1 April List of 44 Red Roses posted for a 3-day camp
1 April Head coach, Diego Saccà, posts 28 names for Italy’s U18s squad to appear at the 6 Nations tournament at Wellington College
2 April Rugby Canada’s fund to support the Mission to win the World Cup reaches $500,000
2 April Canada will make a two-match tour of South Africa in July; first at Pretoria (5th); second at Gqeberha (12th)
3 April Fiji Rugby Union announces the first ever visit of Australia to play a test match on home soil on 3 May
3 April A men’s Worcester Warriors team is likely to return to the English Championship; no news of the women’s section, a separate entity
April Pauline Bourdon Sansus is Player of Round Two of the 6 Nations
3 April Isabella Nasser, captain of Australia’s 7s team, has to miss the Singapore SVNS with a finger injury
4 April Leicester Tigers appoint Fraser Goatcher as DoR and Ross Bundy as head coach; that raises the number of female PWR coaches from nought to zero
4 April Caroline Suné lists the 28 players to represent Fance in the U18 Six Nations Festival
4 April 36 Canada players selected to train at Chuka Vista, USA, to prepare for both Pacifis Four Series and last leg of SVNS in Los Angeles
5 April Rugby Europe Championship: Spain 69 Sweden 0
5 April Super Aupiki, R6: Blues 49 Poua 26; Matatū 22 Manawa 28
5-6 April Singapore SVNS won by New Zealand
6 April Rugby Europe Championship: Netherlands 40 Portugal 5
6 April WER: Bay Breakers 66 TC Gemini 12
6 April In Serie A Elite Valsugana will meet Villorba in the final on 10 May
6 April Ennis/Kilrush are promoted to AIL Division One after beating Enniskillen 24-13
7 April Mackenzie Carson and Charlotte Fray (uncapped), both England, miss the rest of the Six Nations through injury
7 April Dave Ward, head coach of Bristol Bears, leaves his post to return to Ampthill in the same position
7 April Steve Salvin is appointed interim head coach of Exeter Chiefs; his two new assistants aren’t women either
8 April Lindsey Smith posts 28 names for her Scotland U18 squad
8 April Defender joins Mastercard, Capgemini, Gallagher and Asahi as a fifth principal partner for the 2025 RWC
9 April Leilani Nathan’s knee injury brings her 2025 Wallaroo season to an end
10 April Sequence: Ffion Lewis suffers series of injuries; her contract will not be renewed; she leaves the Welsh Rugby Union programme
10 April Canada will play Ireland in Belfast on 10 August
10 April NZR launches its ‘Next Ferns’ initiative in a nationwide search for new talent
10 April Ireland announce two home internationals for August: v Scotland (2nd), v Canada (9th)
11-19 April U18 Six Nations Festival, Wellington College, Berkshire; won at a canter by France again
12 April Super Aupiki final: Blues 26 Matatū 19
12 April Rugby Europe: Spain 27 Netherlands 17; Sweden 3 Portugal 38
12 April South Africa U20 50 England U20 (‘age-group side’) 17, at Marcoussis, France
12 April R3 of the 6 Nations: France 42 Wales 17; Ireland 5 England 49
13 April R3 of the 6N: Scotland 17 Italy 25
13 April AIL semis: Railway Union 37 Old Belvedere 24; UL Bohemians 15 Blackrock 12
14 April Women Boks arrive from France in Alicante to train for the Saturday international (see 19th)
15 April The IRFU honours players from the earliest women’s Fifteens; first match 1993
16 April At the Rugby Canada AGM Kathleen McGinn is elected Chair, with Lauren Wolman, Karen Paquin, Tara Erskine and Dara Parker also on the board
16 April KETTLE chips become the offical hand-cooked crisp providers for the 2025 RWC! They are based in Norwich, England
17 April Erin King (Ireland) is ruled out of the 6N (and probably the RWC) through injury
17 April Of the seven Black Ferns who have switched from 7s to 15s only two, Jorja Miller and Stacey Waaka, will be available for the SVNS World Championships in Los Angeles
17 April The USA attendance record already beaten; over 7,500 tickets sold for the Canada match on 2 May, Kansas City
17 April The Blues (NZ) beat the Waratahs (Oz) 36-5 in the inaugural Super Women’s Rugby Championship final; the Super Aupiki winners facing the Super W winners; North Harbour Auckland
18 April Stade Toulousain has suffered its third consecutive defeat, 7-22, and the co-coaches, Céline Ferer and Laure Bourdon Sansus, are angry
19 April Spain 26 South Africa 48 (Elche)
19 April USA 7s and 15s hold Meet & Greet in San Diego
19 April R4 of the 6 Nations: Italy 21 France 34; England 59 Scotland 7
19 April In the U18s Six Nations France overwhelm England 61-7 in the final match (as usual)
20 April R4 of the 6N: Wales 14 Ireland 40
21 April Portia Woodman-Wickliffe retires from retirement and will be available for the Black Ferns at the World Cup (if selected?)
21 April Jo Yapp announces Wallaroos squad of 40
22 April The death of Pope Francis causes the rearrangement of the Italy-Wales match; new date to be advised
23 April The above match is rescheduled for the following day, 27 April
23 April Emma Wassell (Scotland and Loughborough Lightning) has decided to leave the club, with much regret
23 April Allan Bunting names 49 Black Ferns to train for the Pacific Four Series
23 April Megan Jones (England and Leicester Tigers) makes a surprise move to Trailfinders Women in London
24 April WRU proposes completely new teams for Celtic Challenge; bids requested from the four pro sides plus universities (i.e. Cardiff Met.)
24 April Aoife Wafer (Ireland) proclaimed Six Nations Player of Round 4 (her second!); but injured for Round 5
25 April Dave Reddin becomes Wales’ new director of rugby and elite performance
26 April Séraphine Okemba (France) is named the inaugural winner of the 2025 BKT Rising Player Award for the Six Nations
26 April R5 of the Six Nations: Scotland 26 Ireland 19; England 43 France 42 (gulp!)
26 April Meantime the Allianz Stadium Twickenham is undergoing a renovation, to include a Radisson hotel within the south stand
26 April Alex Tessier appointed captain of Canada for the Pacific Four Series
27 April R5 of the 6 Nations: Italy 44 Wales 12
27 April USA 33 Japan 39, Los Angeles
27 April First Black Ferns training camp
27 April AIL final: UL Bohemian 29 Railway Union 24; Aviva Stadium, Dublin
27 April The WER schedule doesn’t work to a regular pattern, so teams have played unequal numbers of matches; at present Boston Banshees (4 games) lead on 16 points, but Denver Onyx are unbeaten after 3 games
28 April World Rugby posts fans’ verdicts on the 6 Nations Team of the Championship 2025: 4 English, 4 French, 3 Irish, 2 Italians and 2 Scots
28 April Paige Farries (Canada) misses the Pacific Four Series due to an injury
28 April Wallaroos squad trimmed to 30 for first trip to Fiji (fixture 3 May); 8 debutants, including Sevens stars Charlotte Caslick and Tia Hinds
29 April John Mitchell has his contract as England’s head coach extended beyond the RWC to 2026
29 April More tickets for RWC 2025 go on sale from 9 am on 14 May
30 April Meya Bizer (USA) announces her retirement
30 April Dorothy Wall (Ireland) has to withdraw from the World Cup with an Achilles injury
30 April Dan Murphy, forwards coach of Gloucester-Hartpury, named head coach in succession to Sean Lynn; female PWR coaches remain stuck on zero
30 April RFU sets up countrywide consultation on how to improve governance
30 April The four nominees for the Player of the 6 Nations Tournament 2025 are Abby Dow (England), Manaé Feleu (France), Evie Gallagher (Scotland) and Aoife Wafer (Ireland)
30 April The RWC 2025 trophy will tour England 14 May-6 June
