An eventful month with a dramatic kick in the tail
1 February Celtic Challenge: Gwalia Lightning 26 Edinburgh Rugby 5; Glasgow Warriors 21 Wolfhounds 61; Gwalia stand second behind Wolfhounds
1 February Latin Cup: Benetton Rugby 38 Iberians Majadahonda 10 (Barcelona); Zebre Parma 17 Iberians Elche 22 (Parma)
1 February Sisilia Tuipulotu (Wales) misses the rest of the season after surgery on an injured hamstrig
2 February 2025 USA Women’s Pathways Talent ID Tour starts at Stanford University
2 February Canada U20s to play two matches in Ireland in May
2 February Tokyo Sankyu Phoenix win the All Japan Championship title
3 February 32 England U20 players listed for 4-day training session at Loughborough; captain Lucy Calladine
3 February Women’s Elite Rugby (USA) presents team-names and logos of the six franchises
4 February World Rugby publishes first progress report on its “Impact Beyond 2025 Plan”; women and girls’ initiatives
4 February The FFR announces dates and venues for four 7s competitions in its “Challenge Sevens Féminin” series; between 24 May and 6 July
4 February Brazil’s Yaras to play Portugal (16 March) and Spain (22 March) on European tour
5 February Ireland’s U20s will host Canada U20s in two friendlies in May; venue Blanchardstown
5 February Laijipa Naulivou, Director of Fiji RU, fired after commenting on what she termed “this gay problem”; in post for five days
5 February Atasi Lafai (Australia) suffers serious knee problem, ending her season
8 February AIL: winners’ scores in completed matches: 96, 68, 56, 24; Galwegians conceded their match with Railway Union when losing 0-28
8 February Kate Trevarthan returns to Loughborough Lightning as assistant coach
8 February Ilona Maher plays in Bristol’s rescheduled match against Exeter
8 February Latin Cup: Iberians Elche beat Benetton Treviso 38-5; Zebre beat Iberians Majadahonda 22-0 away
8-9 February Round 7 Celtic Challenge: Wolfhounds still top, Gwalia second
11 February New Zealand Rugby, on behalf of All Blacks and Black Ferns, takes legal action against Ineos for breach of contract
11 February After 12 rounds of Elite 1 Stade Bordelais 4 points ahead of Stade Toulousain
11 February 46 Wallaroos contracts announced, including Atasi Lafai (see 5 Feb above)
11 February Celtic Challenge: the postponed Round 5 match between Glasgow Warriors and the Clovers will not be replayed; lack of suitable date
12 February Hollie Davidson becomes the second recipient of a Scottish Rugby referees’ cap
12 February The FIR announces 25 new contracts for the Azzurre, an increase of one
14 February Welsh U18 training squad of 37 selected by head coach Siwan Lillicrap to prepare for U18 Six Nations festival; they have two warm-up games against Italy (Treviso) on 16 March then Scotland (Cardiff Arms Park) on 30 March
15 February AIL Round 14: top 4 clubs all scored bonus-point wins: Blackrock College, Old Belvedere, Railway Union and UL Bohemian
15 February Rugby Canada’s 7s squad posted for the World Series in Vancouver (Feb 21-23); nine were Olympic silver medallists; four have been playing in the English PWR
15 February The four PWR semi-finalists now known: Gloucester-Hartpury, Saracens, Harlequins and Bristol
16 February Winning semi-finalists in Wales’ National Women’s Cup: Bonymaen and Burry Port
18 February In the absence of Amber McLachlan (Australia) Clara Munarini (Italy) will take charge of the England-Scotland 6 Nations match on 19 April at Leicester
18 February HRH The Princess Royal agrees to become Patron of the Murrayfield Injured Players Foundation
18 February Rachel Malcolm (Scotland captain) will leave Loughborough Lightning at the season’s end after playing in their first match in 2017 and captaining them
18 February A Grassroots Festival will precede the PWR final in London; 100s of young players from the 9 clubs to take part
18 February All six WER franchises (USA) announce squads of 29
19 February Bryan Easson (Scotland) reveals his 34-strong extended training squad
19 February Rachel Johnson (USA Eagles) announces her retirement from Exeter Chiefs and the PWR, but she has joined Denver Onyx
19 February Venues and fixtures announced for WER; show begins on 22 March
20 February Rowena Burnfield (50 England caps, Richmond, Wasps, Quins, Trailfinders) announces her retirement from the game
21 February Last round of regular PWR season; Gloucester-Hartpury finish top, Saracens second; other play-off qualifiers Quins and Bristol
21 February Hallie Taufoou (USA Eagles) leaves Loughborough Lightning after three years; she transfers to Denver Onyx
21 February Vancouver 7s: Brazil 14 Australia 12 REPEAT Brazil 14 Australia 12
21 February 2025 law book launched; bedtime or summer beach reading?
23 February Vancouver 7s: final – NZ 41 Fiji 7; World Series standings: NZ 1st, Australia 2nd
24 February Tom Hudson, late head coach of Leicester Tigers, transfers (back) to Sale Sharks
24 February Scotland start 6N training in Edinburgh, minus players involved in PWR semi-finals
25 February Next ticket phase for RWC 2025 opened
26 February Charlie Beckett and Luke Stratford join Sale Sharks as assistant coaches
27 February Sean Lynn retains Hannah Jones as captain of Wales; Alex Callender and Keira Bevan appointed vice-captains
27 February Ioan Cunningham (Wales) to become head coach of Fijiana
27 February World Rugby announces names of 12 more coaches participating in the Gallagher High Performance Academy (GHPA)
28 February Super W starts 8th season in Australia without Melbourne Rebels who ran into major financial debt
28 February Denver Onyx to win the inaugural WER? Pure guesswork!
28 February Fijiana Drua beat red-hot favourites NSW Waratahs 23-17 (Sydney), the first match of the 2025 Super W series
28 February Vitalina Naikore (Fijiana Drua) scores a try after eight (8) seconds; viewable on www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQyx38fGd7s
