The four franchises of Super Aupiki have announced their squads of 30 for the new competition starting in March 2024. Carlos Spencer, head coach of the Blues, has expressed his concerns: though the programme now extends an extra two weeks to seven, he feels it still lags a distance behind its European equivalents. It’s up to the authorities to bring it into line.

Multiple changes in membership reveal some of the challenges: players moving to a new centre only delay the togetherness so vital for a successful team, and there are precious few games for the management to resolve their best formation. At least a period of preparation has been scheduled for the first time.

The well-known north-south drift in England is reversed in NZ. So Matatū, the holders and the only franchise based on South Island, have lost Renee Holmes and Grace Steinmetz, who both head north.

Other Leagues

The Allianz PWR (England)

After two rounds only Exeter Chiefs and Saracens can claim an 100% record, though the holders, Gloucester-Hartpury, are unbeaten with a game in hand.

AIL (Ireland)

After seven rounds unbeaten UL Bohemians lead Blackrock College and Old Belvedere by four points.

Elite 1 (France)

Of the two pools of six, Pool 2 looks the more competitive. Recent matches: Lyon OU lost 20-32 to Stade Toulousain; Stade Rennais beat Lons 25-20 and Blagnac beat Grenoble 32-6;

– whereas in Pool 1 Stade Bordelais beat Stade Français 64-5 away, Romagnat beat SVM Lille 46-0 and Montpellier beat Bobigny 44-3 away – far more decisive victories. But it’s still early days here.

Awards

In a ceremony at Buckingham Palace Sarah Hunter, till recently captain of the Red Roses and now assistant coach, has been awarded the CBE by the Prince of Wales.

Ella Wyrwas and Mo Hunt have been awarded England contracts. That brings the total to 34 players with six on transition contracts.

Tributes are already pouring in from all quarters. The bald stats are breathtaking, a debut sixteen seasons ago and 140 caps, a world record in the women’s game. She was appointed MBE after England won the 2014 World Cup in Paris, and won the World Player of the Year award in 2016.

When Rochelle (Rocky) Clark retired in July 2018, few people imagined that her exceptional records could ever be broken. They were.

It’s most unlikely that Hunter will then spend an extended holiday in the Galapagos Islands. She will be far too concerned with England’s remaining games in the Championship, and she has an important task as assistant coach in helping Loughborough Lightning improve their currently faltering position in the Premier 15s. It will be fascinating to see where and how her coaching career develops.

You can now predict whose shoulders will bear her off the field. This will be an emotional farewell to end all emotional farewells. It will put Hunter’s almost permanent smile to its biggest test yet.

Looking forward

Now come the questions about the future.

When did Simon Middleton learn about Hunter’s decision? We may assume a long time ago, hence his decision to appoint Marlie Packer alongside her as co-captain – the first time he has employed this division of responsibility.

For the last four fixtures of the 6N tournament we will see a different face at No 8. If it isn’t Poppy Cleall, I will need to find another chocolate hat to eat.

Will Packer become the permanent captain?

There are three variables that make a clear answer impossible:

In Hunter’s absence other players have been honoured with the captaincy, among them Poppy Cleall and Zoe Aldcroft. At least one, Abbie Ward, is not available for selection this season.

By the time England next play a test match a new boss will be in place. He or she may well see the picture differently.

Packer is renowned for her powers of encouragement. ‘The heartbeat of the team’ is an oft-heard opinion from team-mates. But captaincy involves far more than that. On the field alone there are moments of high tension when the big decisions are needed: a kick at goal or a punt to the corner and let the pack take over? That was a defining moment at the end of the RWC final. Which of the candidates mentioned can keep the coolest head?

The Red Roses captain suffered a rib injury in Sunday’s victory over Ireland at Welford Road and will sit out of Saturday’s final round fixture in France.

Hunter will join the group in France later this week to support preparations in an off-field role.

La Toya Mason (L) talks with captain Sarah Hunter  (Photo by David Rogers – RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Having Captained England in the world cup final in August, where England narrowly missed out on the win, Hunter has had her fair share of victory throughout her playing career. Boasting an impressive 97 caps and an MBE for Services to Rugby, the Loughborough University alumna was   voted 2016 World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year before captaining her side to Grand Slam victory in the 2017 Six Nations tournament.

Speaking of Hunter’s appointment, Director of Rugby Alan Buzza was keen to share his excitement;

Of the many highlights for Loughborough Rugby this year, the phone call confirming Sarah’s appointment is right up there with the moment we got the news about joining Tyrrells Premier 15s! She is a genuine icon of the women’s game, a fabulous person, and already a highly credible coach. She joins a hugely talented team at Loughborough Rugby led by the hugely impressive Rhys Edwards at a time at which it’s difficult to communicate quite how exciting the environment here is!

Sarah Hunter runs with the ball (Photo by David Rogers – RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Head Coach Rhys Edwards spoke of his ambitions for the brand new side, in which Hunter will play a key role;

Having been recently appointed myself into the role of leading the women’s programme, our immediate task was to build a management to enable us to work towards being the best development centre for women’s rugby in the world. Being able to attract somebody of Sarah’s calibre and experience within the women’s game is hugely exciting, and having her knowledge and input into the High Performance Programme is going to be invaluable. I’m very much looking forward to working with her.

Currently taking a well-deserved rest from Rugby after the World Cup competition, previous Sport Science and Mathematics student Hunter told us of her anticipation to get started;

“I’m absolutely delighted to have been appointed to the coaching team at Loughborough and I’m really excited by the prospect of being able to play a significant part in ensuring Loughborough’s mission statement of ‘ being the best development environment in the world’ is achieved. Although Loughborough have insisted that I take a break after the WRWC I can’t wait to link up with Rhys and get started.”

Keep your eyes peeled for more exciting news as we reveal more of our star studded Lightning line up over the coming days.

Loughborough Lightning kick-start their season on home turf on Saturday 16^th September as part of their Double Header event with Loughborough Students Rugby National One side. Be part of the action by heading down to campus to witness the start of their campaign.

Report courtesy of Loughborough University