El Salvador Retains Crown, RAN Continues & Africa Cup Begins | WRR 247

We’re is still celebrating 20 years, and the giveaways continue! Next up on our journey is chasing the 8,000-follower mark. To be eligible for the next individual drawing, make sure you are following both @YSCRugby and @BooshiePromo on Instagram AND have commented on the pinned Anniversary post.

Want to hook your team up, too? You can enter yourself into the individual milestone drawings and register your team for the massive Grand Prize giveaway at the end of the celebration by commenting your club’s name on our pinned Anniversary post. It has been an incredible 20 year journey so far and we are not slowing down!

Women’s Rugby 7s News

International

• Look Ahead
  • 7s returns as the HSBC SVNS World Championships head to Valladolid, Spain for the second of three high-stakes stops. Fresh off their historic fourth straight title in Hong Kong, league leaders New Zealand headline Pool A, while fierce rivals Australia anchor Pool B alongside a clinical USA squad ranked third overall. Tournament hosts Spain look to leverage their passionate home crowd in Pool C to secure a spot in the elite top eight for next season, while lower-ranked teams face a brutal battle against relegation with only two tournaments left to lock down survival in the top flight. [link]
    • We are locked into an incredible record watch heading into Episode 247 of the Rundown, as Australian phenom Maddison Levi continues her relentless chase of the all-time sevens try-scoring crown. Having recently passed the legendary Portia Woodman-Wickliffe on the historic leaderboard, Levi now sits at 261 career tries and has the ultimate mountaintop in her sights. New Zealand’s Michaela Blyde currently holds the world record at 287 tries, meaning Levi is just 27 scores away from making history. With only Valladolid and Bordeaux left on the calendar before the SVNS season officially closes, the unstoppable Aussie superstar will need a massive scoring burst over these final two tournament weekends to catch her rival.

Women’s Rugby XVs News

International

• Africa Cup
  • Defending champions South Africa kicked off their campaign for a fifth consecutive title with a dominant 64-5 victory over Madagascar in the opening round of the 2026 Rugby Africa Cup. Despite Madagascar scoring the opening try, the Springboks completely overwhelmed the islanders by racking up ten tries to maintain their historic, unbroken dominance over the tournament. In the day’s other matchup, hosts Kenya comfortably handled their local rivals Uganda 43-10, pulling away with a strong second-half performance after holding a tighter 22-10 lead at the break. [link]
• RAN Tournament
  • In the second round of the 2026 RAN XVs tournament, México decisively defeated visitors Jamaica 46-14 at the Deportivo Harp Helú in Ciudad de México. Building on Las Serpientes’ victorious history against the Caribbean side, Jamaica kept the test match highly competitive early on, trailing by just three points at halftime. However, México completely broke the game open in the second half, unleashing a swift offensive performance to extend their lead and hand Jamaica their second consecutive defeat of the tournament following their opening-round loss to Trinidad and Tobago. [link]
    • The highly anticipated tournament finale will see México square off against Trinidad and Tobago to decide the regional crown. Both teams enter the championship clash with unblemished records, having both delivered decisive victories over a resilient Jamaica side in the earlier rounds. This showdown carries immense historic weight, as Trinidad and Tobago looks to reclaim their traditional powerhouse status in the Caribbean, while Las Serpientes intend to secure consecutive tournament titles and solidify their era of regional dominance.
• Rankings
  • The latest World Rugby Women’s Rankings update brought significant shifts across the global standings following closing action in the Women’s Six Nations, the start of the Rugby Africa Cup, and the second round of the RAN tournament. Historically unranked due to international inactivity, Morocco made the biggest splash of the week by exploding onto the leaderboard at 42nd place after a strong tournament run in Tunis. Inside the elite top ten, Italy climbed two spots to 6th place after a bonus-point victory over Wales, subsequently bumping Scotland to 7th and the USA to 8th. Meanwhile, the middle tiers saw a major shakeup as Trinidad and Tobago advanced to 30th after defeating Jamaica, and tournament hosts Tunisia climbed to 35th, forcing slight drops for Andorra, Uganda, and Finland. [link]
• Look Ahead
  • In Africa, the tournament culminates in a huge clash between heavyweights South Africa and Kenya, though South Africa must first face Uganda while Kenya tunes up against Madagascar. There are massive stakes at the bottom of the table as well, as the bottom team will face automatic relegation to Division 1 next season. The international calendar rounds out as a classic South American test match resumes between the Brazil Yaras XV and the Colombia Tucanes XV. [link]

Domestic

• Americas
• Europe
  • Liga Iberdrola
    • Colina Clinic El Salvador successfully captured their second consecutive Iberdrola League title by defeating Silicius Majadahonda 28 to 17 at Pepe Rojo. Although Majadahonda held a narrow 17-14 lead at halftime, El Salvador dominated the second half with a decisive 14-0 run to secure the victory. This championship triumph capped off a near-perfect season for the Valladolid team, cementing their status as the reigning queens of the league since breaking Majadahonda’s historic multi-year dominance the previous season. [link]
  • AXA Elite 1
    • The return of AXA Elite 1 action in Round 16 saw the league’s top powerhouses continue to assert their dominance as the regular season nears its conclusion. Top-ranked ASM Romagnat cruised to a 24-7 victory over Toulon to protect their slim lead at the top of the standings, while powerhouse Stade Toulousain kept direct pressure on the leaders by dismantling Bobigny 45-7. Meanwhile, defending champions Stade Bordelais flexed their offensive muscles with a dominant 52-17 victory over Lyon, keeping them securely in third place. In the round’s tighter contests, Montpellier comfortably dispatched Blagnac 34-17, and Grenoble narrowly edged out Lille Metropole 22-20 in a thrilling finish. [link]
• Oceania
• Africa
• Asia

Women’s Rugby Features

• Australian rugby 7s co-captain Isabella Nasser inspired by 2016 Olympics victory [link]
• Revealed: 2026 Capgemini Team of the Championship [link]
• Personal goals aside, it’s team first for Arries in Nairobi [link]
• The oldest female rugby player in England [link]
• Finally a Black Fern: Mia Anderson’s journey to Test rugby [link]
• Loughborough confirm departure of senior international playmaker [link]
• ‘Everything is copy’: on writing US rugby, and Hall of Fame honors for two fine rugby writers [link]
• My Women’s Lions XV shows why next year’s tour is too early [link]
• Anna Caplice Column: Things for Ireland to reflect on and look forward to [link]
• Olympic gold medallist returns as Black Ferns Sevens eye SVNS glory [link]
• New Drua Women recruits impress Legge ahead of season [link]
• Stratford leaves Gloucester-Hartpury and Heard joins Sale [link]
• Wallaroos star named Force co-captain alongside long-term skipper [link]
• Job Done: Life Bags 3 Championships [link]
• World Rugby launches new six-year strategy to power rugby, unite the game and enrich lives [link]
• W6N Brain Dump, Round 5: The Dirty Secrets Of Every Team Revealed [link]
• US Rugby Foundation Meet the Special Award Recipients [link]
• Historic WXV Global Series Tests complete Wallaroos’ 2026 calendar [link]
• Simon Middleton column: ‘This Six Nations deserves to be celebrated and remembered’ [link]
• Column: Big strategic decisions required to create a virtuous circle for Scottish rugby [link]
• Leicester announce retention of USA international as PWR re-signings start [link]
• Denver Onyx aim to defend title in Women’s Elite Rugby [link]
• ‘Pocket Rocket’ O’Connor Reaping The Rewards For Backing Herself [link]
• The pathway problem looming for Red Roses [link]
• Kenya Veteran Earns IOC Role Model Honour Ahead of Rugby Africa Women’s Cup Showdown [link]
• ‘We’ve got to be honest with ourselves’: Scotland pledge to close Six Nations gap [link]
• Morgane Bourgeois’ Women’s Six Nations notebook: Chapter 6 [link]
• Anne Fernández de Corres: “I think women’s rugby in Spain has stagnated” [link]
• FRU Reports Strong Growth in Women’s Rugby Across Fiji [link]
• The Final 2026 W6N Power Rankings [link]
• Celebrating our history: The Utrecht Shield [link]
• Try-Fest as Hosts Tunisia Beat Morocco to Qualify for African Women’s Rugby Premier Division [link]
• Pioneering study aims to find out how repeated blows to head in women’s rugby affects brain [link]
• Another major award for Ellie [link]

Women’s Rugby Media

• Squidge Rugby:
  • The Women’s Six Nations 2026 Tournament Review
  • So how did the Red Roses roll over France? | Women’s Six Nations 2026
  • So was Ireland’s demolition of Scotland their greatest-ever performance?
  • So how did Italy condemn Cymru to another wooden spoon? | Women’s Six Nations 2026
• Flying With Eagles: SVNS – Spain and France Preparation
• Women’s Sport Weekly: Women’s Elite Rugby Interview with Emma Santosuosso from the Boston Banshees
• Full Credit: Hurricanes Poua are making changes
• The Good, The Scaz & The Rugby: The Grand, The Slam & The Rugby 5.0 with Captain Meg Jones
• LTW Fancast: International Round-up and Tigers Women’s U23 with Jess Bunyard
• The Women’s Rugby Podcast: Record Crowds and New Directions