Six Nations Round 1, WER Launches in the USA | WRR 193

Women’s Rugby 7s News

International

• The HSBC SVNS rolls on with back-to-back weekends—March 28–30 in Hong Kong and April 5–6 in Singapore—as New Zealand and Australia keep swapping wins; who takes the next two stops? [link]
• Pools are set for the next World Rugby Challenger Series stop—Uganda is out, Belgium is in, and it all kicks off April 11 in Krakow [link]
  • The top four teams from both the women’s and men’s competitions after Krakow will punch their ticket to the HSBC SVNS Promotion and Relegation Playoff Tournament in Los Angeles.

Domestic

• Rugby’s popularity in Portland spurs launch of PR 7s Academy and Youth Camps [link]

Women’s Rugby XVs News

International

• Round 1 of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations:
  • France held off a fierce Irish comeback in Belfast with a 27-15 win, surviving a second-half red card to Vernier and relying on late tries and clutch kicks from Bourgeois to seal their 20th win over Ireland in Championship history [link]
  • Scotland made it back-to-back Championship wins over Wales for the first time in 20 years, edging a tense 24-21 battle in Edinburgh with Helen Nelson steering the ship and Lea Bartlett’s late try sealing it despite a second-half red card [link]
  • England kicked off with a dominant 38-7 win over Italy in York, racking up six tries—five in the first half—and securing a bonus point as Mia Venner, Emily Scarratt, and Maddie Feaunati led the charge [link]
• Spain opened their 2025 Rugby World Cup prep with a strong 41-12 win over Brazil, scoring six tries in front of a home crowd in Torrevieja as three players made their senior debuts and Spain now shifts focus to defending their European title starting March 29 [link]
• Canada’s schedule for the 2025 Pacific Four Series is locked in—they’ll see the USA in Kansas City on May 2 before heading to New Zealand and Australia for matches on May 16 and 22 [link]
  • Alice Soper flagged that the USA vs Canada test on May 2 in Kansas City lands right before LA 7s and during a packed weekend for Club and College rugby—a major scheduling miss that USA Rugby needs to fix [link]
• USA Rugby’s 2025 Match Series is locked in, featuring England, Fiji, Japan, Canada & more [link]
• San Pedro will host the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup 2025 in April [link]

Premier & Club

• WER’s opening weekend bringing professional women’s rugby to the USA brought it all—Boston rallied from 5-17 to edge NY 29-27 in a historic debut, TC Gemini battled through the cold to beat Chicago 20-15 [link]
• USA Club: In D1, NOVA still leads Atlantic, SD Surfers top SCRFU, and Dallas Quins punch their ticket to the April 12 Championships. D2 saw Severn River qualify for Atlantic SR, Fort Miami hold their Florida lead, and WC Marines remain the team to beat in SCRFU. D3 saw Roanoke take over first in Capital, with Frederick moving up to third. Super Regional brackets are up—waiting on seedings! [link]
• Vancouver and Westshore continue their dominance in the BC Premier after Round 7 with only two more weeks of league play [link] 
• Blackrock took the win in their rescheduled match against Wicklow, locking in the top four—Railway Union, UL Bohemian, Blackrock College, and Old Belvedere—with semi-Finals set for Sunday, April 12, and the Final on April 26 [link]
• Round 10 of the Welsh Premiership saw Burry Port edge Pontyclun and Seven Sisters roll past Whitland, with Llandaff North still out front [link]
• Northern Suburbs got past Impala 31-0 to book their spot in the Kenya Cup semifinals where they’ll face Kenya Harlequins, while Rongo University cruised past NYS Spades 45-12 to set up a showdown with Mwamba [link] 
• The Black Pearls continue to rule the Nile Special Premiership with eight wins but the Thunderbirds have edged closer [link]
• DHL Western Province edged Sanlam Boland Dames 32-29 in a wild one on Saturday to book their spot in next weekend’s South Africa’s Premier Division Final against the Bulls Daisies, who wrapped up the regular season with a dominant 96-0 shutout over Free State Women in Pretoria [link]
• Queensland Reds held off the ACT Brumbies 26-22 in a crucial SMARTECH Super W clash, while Western Force stunned Fijiana Drua 47-31—with one round to go before semifinals on April 4 and 5, the NSW Waratahs sit first, Fijiana Drua second, Queensland third, Western Force fourth, and the Brumbies now needing a win over the Waratahs to keep their semifinal hopes alive [link]
• The Blues locked in their spot in the Super Rugby Aupiki Grand Final with a 36-21 win over Chiefs Manawa, while Matatū tightened their grip on second after a 43-24 win over Hurricanes Poua—Chiefs now need to win out and hope Matatū stumble, with one round to go before the Blues host Matatū in Whangārei [link]

Women’s Rugby Features

• First soft-ground boot for female athletes to debut on opening weekend [link]
• WRU to blame for Wales’ rugby woes, admits Tierney [link]
• US rugby hopes Ilona Maher will be part of England and Fiji DC doubleheader [link]
• Get to know Scotland’s three uncapped second-rows Cunningham, Ferrie and Boyd better [link]
• Mia Venner on ‘rollercoaster ride’ back into Red Roses contention [link]
• Donna Kennedy: The woman who started 95 of Scotland’s first 100 Tests [link]
• With the Black Ferns off to defend their World Cup title, the Farah Palmer Cup kicks off in August, spotlighting New Zealand’s next generation across nine weeks—Waikato opens against Auckland, Manawatū makes their Premiership debut vs Canterbury, and the finals are set for late September and early October [link]
• The story of Romania’s Mariana Lucescu: The Stejarii ‘Madame Rugby’ [link]
• Louise Rickard: Wales centurion who enjoyed ‘pushing my body to the limit’ [link]
• Ilona Maher, the playful, authentic catalyst for women’s sport and beyond [link]
• Zoe Aldcroft hails outgoing Sean Lynn after delivering perfect send-off[link]
• Wales’ new head of women’s rugby Belinda Moore says creating the right culture is among her top priorities [link]
• ‘They booed me’: World Cup winner Tamara Taylor reflects on legendary career [link]
• Meet Binny Brahmbhatt: Kenya 7s Mental Strength Coach [link]

Women’s Rugby Media

• MudderRucker: the first episode has the crew chatting with Chloe Pearse to get some insights into life within the Irish camp, her rugby journey, and her thoughts on Ireland’s prospects heading into the massive tournament opener against France [link]
• Full Credit: Les and Alice talk through the weekend’s action and pick their in form 15. At the halfway point, we take a look at the top line stats before we put this competition back into it’s wider context [link]
• The Good, The Scaz, And The Rugby: CHAOS REIGNS after the full time whistle at StoneX Stadium… where our Mo & her Zo have lifted the PWR trophy for a third consecutive year [link]
• The Women’s Rugby Show: The PWR may be over for another season but we are straight into the Women’s Six Nations [link]
• Maya Stewart makes history! First player to hit 200 points in Super W—all from tries [link]
• Yunque, former Las Leonas coach and now Spain’s Director of Rugby, confirmed plans are in motion for a Women’s European Champions Cup next season—semifinals and a final featuring the winners of PWR, Elite 1, Celtic Challenge, and the Latin Cup [link]
• BBC Sounds: Welsh Rugby Union Chief Executive Abi Tierney sits down with Lauren Jenkins to reflect on another winless Six Nations campaign and discuss what’s next for Welsh rugby [link]
• Uganda Rugby CEO Isaac Lutwama N and NBS Sports’ Ernest Akorebirungi dive into the financial hurdles impacting women’s rugby in Uganda [link]
  • Lutwama N was rebuffed by comments from Helen Buteme gives even more insight to the challenges [link]
• NASA’s Crew 10 lifted off from NASA Kennedy at 7:03pm ET (2303 UTC) on Friday, March 14 with former USA Rugby Eagle Anne McClain as Commander [link]
• Squidge Rugby: Gloucester-Hartpury yesterday became the most successful team in PWR history as they conquered for a third time, the Circus on full display as they came back from a heavy deficit against Saracens [link]
• Rugby Tens and Dallen Stanford are offering a Level 1 Broadcast Commentary Program [link]