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'For the Red Roses it brings that feeling of excitement and pressure - can we silence the crowd'
Women’s sport really is on the rise. The Scots have announced their first sell-out at the Hive for our game on Saturday. I’m excited to be surrounded by over 7000 Scottish people singing with passion and cheering on their home side. For the Red Roses it brings that feeling of excitement and pressure – can we silence the crowd…
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We’re into game three of the tournament, so training weeks are pretty similar now. The schedule starts to feel a little mundane so as a treat, our team manager got us access to Pennyhill Park Spa where we spent the day in the thermal pools, saunas and ice rooms.
Doing something different in camp makes you feel a bit more human again. After a couple of hours in the spa I spent an hour in the changing rooms in my robe blowdrying and straightening my hair because I could!
On Thursday we made our way up to Edinburgh. This time two years ago we travelled up to Edinburgh on a bus. It’s fair to say I definitely preferred the hour plane journey to the eight we spent on a bus that year.
The Scotland fixture in 2022 was where I received my second cap, 3 years after my first. In that time I contracted meningitis which left me hospitalised for 10 days in September 2019, and then shattered my ankle in January 2020 where I was rehabbing for a year during Covid.
To be able to go back there this weekend feels really special. I am now a contracted Red Rose, a World Cup runner-up and an inaugural WXV winner.
Scotland are a high-energy squad who like to keep the ball alive. In previous encounters, Scotland have been the team who have the highest ball in play periods, so for us, we have worked hard on how we are going to counteract that.
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Not only have we been training to meet those demands, but we have also tactically looked at ways we can stop them from finding their flow. A key threat for us to nullify is Helen Nelson at 10. If we can do this, hopefully, it disrupts the rest of their passages of play.
This week, Rugby World Cup posted an announcement stating there were ‘500 days until the World Cup’. It felt a bit surreal as it only feels like yesterday we were in New Zealand at the 2022 World Cup. As I’ve spoken about before, I think women’s rugby is in a really good place to hit that peak in 2025.
Organisations are starting to see the benefits of supporting women’s sport, sports fans are starting to see it as a high-quality, fun product and the talent on the pitch is only ever-growing! Between now and then we still have a WXV tour and another Six Nations, so there is plenty of time to lure in more fans from across the world.
But I think the announcement of our two warm-up games is hugely beneficial from a marketing perspective to see where the game is at. It has been shared that we will be hosting the Black Ferns and France prior to WXV. England vs New Zealand is seen as one of the biggest games in the women’s game, so to be able to host that at the home of English Rugby will be a spectacle in itself.
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As with France, you never really know what you’re going to get. When they’re on it, they’re on it, but when they’re slightly off it can go really wrong for them. They have been rebuilding since the World Cup and I’m excited to see what they have to offer when we play them in a few weeks and then again on home soil later in the year.
On a different note, RugbyPass TV is now streaming Abbie Ward: A Bump in the Road worldwide. This is a must-watch for any female athlete who has ever questioned becoming a mother because of their sport.
Abbie takes you on her journey from pre-birth to getting back on the pitch and some of the tough decisions she has to make on the way. It was eye-opening and has definitely created a more open conversation on motherhood in sport. You can watch it now for free on RugbyPass TV here.
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
86 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
3 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments