Pool A: England, USA, Australia, Samoa England: red-hot favourites, but could they be oppressed by thoughts of another failure, when they possess all the trump cards? USA: they are desperate to make their mark again (last win 1991). Americans prefer winners. World Rugby needs them to prosper to advance the spread of the global game.
The first ever tour of New Zealand still lies two years away, in September 2027. But current events in Australia highlight the difficulties of extending the women’s venture beyond that first visit. Let’s imagine it proving a rip-roaring success: huge crowds boost the Black Ferns to a runaway 3-0 victory over the much vaunted Lions,
Sione Fukofuka has taken the unusual step of announcing his Eagles squad very early (full list below). With typically American verve the news came via a ceremony aired on YouTube. Brilliant! The strategy is curious since he summoned forty players together for a final training meet in Maryland on 10 July, and there is still
Next Friday 25 July sees the announcement of the 32 Black Ferns to fly to England. There are the usual dead certs, plus a number of chancier choices Allan Bunting has to make. Some Kiwi fans may well expect their favourite team, never called New Zealand at home, to win yet another pot. Others, taking
The Hundred, 2025 version, returns to haunt us like the plague. “What is wrong with it?” I hear you cry. Here are a few reasons: 1 The game format itself is a nonsense. My reaction after first hearing of its creation was to wonder how soon it would be replaced by ‘The Fifty’. People get
A. The first squad announced The USA Eagles became the first union to announce their squad: Kate Zackary (C); Erica Jarrell-Searcy; Emerson Allen; Hallie Taufoou; Maya Learned; Rachel Ehrecke; Tahlia Brody; Rachel Johnson; Paige Stathopolous; Alivia Leatherman; Catie Benson; Hope Cooper; Charli Jacoby; Freda Tafuna; Georgie Perris-Redding; Kathryn Tredder; Keia Mae Sagapolu; Hope Rogers Cheta
Back in the days when ScrumQueens was our bible, the admirable John Birch pointed out severe shortcomings in World Rugby’s rankings table. Without his ongoing assistance, I have to take it at face value. Fortunately very little has changed over the past weeks, since the sixteen qualified nations have devoted themselves largely to training. South
Surrey confirmed their place in the final at the Oval on 27 July with a convincing win over bottom-placed Somerset. Pre-match Bryony Smith recognised the value of the South-East Stars remaining together under the one-county heading. Stars had meant an amalgamation of Kent and Surrey, and fortunately for the Brown Caps the Kent contingent all
Some rugby websites are quick to register players’ birthdays, often with a clip of a great deed by the candle-blower. What could be more pleasant? It’s Maud Muir’s birthday. Congratulations! By a strange quirk it is also Portia Woodman-Wickliffe’s birthday, her 34th, and she was able to celebrate with a hat-trick of tries against the
A look back at the Black Ferns v Black Ferns XV – lessons and deductions Background And there’s a lot of it! The management had three aims in mind: the coming test against Australia, a first ever tour of South Africa for a “Black Ferns XV” (aka a second squad); and, most important, the RWC
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