A reminder that a very important initiative starts on 4 July. A new offspring of the Six Nations sees the equivalent U20 squads meet in Parma, to dispute three rounds of matches. The second round plays on 9 July, the third on the 14th. That means it will not take the same format as its
One of the most recognisable and decorated players in world rugby, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, has announced she will retire from international rugby after the Paris Olympics. A fan favourite, Woodman-Wickliffe has been a star of both the sevens and XVs game for more than a decade, having an impact on and off the field. Starting as
Olympics, here we come! 1 June Hong Kong China 22 Kazakhstan 0 1 June Elisa Riffonneau (Stade Rennais and France) leaves Trailfinders at the end of her course at Brunel University 1 June Madrid 7s: Canada 26 New Zealand 16 2 June Madrid 7s; Australia beat France 26-7 to claim HSBC Championship trophy 2 June
Black Ferns coaches have gone for consistency and experience, in their 30-strong squad named ahead of their upcoming O’Reilly Cup Test in Australia. The Black Ferns team is (Age/Super Club/Province/Test caps): Loosehead Props Aldora Itunu (32, Blues, Auckland, 26) Chryss Viliko (23, Blues, Auckland, 5) Phillipa Love (34, Matatū, Canterbury, 27) Hookers Atlanta Lolohea (21,
The weekend, 29-30 June, saw vital steps taken in qualifying for both global competitions. The least surprising was Wales’ 52-20 home win against Spain. This gave Cymru the key to an invaluable RWC place, and ensured they wouldn’t suffer the ignominy of diving from WXV1 to 3 in a single jump. So now we know
Cymru v Spain This was an entertaining, hard-fought game played for high stakes, a place in the World Cup and in WXV2. The losers would be condemned to the lowest of the three tiers. To be consistent I ought to call Spain ‘Sbaen’, but I don’t want to appear too conversant with the Welsh language.
This game marks the latest stage in the build-up to the second version of WXV. The winners qualify for WXV2, the losers join WXV3. An important addition to the rewards is a direct qualification for the World Cup next year. Players and supporters will need to be in full control of their emotions as the
Now that the final is done and dusted, we can take a look at the remaining four clubs I omitted from Part One Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but there can have been few doubts about the likely play-off clubs. Bristol Bears, Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester-Hartpury and Saracens had such depths of talent that the whole
Head coach LJ Lewis and assistant coach Sarah McKenna have named a 30-player England Rugby Women’s Pathway squad for the first Six Nations Women’s Summer Series this July in Parma, Italy. With a squad made up of predominantly U20 players, England will face Ireland (4 July, 17:30 BST kick-off), Wales (9 July, 20:00 BST kick-off)
The first season of the PWR finished barely a week ago. Already, managements of the nine clubs will be deciding the most sensible steps forward. These traditionally mean signings first and foremost. We have seen relatively few thus far, but the trends are disturbing. Let me assemble the names I’ve spotted up to now (21
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