Ilona Maher Among Top Marketable Athletes, 2025 RWC Schedule Released | WRR 177

Women’s Rugby 7s News

International

• Ilona Maher shines as SportPro’s 8th most marketable athlete of 2024, standing out as the only rugby player on the list and ranking among the top four women athletes, alongside Simone Biles, Caitlin Clark, and Rebeca Andrade [link]
• Argentina clinched their second consecutive title in Lima, taking South American 7s and securing their World Rugby Challenger Series spot with a final win over Brazil, while Colombia joined them by edging Uruguay in the third-place match [link]
• Great Britain claimed victory at Elche 7s with a 22-5 win over Spain in the final, while Czechia took 3rd, Poland 4th, Belgium 5th, and Germany fell from 2nd to 6th after a winless Day 2 [link]
• Ghana will host the 2024 Rugby Africa 7s on November 9-10, marking a historic first for West Africa as twelve teams compete in Accra for a coveted spot in the 2025 World Rugby Challenger Series [link]
• The Solomon Islands will host the 2024 Oceania Rugby 7s in Honiara on December 7-8, marking a historic moment for Pacific rugby as teams compete for coveted spots in the World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series [link]
• The 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow will feature a streamlined sports lineup, excluding 7s, hockey, badminton, squash, and rhythmic gymnastics among others, with a focus on core events like athletics, swimming, and boxing [link]

Domestic

• PR 7s will welcome home USA standouts from Paris as they take on the All Stars of PR 7s November 17 at Providence Park in Portland, OR [link]

Women’s Rugby XVs News

International

• World Rugby has announced the match schedule for the 2025 Rugby World Cup, set to be the largest yet with an expanded lineup of 16 teams—four more than the previous edition [link]
• European Conference team Finland defeated Trophy team Latvia 63-0 in a cross-conference international friendly [link]
• IRFU Announce Lynne Cantwell As Head Of Women’s Strategy [link]
• Our 2025 Fixtures & Results page has over 80 events on it already and we added the 2025 Rugby World Cup matches! [link]
• The Cape Town Wild Dogs clinched the 2024 Rugby Tens Series title, with a combined $1 million in prizes awarded over the weekend; next up is the Championship on November 23, 27, and 30 [link]

Premier & Club

• Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) has named head coaches for its six inaugural franchises in the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Twin Cities, and New York, setting the stage for the U.S.’s first professional women’s rugby league debut in March 2025 [link]
• We’ve updated the USA Club Rugby standings, debuting D3, confirming D2 Midwest QFs, adjusting EPRU and Carolinas, locking in D1 Midwest SFs, and refreshing Atlantic standings [link]
• Corstorphine remains unbeaten at the top of the Arnold Clark Premiership after 10 rounds, while Watsonian edged out Hillhead Jordanhill, breaking their 32-point tie [link]
• Railway Union holds strong at the top of the Energia AIL with an undefeated record after four rounds, while the top four teams—UL Bohemian, Wicklow, and Galwegians—begin to pull away from the pack [link]
• Toulouse and Bordeaux lead the pack, undefeated in Elite 1 after three rounds, with Blagnac and ASM Romagnat close behind in third and fourth [link]
• Saracens and Exeter Chiefs remain unbeaten in PWR Round 4, with Saracens staging a comeback over Gloucester-Hartpury and Chiefs topping Trailfinders, while Harlequins edged Loughborough Lightning and Bristol Bears dominated Sale Sharks [link]
• Gent remains undefeated at the top of Belgium’s Senior Ladies 1 after five rounds, with the fourth through seventh teams locked in a tight race, separated by just one point [link]
• Spain’s Iberdrola League kicked off with wins from Majadahonda, Sevilla, El Salvador, and AVRFCB, with El Salvador taking the lead as the only team to secure a bonus point victory [link]
• Hong Kong’s Nan Fung Group | AIRSIDE Premiership opened with bonus-point victories for Societe Generale Valley and Natixis Ice, joined by a win from Gai Wu Falcons [link]
• Italy’s Serie A Elite kicked off with bonus-point wins from Valsugana, Colorno, Villorba, and Capitolina, with Valsugana topping the table on point differential [link]

Women’s Rugby Features

• Ilona Maher in talks with English clubs ahead of Women’s Rugby World Cup [link]
• South Africa’s Sinazo Mcatshulwa makes history as the first Womenbok to join a French club, signing with Lille Métropole RC Villeneuvois [link]
• With cautious optimism, USA’s Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) readies for its 2025 launch, aiming to build on the WPL’s foundation and secure a place on the U.S. sports scene as a pathway to the World Rugby Challenger Series [link]
• Aston Old Edwardians Women celebrated a special milestone as mother-daughter duo Sam Hart and Lucy Thewlis took the field together for the first time against Birmingham Moseley Women [link]
• Keira Bevan: ‘Wales need to find an edge to compete at Rugby World Cup’ [link]
• Connacht Rugby plan to have fully professional women’s team within five years [link]
• Women’s Elite Rugby looking to send USA Eagles to the next level [link]
• Ella Lovibond: Bears’ Student Development Officer [link]
• Wales makes key appointments to national pathway coaching set-up [link]
• Olga Niyibizi: From Misfit to Mentor, Finding Belonging in Rugby [link]
• Super Rugby Aupiki: Portia Woodman-Wickliffe returns to New Zealand with the Blues [link]
• Women’s World Cup has the hallmarks of gamechanger for rugby union [link]
• WXV reflections: ‘Lessons and experience are the real golden nuggets’ [link]
• All “Go” for England 2025 [link]
• Balancing Life, School, and Rugby: How Josie Rogers Does It All [link]

Women’s Rugby Media

• The Power Pod: Philippa and Nick welcome Liv McGoverne, Sydney Gregson, Mouritz Botha, plus a lively debate with Zainab Alema on bear vs. tiger, RWC draw reactions, listener questions, and more [link]
• The Womens Rubgy Show: Bristol’s Millie David is the PWR’s top scorer, but how much is she enjoying life with the Bears [link]
• Rugby Hive: Spiff Sedrick [link]
• Some lovely footage of the 1994 Rugby World Cup has been shared [link] and [link]

Women’s Rugby Jobs

• Fijiana XVs Head Coach [link]
• Major League Rugby, Chief Commercial Officer [link]
• USA Men’s 7s Analyst Internship [link]