Women’s Rugby Rundown for Apr 22-May 5

Women’s Rugby Rundown News

7s

International

• New Zealand came out 31-21 victors against Australia in a straight shootout to be crowned SVNS League Winners 2024 and the first ever women’s HSBC SVNS Singapore champions [link]
  • France beat Fiji 29-7 for the Bronze medal
  • Ireland beat Japan 19-17 for 5th
  • Canada beat Great Britain 17-5 for 7th
    • With GB placement at 8th they survive and will fight it out in the Grand Final in Madrid
  • USA placed 9th after losing 5-0 to South Africa while USA’s Alev Kelter became the fifth woman to cross 1,000 career SVNS points [link]
  • Portia Woodman-Wickliffe scored her 250th SVSN try [link]
  • In the women’s Grand Final, we’ll witness powerhouse teams like New Zealand, Australia, France, USA, Canada, Fiji, Ireland, and Great Britain, while Japan, Brazil, South Africa, and Spain gear up for the promotion and relegation battles [link]
    • Also participating in the promotion and relegation battle will be the top teams from the HSBC Sevens Challenger; the last stop in that series is May 18-19 in Krakow [link]
• France will defend their European Champions title in a two-part Championship Series held in Makarska (June 7-9) and Hamburg (June 28-30),  Turkey and Croatia’s promotion to the top division, joining Ukraine in the Championship after their stellar performance in 2023 Trophy level [link]
  • Czechia, Poland, Great Britain, and Spain teams will compete in the World Rugby repechage tournament in Monaco from June 21st to 24th
• The IGRugby Bingham Cup will be streamed live on The Rugby Network on May 26 in Rome [link]

XVs

International

• WXV
  • We now know eight of the 18 teams for the WXV later this year [link]
  • England, France and Ireland qualified for WXV 1 while Scotland and Italy qualified for WXV 2
  • As European Champion, Spain will face Wales in a play-off to decide who will play in WXV 2 or 3, the match will be played this summer on a date and venue yet to be confirmed [link]
  • The 2027 British & Irish Lions Tour spells a hiatus for the WXV Tournament, offering a boon for players from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but leaving others sidelined for the year [link]
• England won their sixth Guinness Women’s Six Nations championship in row after defeating France 42-21 [link]
  • France placed second in the standings, Ireland third, Scotland fourth, Italy fifth and Wales received the Wooden Spoon for placing last [link]
  • Several attendance records were broken Wales beat Italy in front of 10,592 at Principality Stadium, 28,000 watched England beat France, Ireland had 7,486 in the seats as they won over Scotland [link]
• Madagascar upset Kenya in the first match of the Africa Cup, this is their first win against the Lionesses since 2021 [link]
• South Africa got their Africa Cup off to a strong start as they defeated Cameroon 55-0 [link]
• Zimbabwe and Zambia also met this weekend (outside of the Africa Cup) and Zimbabwe won by two points, 19-17 [link]
• Canada made a statement in the first Pacific Four Series match as they defeated the USA 50-7, matches resume May 10 in New Zealand [link]
• This week kicked off with a roaring start for International events and matches! Stay in the loop by checking out our Fixtures and Results page [link]
  • Australia confirmed they will play Ireland for the first time in seven years on September 14 [link]
  • England announced they will play France on September 7 and New Zealand on September 14 [link]
• The Celtic Challenge will return for a third year, with an expanded competition format launching in December 2024, featuring ten rounds to provide increased game time and development opportunities for the six competing teams on the road to the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 [link]

Premier & Club

• The NSW Waratahs have claimed their fifth Super Rugby Women’s title with a 50-14 win over the Fijian Drua at Ballymore [link]
• Saracens conquered the Allianz Cup with a win over Bristol Bears 31-17 [link]
  • Gloucester-Hartpury beat Exeter 26-14 to place third in the Allianz Cup
• UL Bohemian upset reigning Champion Railway Union 48-38 to claim this year’s Energia AIL title, their first since 2018 [link]
• The Black Pearls continue their undefeated run in Uganda’s Nile Special Rugby Premiership League [link]
  • Emilly Lekuru is creeping closer to 70 tries [link]
• USA Rugby Club held their Super Regionals to determine the Final Four in Women’s Division 1 and 2:
  • WD1
    • Atlantic Champion NOVA vs. Pacific Champion San Diego
    • Frontier Red River Champion Utah Vipers vs. Northern Champion Pittsburgh Forge
  • WD2
    • Atlantic Champion Phoenixville vs. Pacific Champion Sacramento Amazons
    • Gulf Coast Champion Tampa Bay Krewe vs. Northern Champion South Buffalo
• Week 2 of the WPL saw impressive victories for Chicago NS, Berkeley, and New York, maintaining the unbeaten streak for New York, Berkeley, and CO Gray Wolves, who clinched their win in Week 1 [link]
• The Vancouver Thunderbirds secured their third consecutive BC Premier title with a commanding 38-22 victory over Westshore [link]
• ACRFCB, CR Majadahonda, Sant Cugat and CRAT have moved into the Iberdrola League semifinals on May 12 [link]
• Free State earn first win as Bulls and Boland power on in South Africa’s Premier Division [link]
• Sao Paulo Capital continues to lead Brasil’s XV after two rounds [link]

Women’s Rugby Rundown Features

• Learn more about the 2024 Oceania Championships [link]
• New Wallaroos coach Jo Yapp unafraid to make the hard choices [link]
• With England set to welcome New Zealand to Twickenham in September, Red Roses captain Marlie Packer can’t wait for thousands to flock to HQ [link]
• Contested Rugby reviews the Guinness Women’s Six Nations [link]
• Catherine Richards blazing a trail in rugby from Abu Dhabi to Wales [link]
• Learn more about the 2024 Africa Cup [link]
• 2024 MA Sorensen Awarded to USA Eagle Freda Tafuna [link]
• England’s Six Nations blitz built on sacrificing discipline for dynamism [link]
• England’s Kildunne to join GB Sevens before Olympics [link]
• As of Tuesday, there are just 100 days until Paris 2024, and anticipation is mounting for what promises to be the most thrilling rugby sevens yet [link]
• Tamika Jones: Western Force Women’s and former Joondalup player makes comeback after lengthy recovery [link]
• Learn more about the Pacific Four Series [link]

Women’s Rugby Rundown Media

• Watch the highlights of Madagascar upsetting Kenya in the 2024 Africa Cup [link]
• Keiko Asami is an inspirational Japanese player who is sharing her women’s Rugby World Cup dreams with the next generation [link]
• Nick Heath gives us a different view of the Red Roses W6N victory [link]
• The Good, The Scaz, and The Rugby recap the Red Roses Grand Slam [link]
• Wales released their W6N finale of Her Story: Connected by Vodafone [link]
• With the Ireland Women’s team qualified for the 2025 Rugby World Cup, Anna Caplice says now is the time to start preparing and getting the best in class all set up, from players to coaches [link]
• They won three games and scored 17 tries last year compared to one game and seven tries this year… what went wrong for Wales in the Women’s Six Nations? [link]
• Scrumqueens reviews how all the teams fare and where do they go next? [link]
• Emily Robinson’s grand final milestone shines light on Waratahs’ rich women’s history [link]
• Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham was ambushed by his players while on camera [link]
• US Rugby Happy Hour had Captain Kate Zachary on to talk all things rugby [link]
• Watch the 1994 Women’s Rugby Cup Final between England and USA [link]

Rugby Jobs

• Harlequins Communications and Digital Placement Student [link]
• Scotland Internal Communications Lead [link]