An awful lot happened!
1-8 October Over the period between arrival and the first matches every World Cup team has its own programme of preparation locked in
1 October Scotland and South Africa meet for a training match; ditto Canada-Fiji; it rains!
1 October Wales meet USA for a training match; it rains
2 October France and Australia meet at Pakuranga RFC for a training match; it rains
3 October Rugby World Cup 2021 Opening Press Conference
3 October Welcoming ceremony for all World Cup players at SkyCity theatre Auckland; everyone wearing a mask
3 October Shaunagh Brown (England) tests positive for Covid-19, out for 7 days ; a reminder of the ongoing fears the Organising Committee had
4 October Teams arrive in Whangarei for 1st round at the weekend
4 October Sergio Lanfranchi Stadium Parma confirmed as Italy’s home arena for 6 Nations
5 October WRFC Players Ltd (Worcester Warriors) wound up in court; women’s team, University of Worcester Warriors, no longer have contracts, but hopes are they may continue
6 October Only 700 tickets reportedly left for Eden Park; ground limited to 40,000
7 October Eden Park ‘Sold Out’; in the event the official attendance was 34,235, a new world record
7 October Rugby Australia: RA targets full-time Wallaroos by 2025; it’s never too late
8 October World Cup 1st round: England, France and New Zealand win with a bonus point
8 October Cook Islands, Fiji, PNG, Samoa and Tonga Under 18s squads meet for tournament in South Auckland
8 October Our humorous friend from Boucherie Ovalie gets his priorities right: ‘Antoine Dupont, la Laure Sansus du XV de France masculin’
9 October Three more RWC Round One matches (Whangarei); Canada, Italy, Wales win; Scotland take the only losers’ bonus point
9 October World Rugby buys up Rugbypass (www.rugbypass.com)
10-11 October ‘Women in Rugby’ Summit in Auckland, to discuss a 10-Year Plan
10 October Red Roses reported to receive £15,000 bonus if they win the RWC
12 October Alisha Butchers (Wales) has suffered tournament-ending knee injury
12 October Eilidh Sinclair (Scotland) becomes a second player to suffer a tournament-ending injury
12 October NZRPA officials claim Black Ferns will be better paid than all other sides, even if Red Roses win a £15,000 each bonus for winning the trophy; Ferns’ maximum NZ$130,000+
12 October Wasps’ men’s club suspended from competition; the women’s team left in limbo, a different organisation, but unfunded
13 October Teams announced for Round 2 of RWC pool stages
13 October NZR at last formally apologises to Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate for ‘systemic failings’
14 October -12 November Rugby Africa Women’s Cup; 11 participants; South Africa taking part in RWC
15 October RWC Round 2; wins for Fiji (1st ever), Australia, Canada, England, NZ, USA
15 October 800,000 watch England v France on ITV
15 October Vicky Fleetwood, one of England’s discarded players, carried off the field on a stretcher in a game v Sale Sharks
15-16 October Elche 7s with Belgium, Chechia, France, Ireland, Poland and Spain
16 October Poland win Elche 7s
16 October Bill Sweeney, CEO of English Rugby, pronounces that English rugby is ‘broken’. He refers to the financial crisis Gallagher Premiership clubs are suffering
17 October Laure Sansus ends career prematurely with torn knee ligaments; replaced by Marie Dupouy. Any worse news available? I think not
17 October Zenay Jordaan (South Africa) will retire after the RWC
17 October Chloe Rollie (Scotland) suffers tournament-ending arm injury
17 October Ashley Marsters (Australia) suspended for 3 weeks for a red card v Scotland. The 1st red of the RWC
17 October Wasps men’s club now officially in administration; the Wasps netball team also halted
18 October Donna Rose (Wales) banned for one match for foul play; has right of appeal
18 October (see 5th) Bill Sweeney, CEO of English Rugby, says RFU will try to help University of Worcester Warriors to stay in the Premier 15s, especially the two Red Roses in New Zealand, Laura Keates and Lydia Thompson
18 October The Women’s Rugby Association assures Wasps players they are there to support them
20 October The latest ‘best player in the world’ is Ayesha Leti-I’iga (Wayne Smith)
20 October 340,000 New Zealanders watched the (one hour delayed) free-to-air broadcast of the 1st day of the RWC, rather than subscribe to Spark Sport for live coverage
20 October Brianna Miller (Canada) is forced out of the RWC by injury
20 October Shona Campbell replaces Chloe Rollie at full-back v NZ (See 17th above)
22 October RWC 3rd round of pool stages; wins for Australia, NZ and France; all 3 qualify
22 October Rugby Europe Women’s Trophy matches played, involving Finland v Germany, and Belgium v Portugal
22 October Laura Keates (England) suffers tournament-ending ACL injury; replaced by Detysha Harper; the second RWC running injury has prevented Keates from participating
23 October Pool stages now complete; wins for: England, NZ, France; 8 quarter-finalists are Australia, Canada, England, France, Italy, New Zealand, USA and Wales
23 October China win 1st round of Asia 7s
24 October Detysha Harper (England and Loughborough Lightning) arrives in NZ as replacement for Laura Keates
25 October Sara Tounesi (Italy and Sale Sharks) suspended for 12 matches for biting
25 October Beth Dainton Wales and Quins) is awarded MVP of the International Defence Rugby Competition in New Zealand
26 October NZR apologises for the time clash between matches involving the Black Ferns and the All Blacks
26 October Kate Williams, a New Zealand naval officer with strong Welsh roots, replaces the injured Alisha Butchers (see 12th)
26 October The RFU allows University of Worcester Warriors and Wasps to continue playing in Round 5 of the Allianz Cup, having received necessary assurances
28 October England men’s team will have their names visible on their shirts at the Autumn internationals; and the women?
28 October Melissande Llorens (France) has serious thumb injury confirmed after Fiji match
29 October Two RWC quarter-finals: NZ 55 Wales 3; France 39 Italy 3
29 October Hannah Smith (Scotland) retires from international rugby
30 October Two RWC quarter-finals: England 41 Australia 5; Canada 32 USA 11
31 October Semi-final details: Canada v England; France v NZ, both at Eden Park, 5 November
