That was the year that was
1 December Dubai 7s’ final: Australia beat NZ 28-24; France beat GB 15-12 for 3rd place
1 December One of the new Arterio trains running out of Waterloo Station. London, is named The Red Rose; big launch today
1 December Draw made for Cape Town SVNS, the first to use 4 pools of 3
2 December Ilona Maher (USA 7s) signs a short-term contract with Bristol Bears
2 December A new logo for the men’s 6 Nations arouses widespread mockery; organisers claim it was inspired by “the vital spark of connection”. It seems derivative from the women’s logo
2 December Babalwa Latsha (Quins) pronounced PWR Player of the Week, having played 28 minutes
4 December Bristol Bears switch their derby game against Gloucester-Hartpury to the football ground, Ashton Gate, owing to “unprecedented demand”
4 December Clovers and Wolfhounds announce their Celtic Challenge squads
4 December The Netherlands beat Brazil 17-15 with the final play (Amsterdam)
4 December In a surprise move Fabio Roselli replaces Giovanni Raineri as head coach of Italy
5 December 220,000 tickets now sold for the Rugby World Cup; remainder to go on sale from February 2025
5 December Trailfinders sign Paige Stathopoulos (USA) on a short-term agreement.
5 December World Rugby confirms schedule for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger 2025
5 December Donna Rose (Wales and Saracens) has suffered a long-term neck injury
6 December In a surprise move Leanne Riley returns from retirement to Saracens to replace Tori Sellors, out with a long-term injury
7 December Mexico beat Jamaica 46-19 in Mexico City
7 December Gareth Gilbert replaces Sylke Haverkorn as head coach of Nederlandse Dames; he had been her assistant and run the men’s U20s with success
7-8 December Cape Town SVNS; New Zealand defeat USA 26-12 in final
7-8 December NCR XVs National Championships right across USA
7-8 December Round 7 of Elite 1 in France; Stade Bordelais lead Blagnac by 3 points
8 December 4th round of Seria A Elite in Italy: Villorba lead the table by 1 point from three other clubs
8 December Three past chairmen of the RFU have called for the current chairman, the COE and certain board members to consider their position; “enormous and irreparable damage to the reputation of the RFU” is claimed
8 December After 8 rounds Stade Bordelais lead Elite 1 unbeaten; in the four other matches the combined margin of victory was 15 points!
8 December After 8 rounds Railway Union lead the AIL unbeaten
8 December Storm Darragh brings first postponement of a PWR match (Bristol v Exeter); Exeter still top
8 December Fijiana Development win the Oceania 7s tournament, beating Samoa 14-5 in the final (Honiar)
9 December Maddy Grant signs for Harlequins as a short-term replacement for fellow Canadian Sara Svoboda
9 December In a new agreement, Canterbury will provide all 450+ PWR players with three pairs of individually fitted boots; only one pair to be worn at a time; Canterbury are part of Pentland Brands, based in North Finchley, London
9 December Wales to tour Australia next summer: two tests in Brisbane and Sydney
10 December Kris Thomas (USA 7s and 15s) announces her retirement from international rugby
10 December NZR announces timetable for Black Ferns tests 2025
10 December The Edinburgh and Glasgow squads announced for the Celtic Challenge
11 December Only two NEQPs in the PWR Team of the Week – unless the Isle of Man counts as abroad by World Rugby’s definition (Isla Curphey)
11 December Celtic Challenge matches will be shown on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website
11 December The WRU holds its first National Player Development Centre Skills Clinics at three locations; 25-35 female players at each, aged 18-23
12 December Genevieve Shore, Chair of PWR, outlines some details of a new-look league
12 December Tahlia Brody (Leicester Tigers) receives a 3-match ban for her red card against Saracens
12 December 32 new Red Rose contracts awarded; two additions: Liz Crake and Maddie Feaunati
12 December Nine Wallaroo 7s players commit to playing in Super W in effort to make the national XVs side for the RWC
12 December “Together Standing Tall”, the official history of Irish Rugby (150 years young), published today
12 December Kaipo Olsen-Baker named 2024 Black Ferns’ Player of the Year
12 December Canada releases its Pacific Four programme
13 December Jorja Miller (NZ 7s) wins the Kelvin R Tremain Memorial Player of the Year award
15 December 2024 Global Youth Sevens (Auckland): Japan beat Australia 26-15 in final
16 December A special evening in Bordeaux, “Les Étoiles du Rugby Féminin”, to mark the achievements of women in rugby with nine separate awards; top prizes: Gaby Vernier (15s), Lili Dezou (7s), Aurélie Groizeleau (referee)
16 December TG4, the Irish-language broadcaster, will air 2024-25 Celtic Challenge matches across Ireland
16 December Elite 1, Round 8: Stade Bordelais still unbeaten; Romagnat rise to 2nd
17 December As last year, RugbyPass TV will broadcast one Celtic Challenge match per round 18-19 December World Rugby hosts Asian summit in Dubai to promote women’s rugby
19 December Ellie Kildunne signs a multi-year contract with Quins
20 December Tom Ilube, Chair of the RFU, resigns, stating recent events have become “a distraction from the game”, the fashionable phrase; Sir Bill Beaumont, recently retired from Chair of World Rugby, steps in short-term
20 December Nigel Walker, WRU Chief executive, resigns
20 December First round Celtic Challenge: Edinburgh Rugby 61 Glasgow Warriors 15
20 December Italy’s FIR announces the reinstatement of the Latin Cup involving two Italian and two Spanish franchises; WR had appeared to give it the chop
21 December Celtic Challenge, Round 1: Gwalia Lightning 42 Brython Thunder 22
22 December France: Canal+, now 40 years old, broadcasts an Elite 1 match for the first time: Romagnat v Stade Bordelais, last season’s two finalists
22 December Emma Wassell (Scotland) receives the excellent news that her five-month battle with a tumour is over
22 December Celtic Challenge: Clovers 7 Wolfhounds 33 Edinburgh Rugby 61 Glasgow Warriors 15
23 December Courtney Holtkamp (Canada) signs for Loughborough Lightning for third time.
23 December Loughborough Lightning have been sanctioned with a suspended 5-point deduction; a player’s ImPACT testing was incomplete; it was imposed by the RFU, not the PWR board
23 December 10,746 tickets sold for England-France at HQ in April; that leaves 47,753 to beat the previous record
23 December USA Rugby announces eight camps, February-May, in a talent identification tour; the two national coaches, Emilie Bydwell and Sione Fukofuka, in charge
23 December the FIR has called up 34 players for training in Rome, 3-6 January
24 December The WRU announces that two new appointments will be made in January: a head of women’s rugby and a head coach
24 December Stade Bordelais finish 1st half of season unbeaten (9-0); little surprise, since they include eleven Bleues plus sundry overseas internationals
27 December USA Rugby announces: the first of its series of “Grassroots to Global” forums, scheduled for January 18-19 in Denver, during its ‘Women’s Rugby Coaches and Referees Association’ Conference
28 December Quins’ Big Game at Twickenham attracts a new world club record attendance, 18,055; their win over Leicester Tigers places them top of the PWR
28 December Celtic Challenge (R2): Clovers 31 Wolfhounds 10; Brython Thunder 0 Gwalia Lightning 10
30 December-4 January USAR holds a 6-day pathway camp for 19 players at the Elite Athlete Training Center, Chula Vista
31 December RFU claims a total home attendance for ten England matches of 120,000
31 December Happy New Year, and may your team win the World Cup!
