16 December: a special evening in Bordeaux, entitled “Les Étoiles du Rugby Féminin”, will recognise the achievements of women in rugby. Nine separate awards for players, coaches, referees and clubs are on offer. This is a bright new initiative from the FFR.
With, without
The USA Eagles 7s squad took silver at the Cape Town SVNS without the aid of Ilona Maher, who was otherwise engaged.
The world of rugby is still trying to assess the effects of Maher joining Bristol Bears. Many see it as a major rewriting of the women’s game. Bears are already forecasting a record attendance at Ashton Gate for the Gloucester-Hartpury match. It doesn’t take place till 5 January.
Will Dave Ward have offered his new mega-star some game-time by then? Her first watching brief (Round 9) was rudely broken up by Master Darragh.
Adding up
Adding a final between the winners of Australia’s Super W and of New Zealand’s Super Aupiki adds an important gleam of hope for Wallaroos’ 15s rugby, as 7s rule the home roost.
Eat as much as you want
Sale Sharks are offering ‘Bottomless Brunch’ for £60 a throw. You can enjoy unlimited prosecco, beer, tea and coffee; plus a selection of solids including pastries, egg-nog with French toast, pancakes and breakfast sandwiches. Date: 18 January, when Sharks entertain Quins. The offer doesn’t make clear whether it is available to players as well. The Famous Quarters may well hope it does, so long as only the home team indulges.
The problems of geography
Mexico recently beat Jamaica in a XV’s match in Mexico City. It formed a welcome part of RAN’s attempts to get more rugby played across its sector of the world. RAN stands for Rugby Americas North, so, apart from large nations like Canada, Mexico and USA, it has to cater for the much smaller ones of Central Latin America and the Caribbean.
Their very different requirements make the authority’s task difficult. They do a great job.
John Birch, our invaluable archivist at scrumqueens.com, calculated this as the 100th women’s test match of 2024.
The nations of Oceania are in a similar position to RAN. On 7-8 December the Oceania Sevens Championships took place in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Their logistical problems hardly need underlining. One competing nation, Niue, looks like a tiny dot in the middle of the south Pacific Ocean. In 2022 it had a population of 1,681, but it sent a team to the competition.
If we think attainment levels are wide, even unfair, in the Six Nations, consider this tournament: in the final Fiji beat Samoa 14-5. But this was a Fijiana development side; their main squad was busy competing in the World Series elsewhere. In Honiara (population 92,000) they were the Red Roses of the Pacific.
Back to a pet topic
In PWR’s Round 9 Trailfinders’ starting line-up included: 6 England players, 4 Canada, 3 Scotland and 2 USA.
Chiefs’ had 7 England, 3 Canada, 2 Ireland, 2 USA, 1 New Zealand.
That means that if the selectors list unchanged sides for their Round 10 clash, spectators could see 13 English players, 7 Canadians, 4 Americans, 3 Scots, 2 Irish and 1 Kiwi – a veritable cornucopia of international talent; indeed, a day at the world cup writ small.
It leads to the old question: what are the PWR’s priorities? They do seem to clash awkwardly.
First, the board wants to present the very best women’s club rugby, and it certainly does. Second, it wants to support the Red Rose cause to the full, and it does.
Third, it helps NEQPs (Non-England Qualified Players) enjoy high standards of competition.
That is not a stated aim, but the status quo.
How does that help the nations the NEQPs come from? To my mind, only very little, and that is one of its biggest drawbacks. Sooner or later, England will have to cease acting as the nursery for the world’s female rugby players.
