Opinions differ
As public interest in women’s rugby increases, so the business of preparing for it attracts more attention.
Every national union has to balance up a number of considerations:
Rest and recuperation
The expense involved (can we really afford staging more matches?)
The wishes of the head coach
The most sensible choice of opposition and their readiness to accept a fixture Timings and distances – and so on.
First, the Ferns
The Black Feens have just announced a first tour to South Africa, to add to a meeting already arranged on Kiwi soil (5 July, Whangarei)
NZR terms this an important addition to their schedule, as the Springboks are progressing fast. (They beat Spain 48-25 in Alicante in April, improving on another match in 2024 in Valladolid, won 15-13 at the death).
But it points too to the constant difficulties southern hemisphere nations face in finding conveniently placed opponents.
Whether they are large, like Australia and South Africa, or small, like the island groups of the South Pacific, the distances dividing them are mammoth. SA has the advantage of time zones, being able to travel north to Europe with less disorientation. Australia and New Zealand’s equivalents would be Japan and Hong Kong.
Then there’s the underlying question of comparative strength. The two nations placed most conveniently close together, Australia and New Zealand, remain poles apart in achievement. Will these three games between the Ferns and the Boks prove any different? It’s highly doubtful.
But beyond mere results the unions are looking further afield: at giving their players more warm- up games, getting them used to travelling long distances to play, spending more time together, allowing the staff more opportunities to fine-tune their final choices, and so on.
Each nation knows the three opponents they are due to meet in the pool stages of the RWC. They can measure their progress against the likely outcome of those crucial games.
Packed Timetables
Nations vary also in the number of matches they will have played over the twelve months leading up to the RWC.
England and France have the advantage of highly pressurised national leagues, involving weekly games across many months. By contrast, both Australia and New Zealand have developed representative competitions (Super W and Suoer Aupiki) which, while intense, are short-lived.
Then there are the many players who travel abroad to take part in these admired leagues, most obviously the English PWR.
This year some Americans who have long been involved in the PWR returned to the States to join in the new WER that may well change the face of women’s rugby around the world.
The Eagles’ management will have to monitor these players’ well-being very carefully. They are amongst those most likely to suffer from lack of rest and recuperation.
Home news at last
One nation that stood out for lack of news about warm-up matches was England itself. The veil is now lifted.
The Red Roses will play Spain at Welford Road, Leicester on 2 August, followed by a much more predictable game against France, on 9 August at Mont-de-Marsan in the deep south-west of France.
The stadium is named after Guy Boniface. Together with his brother André, he provided one of the great post-war presences in the French side.
To me the Spain game is a delight. While there’s no doubt about the result, that isn’t the central issue. Las Leonas, the love-locked-out of the Six Nations, fully deserve this chance to show their prowess. It will offer them the sort of tough challenge they need before facing New Zealand, Ireland and Japan in the World Cup. Psychologically it’s a sign that they haven’t been totally forgotten.
I suspect the last time they met was on the opening day of the 2017 RWC in Dublin. Result: 56-5 to England. Surviving from those distant days: Abbie Ward, Sarah Bern, Zoe Aldcroft and Meg Jones, who had the nerve to score a solo try inside the first minute! Amy Cokayne, Alex Matthews and Emily Scarratt were saved up for later.
The fixture means too that John Mitchell is happy to get another chance to refine his squad.
Once more les Bleues will provide the sort of final challenge they have been used to for many years.
Their sights will be set firmly on the latter stages of the RWC.
When and where can I rest my weary head (and body?)
The English players need a long period away from the game. They have undertaken eighteen rounds of the PWR, squeezed into an abnormally short space, then five 6N matches.
The French squad likewise will be grateful for an extended rest, though their Elite 1 series was organised differently. The FFR didn’t try to complete all the fixtures pre-6N; instead, teams have to reassemble to play the last two rounds on 10 and 18 May. And since they will be decisive in deciding the outcome of the 24-25 season, no quarter will be asked or given.
This is where the experts put their wisdom to the test: in the lead-up to a major competition, how much rest and when? How close to the starting-gun do thet set the last warm-up match?
To judge by each nation’s programme, there’s not a lot of agreement on the topic.
