Archive September 3, 2025

Minnows such as Brazil and Samoa will benefit from playing at the World Cup despite suffering a series of heavy defeats at the tournament, says World Rugby.

Brazil, the lowest-ranked team at the tournament, were beaten 84-5 by France on Sunday after a 66-6 loss to South Africa in their opening match.

Samoa have conceded a total of 165 points and scored only three in their matches against Australia and England so far.

However, Sally Horrox, chief of Women’s Rugby at World Rugby, says such scorelines will happen with teams at different stages of professionalisation.

“We acknowledge that competitiveness is a talking point, and so it should be, but we also must remember the context – the relative youth of the women’s game,” she said.

“The men’s professional game is 30 years old and we are in the very early stages, relatively, of that professional development of the women’s game.

“We made an intentional decision to expand the Rugby World Cup from 12 to 16 teams in full knowledge that that would give more exposure to teams like Fiji, Samoa, Spain and Brazil.

“Their performance on the biggest stage is critical for their national pride, but also to attract fans, commercial investment and government investment to drive the teams and game forward.”

Hosts and tournament favourites England have 32 centrally contracted players, with a pool of others paid by their Premiership Women’s Rugby clubs.

Brazil and Samoa are at the opposite end of the spectrum with mostly amateur squads, some of whom are crowd-funding to cover the cost of stepping away from their regular jobs.

The inclusion of sevens in the Olympics since Rio 2016 triggered government financial support in many countries and it is hoped that including developing teams on the biggest XV-a-side stage, along with specialist coaches and support from World Rugby, will further fuel their growth.

There are also plans to relaunch the annual WXV competition, for international sides, to guarantee emerging nations more regular competition against teams of a similar standard.

The most recent men’s Rugby World Cup also featured several blow-out scorelines, with France and Scotland putting 96 and 84 unanswered points on Namibia and Romania respectively in 2023.

At the 1995 Rugby World Cup, just before the men’s game officially turned professional, New Zealand scored 21 tries as they beat Japan 145-17. In 2019, Japan reached the last eight as hosts.

Gilpin added that the women’s game is already ahead of the men’s in the way the players connect with fans, both in the stadium and on social media.

“We are seeing at this incredible tournament that you can be yourself in rugby,” he said.

“It is a welcoming place where personalities shine and individuality is celebrated and where perceptions about our sport are being challenged, changed and, in many cases, blown out the water.

“We believe there is a real opportunity for the men’s game to follow the lead that we are seeing with greater accessibility and more personality creating more stars.

“This tournament has demonstrated that being on social media, being yourself, having an opinion, taking time for the fans and the media doesn’t need to be viewed as a performance inhibitor, indeed it can be an enabler.”

Gilpin is confident that the unique character of the women’s game will survive, even as it grows, its stars’ profiles increase and professionalism spreads.

“Three years ago in New Zealand [at the last World Cup] when he had had this great engagement with fans, we were asked then if we feared that we would see less of that and we are not. We are seeing more of it,” he said.

“That is because we have brilliant characters in the women’s game who are not going to have a lid put on those personalities, that is a genie you can’t put back in the bottle very easily.”

World Rugby also revealed that kicking, both for goal and from hand, has improved in the first two rounds of matches, compared to the last tournament in 2022.

Conversion success is up to 64%, a 14% increase, while an average of 3.3 kicks are regained per match, up from two per game in 2022.

England attack coach Lou Meadows: “The game is naturally going to evolve, especially when you take it professional, so the girls can commit to their skills and execution.

“We have making kicking a key skill for us. The way it can be used as a pressure point against the opposition, equally the way we can score more points through it as we convert our tries.

“Having a specialist kicking coach (Andy Holloway) in to support that skill is a really important resource to us.

“Usually you would only see one or two players use kicking but now it’s a key skill needed across the back line, whether you are a fly-half or a winger.

“We want a triple skill-set threat. It is something we deliberately go after in our programme.”

Fly-half Zoe Harrison on the different cultures in men’s and womens’ game:

“If the men want to do it [more social media], crack on, but I don’t know if that is fitting for their audience or what they want to do.

“At Saracens [men] they want to keep their heads down and go about their business, that is absolutely fine.

“Us girls like to see a dance, that’s just how girls are so it is fitting for who we are and who our audience is.”

Flanker Sadia Kabeya: “One of the best things about the women’s game is that how personable the teams are.

“You don’t only know the player on the pitch, but the player off the pitch. We love our fans we love being able to interact with them after the game, it is something really special.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek says he “completely forgot” about playing for England and was “just a fan” during his near seven-year absence from the national team.

Loftus-Cheek’s last appearance for the Three Lions came in a friendly against the United States in November 2018 after he had been part of Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad that reached the semi-finals in Russia the same year.

The 29-year-old midfielder ruptured his Achilles in 2019 playing for Chelsea in a friendly in the USA before the Europa League final, and subsequently dropped out of the England reckoning.

He joined AC Milan in 2023 and has made 71 appearances for the Rossoneri in all competitions, scoring 11 goals and registering three assists.

“When I ruptured my Achilles, I was on such a high [before it happened], so after that I had a hard time mentally,” said Loftus-Cheek.

“But I was still young, I still had time to come back, so I wasn’t too low.”

He added he had “got used” to not joining up with England because he had been away for so long.

“You still want to push in club football with the hope of maybe getting a sniff,” he said.

“But I just completely forgot about it and was being a fan of the team instead.”

Loftus-Cheek said it took about two years for him to feel himself again after the injury.

“If you have got good people around you it is going to help you so much, but the main thing comes from your self drive,” he said of his recovery.

England boss Thomas Tuchel knows Loftus-Cheek well from his time as manager of Chelsea, where the German used him in some unconventional positions.

“When he [Tuchel] came into Chelsea and he spoke to me about playing wing-back, I said no way – but I ending up playing there anyways,” said Loftus-Cheek.

“I played many positions under Tuchel and he values my physicality so I am used to working under him.

“He is very intelligent and knows the game so well. Hopefully we can do well to connect with him.”

As well as playing Loftus-Cheek at right wing-back, Tuchel also deployed him at centre-back and in midfield.

Loftus-Cheek thought he would be in with a “shout” of getting called up to the England squad as he knew the manager would be “keeping tabs on him”.

However, he was philosophical when asked if his versatility would give him a shot at making the World Cup squad next year.

“Who knows. I am able to play different positions. Since I was at AC Milan I have played a lot higher and close to the striker to get goals and help the team in the final third,” he said.

“Under Tuchel I played a lot deeper. I am able to do that and with things that can happen in a tournament, being versatile is a good thing. When it comes to that I am happy to play anywhere for the team and do my best in any position.”

2025 Ryder Cup

Venue: Bethpage Black, New York Dates: 26-28 September

Masters champion Rory McIlroy says he “loves” the team selected by European captain Luke Donald for this month’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

The world number two from Northern Ireland will again spearhead the European challenge with captain Donald naming the most settled team in Ryder Cup history.

Rasmus Hojgaard – who has replaced his twin brother Nicolai having qualified through the ranking system – is the only change to the team that beat the United States two years ago.

McIlroy, 36, has completed the career Grand Slam since that victory in Rome, while Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood both won FedEx Cup play-off events last month and Robert McIntyre was second in another.

“You could make an argument that all 12 guys are more accomplished than they were two years ago, so I’m excited,” McIlroy told BBC Sport NI’s Stephen Watson.

“Continuity is an underestimated quality in a team, especially when it comes to a Ryder Cup when there’s so many variables and changes. Love the 12 guys that have been assembled, and I think we’re ready to go.

McIlroy was a part of the European team that most recently won a Ryder Cup away from home at Medinah in 2012.

In what will be his eighth time at the event, he is expecting a “raucous” home crowd but believes “taking a leaf” from tennis star Novak Djokovic’s book could be helpful for his team-mates at Bethpage Black after the Serbian beat home favourite Taylor Fritz in the US Open quarter-finals.

“I watched a little bit of Novak Djokovic [Tuesday] night playing in his match against Taylor Fritz,” said McIlroy of the 24-time major champion’s latest Grand Slam charge.

“It was a very pro-American crowd and he’s been the best at handling that. He’s had to deal with it his whole life, whether it’s playing against an American in New York or playing against Roger [Federer] or Rafa [Nadal].

McIlroy is in the field at the Irish Open this week with the DP World Tour event at the K Club his penultimate tournament before the Ryder Cup.

He will also play the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth next week and believes dealing with the pressure of the “business end of things on a Sunday” would be a good test of his game, even if winning before his return to the United States is not “absolutely necessary”.

“I would love to add another W to the win column this year but I don’t think it’s a necessity,” he added.

“These are two big leaps to make sure the game is sharp and I think the only way to tell if you are as sharp as you want to be is getting yourself in contention, under pressure, at the sort of business end of things on a Sunday.