John Birch

Ambitious IRB detail future path for women’s rugby

February 28, 2024February 16, 2012 by John Birch

An excellent piece from YSC contributer John Birch. This was originally posted on Scrumqueens.com. The IRB’s “Women’s Rugby Plan 2011-2016”, first announced in November, was finally published last week, writes John Birch. The copiously illustrated 50 page report is the second official IRB five-year plan for the women’s game, and begins with successes – the … Read more

Teams announced for second IRB Women’s Challenge Cup

July 17, 2014February 15, 2012 by John Birch

As the poster on the right reveals, the 12 teams for the second official IRB women’s sevens will be… Australia (World champions) Brazil (South American champions) Canada (Winners in Dubai) China (Asian champions) England (European champions) Hong Kong (hosts) Japan (Asian no. 3) Netherlands (European no. 3) Russia (World Cup hosts, European no. 4) Spain … Read more

111 countries – and counting. Women’s rugby worldwide

January 30, 2012January 30, 2012 by John Birch

The previous post mentioned that the IRB had said that women’s rugby is played in about 80 countries. This is a slight underestimate. In fact women’s rugby is played at international level in 111 countries – with several more on the verge of joining them. The map below shows the true global spread of the game: … Read more

Women’s Rugby World Cup 2014: A Closer Look

January 25, 2012January 25, 2012 by John Birch

The IRB’s press release detailing the “Route to Paris” for the 2014 WRWC was issued yesterday, and appears on YSC. However, as is the way press releases, they require careful reading – and tend to emphasise the positive a bit. So let’s take a close look at what will happen between now and 2014. First… How will … Read more

Iran bans women’s rugby

January 24, 2012January 23, 2012 by John Birch

The story of Iranian women’s rugby has been truly inspiring in recent years. Faramarz Beheshti’s remarkable film Salam Rugby has been shown around the world, and is still well worth catching if you get the chance. Against all the odds, faced with the sort of obstacles that we cannot imagine in the west, women’s rugby has … Read more

USA reach Las Vegas semi-finals (and other sevens news)

February 28, 2024January 20, 2012 by John Birch

You read it here first! The ultimate “scoop” for YSC, coming exactly three weeks before the tournament… How can we be so sure? Well… we’ve seen the draw. In Pool B we find the current World #1 (Canada), South America’s #1 (Brazil), Europe’s #3 (Netherlands), and USA’s development squad. A pretty tough group by anyone’s … Read more