonsi’ incredible story [link]
• O2 Inside Line featured Lark Davies about her feelings around body image and the unhelpful stereotypes that exist in society [link]
• Women’s Rugby Pod is back for their 157th episode and they covered all the rugby from last week [link]
• Robyn Wilkins welcomes fly-half battle after Elinor Snowsill retires [link]
• Eagles Overseas spoke with USA’s new interim Head Coach Milton Haig and Captain Kate Zachary [link]
• BBC Sounds talks with Maggie Alphonsi about her extraordinary career, beating the haters, writing her autobiography and so much more [link]