After three years of ready, the Girls’s Rugby World Cup landed in England this weekend.
The motion started with a humbling show at Sunderland’s Stadium of Gentle that noticed the Crimson Roses ship an enormous 69-7 win over the USA.
It did not cease there: Australia secured their biggest-ever World Cup victory, Scotland downed Wales, Brazil made their event debut and the Black Ferns had been made to work.
Here is a have a look at the opening weekend of the Girls’s Rugby World Cup.
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Largest query | Ilona Maher watch
Should-see spotlight | Different tales to know
Largest query: Can favourites England be affected person?
The expectation round this Crimson Roses group is inescapable.
The rugby public adore them: the screams and shouts which greeted every of the 23 participant’s names as they had been learn out in Sunderland reverberated by way of your chest. Ellie Kildunne was the most well-liked, however intently adopted by Hannah Botterman, Maud Muir and Emily Scarratt. However 1 by way of to 23, this Crimson Rose group has had to deal with heartbreak because the 2022 World Cup remaining, and the burden of strain on them to ship of their residence competitors ever since.
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Up to now, so good. They appear to be managing it nicely. Head coach John Mitchell mentioned the week main as much as the USA recreation dragged, they needed to mood gamers’ power.
It was pleasure over nerves. However as every win comes and goes, so too do the frequency of questions over the strain on them as they appear to reside as much as their standing as favourites.
“We wish to construct strain and sq. up a little bit bit extra in our defence,” Mitchell mentioned. All of the threats that got here at us had been those we anticipated. We’re hunted, and we love being hunted.”
He talked about how they know every group will discover an additional “10 or 15%” to attempt to knock them off their pedestal. However the actuality is England’s power in depth is the envy of each different nation right here. Getting that first win was key, they usually’re anticipated to comfortably beat Samoa.
The danger is their first correct check will solely come within the semifinals so that they have to overcome their very own impatience in addition to the duties forward. However thus far, they appear to be managing the strain brilliantly.
Their good captain Zoe Aldcroft is calmness personified and they’re going to proceed to repeat their “taking issues match by match” mantra by way of to, they hope, Sept. 27. As Mitchell mentioned: “We have solely simply obtained began and there is plenty of progress left in us.” — Tom Hamilton, from the Stadium of Gentle
Ilona Maher watch
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NFL or NBA? Lomu or Habana? Ilona Maher takes on ‘You Have To Reply’
Beyonce or Taylor Swift? Canine or cats? USA rugby star Ilona Maher takes on ESPN’s “You Have To Reply.”
Those that grabbed a ticket for England vs. United States on Friday evening not solely noticed the hosts kick off the event in model, however obtained a glimpse of Ilona Maher in her first XVs World Cup.
An enormous cheer went up in Sunderland when her title was introduced pre-match. Whereas the U.S. struggled to get a foothold on the sport, Maher had a number of standout moments, with some crunching tackles and a few spectacular runs, together with one the place she actually carried two England defenders along with her, making about 20 meters to get her facet on the entrance foot.
After all, social media has been in a frenzy because the match.
Maher mayhem is formally right here. — James Regan, from Stadium of Gentle
Should-see spotlight: Ellie Kildunne magic
Pure Ellie Kildunne magic to set-up Jess Breach. 🤩✨#BBCRugby #RWC2025 pic.twitter.com/Ie0CvHjn8f
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 22, 2025
Different tales to know
Brazil’s Girls’s Rugby World Cup debut
Brazil performed of their first ever Girls’s Rugby World Cup match on Sunday, happening 66-6 to South Africa in Northampton. The South American facet have recruited closely from their sevens programme, with 11 Olympians within the squad.
Whereas they had been overrun by South Africa, qualification marks an enormous second for Brazil as a rugby enjoying nation and is an indication of the sport’s progress world wide. They face European powerhouse France in Exeter subsequent week, earlier than ending their Pool D marketing campaign towards Italy again in Northampton on Sept. 7.
Scotland shelve off-field points
Scotland put a marker down with a massively necessary 38-8 win over Wales on Saturday towards the backdrop of main uncertainty round some gamers.
Francesca McGhie bagged a hat trick within the document six strive win, with Scotland going an extended technique to securing their quarterfinal place, however it’s their off-field scenario which has dominated the construct up with points round participant contracts.
Winger Rhona Lloyd has mentioned “greater than half” of the World Cup squad will probably be with out contracts come the top of the event as issues stand. It could be a distraction off the pitch, however on it, Scotland made an enormous assertion with the win towards Wales.
The Haka
Like to see it! 👏👏
New Zealand carry out the Haka forward of kick-off vs Spain of their Girls’s Rugby World Cup tie! pic.twitter.com/ZyCeXm6t3m
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 24, 2025
It would not be a Rugby World Cup with out the Haka!
The Black Ferns started the defence of their Girls’s Rugby World Cup crown with a 54-8 over Spain.
Whereas the rating line suggests a comparatively comfy afternoon for the Black Ferns, it was something however with the 7,458-strong crowd handled to an entertaining afternoon of rugby that noticed New Zealand lowered to 13 gamers.
