Indholdsfortegnelse for September 2025 i Rugby World

HOW DID we squeeze all the acrimony, accusations and heroics of the 1989 Lions series into 62 pages? Somehow we did, writes Alan Pearey. It was the Lions’ first stand-alone Australia tour since 1899 and in saluting their first series triumph since 1974, editor Nigel Starmer-Smith laid into the one-eyed “whingeing Wallabies” for complaining about violent play. He expressed, too, his disdain for the gutter press. “I’ve learned to treat Australian rugby journalism – with a few exceptions – with contempt,” he wrote. WADE DOOLEY APPEARED IN OUR PICTURE SPECIAL BEING KISSED BY A PAIR OF SEALS Mick Cleary explored this theme further in our Aug 1989 souvenir issue, highlighting the hysterical reporting down under. Even The Australian, not known for its sensationalism, wrote: “Perhaps significantly three members of the aggressive…

What’s the club called? Hampstead RFC Women+ Can we assume that the heath is home? Well, no. They used to play their home games on the Hampstead Heath Extension in North London, but last season they teamed up with Hendon RFC (who don’t have a women’s section) to use their facilities. These include an actual clubhouse, something they’ve never had before. When and how did the club start? The women’s team has just finished their 21st season. They were founded in 2004 by Eleanor Gaskell-Taylor, who started flyering for more women to sign up after she had joined a men’s training session on the heath. The club itself has a very long history dating back to 1863 and was originally known as Hampstead Heathens. It was the birthplace for major…

YES ROB CALDER PREMIERSHIP RUGBY CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER “WHAT IS important to us is evolution. We’re a competition with a great history but we also believe we have a bright future. This league isn’t broken, it’s flourishing – we just need to reframe ourselves a bit to ensure we can reach those wide audiences and grow. “You’ve seen it with the Championship reducing to the Champ, there’s a deformalisation of sport and being right by the fan is really important. Speaking in the vernacular is important to us. We’re going to talk how fans talk. It’s not formal, it’s not corporate, it’s not traditional. “We know if we are going to grow from Gallagher Prem fans, we’ve got to attract international fans and reach out into broader sport audiences. It…

THERE IS an argument to suggest that Sir Clive Woodward and England’s World Cup-winning side of 2003 did more to advance the game than any other team, individual or governing body in history. Sure, when the game went pro in 1995, that was a significant leap forward. But in many places, players were already full-time and for the years that followed it was obvious that not much had changed, either in how the game was played or how it was approached off the field. Even at the 1999 World Cup, there was an air of amateurism whirling in the wind. Players were getting fitter and stronger but a hangover of individuals from earlier in the decade kept the sport grounded in its past. By 2003, however, the sport had changed.…

Rugby’s most outspoken and influential journalist EVERYTHING BETWEEN now and the end of the Lions tour will be deadly serious. The first Test is looming and, as everyone knows, it has been almost impossible for any Lions series to be won if they lose the first Test. Will the tourists be ready? And what does history show us? Here are some Test memories which show the narrow difference between glory and disaster and which also show us why the Lions are such box office, and yet cause all their followers sporting nightmares. The emotions are powerful and it will be the same after the opening Test in Brisbane this time… GREATEST TEAM PERFORMANCE Nothing has ever compared in the Lions’ history with those rare Test victories in New Zealand and…

BEAUDEN BARRETT may have dipped out on a domestic title but there was success for his brothers. Jordie won the URC with Leinster and Scott prevailed with the Crusaders, who beat the Chiefs 16-12 to win a remarkable 13th Super Rugby title in 28 years. They also won two New Zealand-only editions during the pandemic. Scrum and aerial dominance underpinned Crusaders’ latest success, with Rivez Reihana kicking three goals and converting a try by Codie Taylor. Victory preserved an unbeaten record in home play-offs – 32 straight wins across three decades – and inflicted a third successive final defeat on the Chiefs. Their coach, Clayton McMillan, now has charge of Munster. Crusaders had finished ninth out of 12 last year, but Rob Penney’s team has bounced back to cement one…

01 Who scored the British & Irish Lions’ first try of 2025? And which Lion picked up their first yellow card? A. 02 What record did Lions captain Dan Sheehan break against Western Force in Perth? A. 03 According to a recent AXA study, what percentage of women in the UK play a team sport – 7%, 30% or 42%? A. 04 Scotland and Lions legend Ian McLauchlan sadly died at the age of 83. What was the great man’s famous nickname? A. 05 Which city is the Women’s Rugby World Cup pictured in (below) during the recent nationwide trophy tour? A. 06 What did Neath RFC owner Matty Young do that got him in hot water back in March? A. 07 Who, after 79 caps across ten years, captained the Springboks for the first time…

7 Portia Woodman-Wickliffe of New Zealand scored seven tries v USA in this year’s Pacific Four Series – the most in a single women’s game in all competitions. 163 Emma Sing of England was the PWR’s top point-scorer (163) last season. She also made the most carries (231), metres (1,908) and beat the most defenders (110). 6 Florence Symonds of Canada made the most offloads (six) and assisted the most line breaks (six) in the 2025 Pacific Four Series. 52 Kaipo Olsen-Baker of New Zealand made 52 carries, 19 dominant carries, 49 tackles, 95 post-contact metres and seven turnovers in the 2025 Pacific Four Series – every figure topped the individual ratings. 73 Morgane Bourgeois of France was the top point-scorer (73) in this year’s Women’s Six Nations. Her kick…

“I DROPPED to my knees at the final whistle,” says Nolli Waterman. “It was a massive relief because we knew the game needed a northern hemisphere team that was being provided with resources to win for there to be a turning point in the game.” The pressure on the Red Roses this year to win a home World Cup is undeniable but as Waterman tells Rugby World, it is no first. Women’s rugby in England has had expectations set upon its shoulders many times before. In 2010, 2017 and 2022, the expectations to win the World Cup were sky-high. To help transform and revolutionise the game. To inspire the next generation. On all three occasions it was close but no cigar, a trio of final defeats to the Black Ferns…

AS WE are in the middle of another Lions tour and have already seen players come and go, inevitably the topic of the so-called ‘Geography Six’ from 2017 in New Zealand comes up again. Warren Gatland temporarily called up as cover six players who were nearby with their national teams. Scotland’s Finn Russell and Allan Dell plus Gareth Davies, Kristian Dacey, Cory Hill and Tomas Francis from Wales. I understand why Warren and the coaching staff did it, to allow the Test team to fully prepare for the All Blacks. For performance, I get it. From the players’ point of view, you’d never turn it down. But they were in a really tough situation because there were a lot of people talking about it. As a player, you can’t say…

“THE COMBINE SYSTEM PRESENTS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A NEW AND EFFECTIVE PATHWAY INTO RUGBY” AS RUGBY looks to soar to new heights, various clubs have looked at a new way of recruiting some of the world’s best athletes – The Combine, writes Ben Evans. The Combine presents a huge opportunity for clubs to find untapped potential and unearth players with the talent to become rugby’s newest superstars. So what exactly is it? A staple of the NFL calendar, The Combine sees college prospects undergo fitness tests like the bench press, agility cones and the 40-yard dash. But this tradition has made its way into rugby, with teams such as Coventry, Leicester Women and the Black Ferns embracing a new way of discovering athletes with the potential to make it professionally.…

What is your first rugby memory? It will have been my first-ever rugby training when I was 11. I’m from Northern Ireland and surprise, surprise, like everything else it’s politicised. It was at Malone RFC. People from Belfast think it’s a posh rugby team because the area of Malone is swanky. That’s not where the club is, it’s in a rough part of East Belfast. The rest of the league know them as ‘The Bin Men’. I’d have probably gone to Ravenhill for an Ulster game at that point too. I went to Ulster and then Ipswich football games as that’s where my mum lived. You mentioned that rugby was politicised? Yes. So I grew up as a Catholic but my parents were keen I played non-Catholic sports, because it’s…

“WE ARE TRYING TO REACH THAT LEVEL OF UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCY WHERE YOU DON’T HAVE TO THINK”Andrew Strawbridge ANDREW STRAWBRIDGE is the England coach you might be least familiar with. A Kiwi who played for Waikato before moving into coaching, the 61-year-old was brought into Steve Borthwick’s set-up full-time before the tour to Japan and New Zealand in 2024. He had been a consultant in the Six Nations before and previously coached the likes of the Chiefs, Samoa and even the All Blacks. His eye for detail tallies with Borthwick’s scrupulous methods. As we found out when we met him in camp in Girona, Strawbridge also has quite the story to tell… For the uninitiated, how would you explain your role in the England environment? I don’t know if there’s a…

VEGEMITE YEAST SPREAD £2.20 ocado.com “I said, ‘Do you speak-a my language?’ He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich.” CANTERBURY SPEED ELITE HEAT PACK £160 lovell-rugby.co.uk Through a block of glass, light travels at varying speeds proportional to the wavelength of the light. The fastest is always red, making red the fastest colour. ADIDAS RS15 AVAGLIDE £140 adidas.com Rugby boots specifically designed for the anatomical needs of female athletes. Adidas are helping to keep the women’s game moving forward. ENGLAND CASTORE RUGBY SHIRT £120 castore.com Shades of 2003 with the new England home jersey brought to you by Manchester-based Castore. It’s the red panelling. You could see Trevor Woodman in it. SIS ENERGY OAT BAR £2.13 scienceinsport.com Calling it an ‘energy oat bar’ makes it sound good for…

SO IT’S the summer holidays for us pro rugby players rightnow, but before we left for our two-week all-inclusives in Mallorca, a Love Island-style bombshell was dropped on club rugby in the shape of R360. This breakaway super league has been proposed by Mike Tindall and some yet-unknown American millionaires. Like you, we as players are not exactly swimming in details of what this new franchise-based league looks like and what impact it could have on your beloved club rugby, but I have heard a few rumblings in the long corridors of the training ground. Firstly, rather than it being an open forum, the chat on R360 has been awfully secret squirrel so far – little groups gossiping over breakfast. The group conversations in the changing rooms have been around…

SINCE WE had to wait an extra year for the 2021 World Cup to come around, it was only right that the winners went big with their celebrations. And New Zealand certainly didn’t disappoint on that front. The party was worth the wait as the Black Ferns retained their crown on home soil. “A few of us girls actually went on a bender, on an eight-day bender,” Ayesha Leti-l’iga tells Rugby World. “I mean not many people get to win a World Cup; It’s not every day you get to win a World Cup at home and I felt like we just needed to celebrate that and be in the moment.” The winger had a big hand in ensuring the champagne was on ice for the home side despite starting…

FOR A girl who used to get picked on for playing rugby back in Dunedin, Kelly Brazier has sure silenced the haters. Now 35, and happily married to her partner Tahlia with two young kids, she is winding down on a career that leaves her as one of the most decorated women’s rugby players of all time. Her achievements include two Sevens World Cup titles, a Commonwealth gold medal, Olympic gold medal and two 15s World Cups, the first of which was the 2010 final when the New Zealand Black Ferns beat England on English soil – and she kicked the winning points the age of 20. Not bad for someone “who grew up in a little town as the only girl playing rugby”. That World Cup in 2010, the…

1 TUBUNA MAKA AGE 19 (18 NOV 2005) // BORN CHESTER // POSITION PROP // CLUB LEICESTER TIGERS // COUNTRY ENGLAND How did you get into rugby? I used to watch rugby sevens all the time with my dad. I didn’t enjoy watching rugby at first but I got interested when seeing Fiji Sevens back in the day. It was the team with Jerry Tuwai and Samisoni Viriviri, both legends. It was around 2016, when they won the Rio Olympics. Why did you choose to play rugby? My dad loved the sport and got me into it. He took me to my local rugby club, Trentham RUFC, in Stoke but I started quite late, aged 13 or 14. It all started there. What positions did you play? I played in…

“I WAS never too fast to begin with, but I’m even slower now!” In an era where one often goes through agents, club officials or PR companies to get a decent pocket of time with a rugby player, it feels odd to call Willie John McBride on his home number for a natter. There are a few rings before the great man picks up, but pick up he does. McBride played 63 times for Ireland but has won a permanent place in the pantheon of rugby greats as a British & Irish Lion of true distinction. The legendary lock earned 17 Test caps for the side over 13 years, and led the famous Lions team that finished a tour to South Africa unbeaten in 1974. McBride turned 85 this summer…

01 DISRUPT AT SOURCE To stop strike plays, try to disrupt the set-piece. Mark the back and middle of the lineout to force them to win at the front; the delivery is then slow and you can bring extra line speed. But as Harry Potter’s try shows, stay alert to anything! Use a Ben Earl or a nine to rush up into the passing lane at the back of the lineout to try to intercept or spook the No 9 into carrying into contact. 02 DOUBLING UP From kick-offs, position your best jumpers on whichever side Sua’ali’i (below) is. They should be close to the 10m line as the Aussies favour flat, short kick-offs that deny time for the pods to get up. Have two pods matching up on Sua’ali’i to force…

In all nine editions of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, either the New Zealand Black Ferns or England Red Roses have made the final. The teams share eight of those nine titles and five of the last six finals have featured both nations. That’s domination on another level. To explore the chokehold of the Black Ferns and Red Roses on the World Cup, we caught up with four key players from the past four tournaments to understand a little more about this royal rivalryw. We also learn about the extraordinary story of how the competition came into being in 1991 and take a look at France, the best team never to reach a World Cup final. It’s a massive year for women’s rugby and we hope you’re as excited about…

HEADING INTO the 2017 World Cup in Ireland, the Red Roses were the defending champions and starting to see some consistency under new coaching staff led by Simon Middleton. Affectionately known by those closest to him as Mids, he’d taken over from 2014 World Cup-winning coach Gary Street in 2015. The 2017 Women’s Six Nations saw England win their 13th Grand Slam. Their good form followed them into the World Cup and propelled them into the final, where they faced the Black Ferns. The Red Roses started strong and led 17-10 at half-time. But brilliant tactical changes saw New Zealand secure a 41-32 victory and their fifth Rugby World Cup trophy. For Rachael Burford, the starting inside-centre for England throughout the tournament apart from the pool game against USA, it’s…