Things have been happening in rugby recently that vary from the most delightful of surprises to the totally predictable.
The Honours Board
We must start with the double award of MBEs to Simon Middleton, Head Coach of the Red Roses, and Emily Scarratt, the rosiest of the Roses. A third consecutive Grand Slam was seen as a fitting marker for the two. Scarratt has few peaks yet to climb; the highest would be a second World Cup win.
Nicky Ponsford
Nicky Ponsford’s skills on the management front (Head of Performance for England women for the last nineteen years} have been rewarded with a temporary secondment to World Rugby in a similar position.
Mastercard
The blockbuster financial services corporation has signed up to become a global partner of World Rugby’s Women in Rugbyprogramme. This is the sort of heavyweight sponsorship that women’s sport needs to extend its reach.
Women’s Rugby Data Hub
Scrumqueens’ launch of its Women’s Rugby Data Hub is a significant moment in the recording of the women’s game. Once more we are indebted to John Birch’s immense dedication to a vast project, assembling every scrap of the history of international 15s and 7s he could unearth and presenting it in an accessible manner. It can be used for deep research or for joyful browsing.
Retirements
The end of every season sees famous names disappearing from team-lists as boots are hung up. Two distinguishedpersonalities in French rugby are Gaëlle Mignot (70 caps) and Jennifer Troncy (51 caps), both of Montpellier. Mignot won 70 caps for France and became an iconic captain for les Bleues. She spent a year with Richmond, partly, she claims, to discover the secret of why England seemed able to get an edge on France time after time. It’s doubtful she discovered the answer.
Scrum-half Troncy won a 6 Nations Grand Slam in 2014 and was part of the French 7s squad at Rio in 2016.
Surprising Results in France
The Elite 1 finalists were a surprise to most people, Blagnac and Romagnat, not Stade Toulousain and Montpellier, who found unexpected defeat in two ultra-tight semis:
Romagnat 20 Montpellier 16
Blagnac 12 Stade Toulousain 8
The final was held in – of all places – Blagnac, yet the winners were Romagnat 13-8. The combined margin of those three games is 13 points – riveting stuff.
These results have toppled the apple-cart. The long-term dominance of Montpellier and Stade Toulousain has at last been broken.
Sevens
After years of doubt and sorrow the Olympic Sevens are set to take place in three weeks’ time. The GB women’s squad is drawn in Pool A with Kenya, New Zealand and Russia. Russia find a place only as Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) as they have escaped a total ban on their participation over long-term drug offences.
As was inevitable, GB women face an uphill struggle to reach the final stages. The Black Ferns are close to unbeatable and Russia has specialised in the short-format game to excellent effect.
