The Semi-finals Long before the semis hove into view everyone knew the tenth RWC was an overwhelming success. In the week between the last eight and the last four the number of previews mushroomed. Every fashionable method of opinion-giving was used to the full. There were pundits everywhere you looked. A few critics moaned at
The Quarter-finals The eight qualifiers were Australia, Canada, England, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and South Africa. To most jaundiced eyes there were four clear winners and four who were delighted to be at the party. Hindsight is a wondrous thing. That is how things panned out across 13-14 September. Only one game proved tight,
The filling in the sandwich This was the Big Show, big crowds, painted faces, all the fun of the fair. You’ll recall Gaelle Mignot screaming at her troops: “Six weeks, six weeks!” Looking forward, they looked like an eternity. Looking back, they were gone in the blink of an eye. There were three pool rounds
Part One – Preliminaries and Structures This topic is so vast that you could write a book about it. You could, but I’ll restrict myself to a series of topics. This was the tenth of the series and the second to be held in England. From the start the organisers, backed by World Rugby, the
We have a gap of less than a month to recover from the exhilaration of the RWC, before the start of the new 2025-26 version. How do things look? The good news TV/media coverage is increased. The BBC will stream one match per week, in addition to TNT’s pay-walled coverage. Overseas players keep streaming (back)
A continuous crescendo to the 27th 1 September. Tess Feury (USA) replaces Bulou Mataitoga (injured) 2. Jenni Scoble (Wales) out of the RWC; replaced by Abbey Constable 3. Laura Bayfield (NZ) avoids ban following a red card; a just verdict 4. Sophie de Goede becomes Canada’s highest points scorer with 262 4. England team to
We now enter the awards season. Individual awards in the ultimate team game are always liable to cause controversy. My views can be no less subjective than anyone else’s, but here they are: 1. World Player of the Year – Sophie de Goede Quite correct! She tends to be the outstanding player of every game
What a sight! Twickenham Stadium was already over 50,000 full for the bronze medal match; the top (third) tier well stocked for the first time ever in a women’s game. It was hard for both squads collecting themselves after the disappointments of the previous weekend. But there were medals to be won. The world was
England fulfilled a nation’s wishes by seeing off a determined effort by Canada to topple them. Once again the side destined to lose scored first. When Amy Cokayne missed her line-out target, Canada exploited the error so well that Asia Hogan-Rochester flew over the line once more. (0-5) Barely three minutes later Ellie Kildunne received
Here’s John Mitchell’s squad to face Canada: 15 KILDUNNE 14 BREACH 13 JONES 12 HEARD 11 DOW 10 HARRISON 9 HUNT 1 BOTTERMAN 2 COKAYNE 3 MUIR 4 TALLING 5 WARD 6 ALDCROFT (captain) 7 KABEYA 8 MATTHEWS 16 ATKIN-DAVIES 17 CLIFFORD 18 BERN 19 GALLIGAN 20 FEAUNATI 21 L. PACKER 22 AITCHISON 22 ROWLAND
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