It’s tight at the top and the bottom of WXV1. Both Les Bleues and the Wallaroos will be hunting for every point they can scrape from this second-round clash. The French approach is to give everyone a go, but to ensure they have two competent Fifteens, one to start and one to finish each game.
Australia v England The two teams had the honour of launching the top tier of the new WXV venture. Result: Australia 7 England 42 Player of the match Holly Aitchison England gained their expected win at the Sky Stadium, Wellington, but they couldn’t keep a clean sheet. They were nearly picture-perfect at the start. After
Jay Tregonning has not been afraid to experiment with the 23 he’s selected to face England on Friday 20 October. The Squad: 1 *Brianna Hoy (NSW Waratahs), 2 Tania Naden (ACT Brumbies, 6 caps), 3 Eva Karpani (NSW Waratahs, 17), 4 Michaela Leonard (captain, Western Force, 18), 5 Annabelle Codey (Queensland Reds, 4), 6 Siokapesi
Three nations, Australia, Canada and Wales, have a prime role to play in how the top division works out. They may rank behind England, France and New Zealand, but their dearest wish will be to topple one of the assumed giants. They don’t fit neatly together in the two pools of three. Wales, the one
New Zealand v Australia The first of an unparalleled five test matches taking place around the globe on the same day. Unfortunately, it was same old, same old in Hamilton. It’s a great sadness that these two teams who have no other opponents of comparable standard close by, remain so widely separated in ability themselves.
Take a look at the Wallaroos’ fixture-list (down below) and wince. But they are made of sterner stuff than mere reporters, so they will be relishing meeting in sequence the world second-ranked whom they’ve never beaten, the first-ranked and the third-ranked. We can only imagine how their last WXV game against Wales will turn out.
A digest of news from Australia, France, Aotearoa and your local bookshop Turmoil in Australia On 20 August the Wallaroos issued a combined statement condemning RA for its unbalanced treatment of them viz å viz the Wallabies. They claim that promises of a full-time professional coach and pro-contracts have not be fulfilled. Major players are
The Australian Croquet Association has announced their Golf Croquet players selected to play in the GC World Team Championship, known as The Openshaw Shield Included in the selection is the latest Women’s World Champion Jamie Gumbrell, who competed along with 55 other players from around the world, at the GC Women’s World Championship held here
Australia and Wales The sextet that makes up the elite group of the new WXV divides into two. Canada, England, France and New Zealand sit far ahead of Australia and Wales. This split neatly mirrors their world rankings, 1-6, but the fear remains that even within those subdivisions wide gaps will appear when the tournament
England v Australia – Third ODI Taunton, 18 July On another tense and exhilarating day England achieved the apparently impossible. Here are a few stats to swivel the eyes: Australia hadn’t lost an ODI series since 2013. England beat Australia in the Ashes series of seven matches 4-3. Australia retain the Ashes. The series ended
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