Category News

A decision regarding the future of the game is getting closer as the professional Welsh rugby season begins.

On Friday, a public opinion poll about the radical plans of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) to reduce the professional team’s roster from four to two was completed.

The governing body claims that the survey, which included more than 7, 000 participants, is one of Wales’ largest ever, and that it was completed by more than 7, 000 people.

Compared to the Welsh Government’s consultation on the proposed 20-mph speed limit in 2021, roughly 6 100 people responded.

However, it will be up to only a select few people to decide a generational decision that will affect thousands for the foreseeable future.

The Welsh team’s persistent failure has highlighted the need for change.

After posting their worst performance in tournament history, the women’s team were eliminated from the World Cup and the men’s national men’s team lost 18 matches.

The 90-page consultation WRU document offers four options in addition to the composition of the men’s professional game, which has caused the most publicity.

The WRU preferred solution, which also included factors like having two evenly spaced professional sides, was the final model.

The governing body wants to fund and oversee all rugby-related issues, with commercial operations primarily being managed by private investors.

The WRU insists that no decisions have been made and that it is willing to have plans developed in response to discussions with professional clubs, players, and supporters.

However, many people, including former WRU bosses Gareth Davies and David Moffett, have criticized the plans, which have sparked a hostile response to the WRU’s preferred two-team setup.

Welsh rugby “deserves better,” according to Dragons, who have been the most vocal players, and who have argued that there is no compelling case to cut two regions because the proposed structures are unacceptable.

The initial proposals simply don’t add up, according to Dragons chairman David Wright, who is also deeply disappointed.

“The proposals are inherently unacceptable, and there is no way we can accept them.” The WRU must reconsider and give football better.

At a recent pre-season friendly, Llanelli and Newport councillors were vocal in their criticism of the Dragons and Scarlets. Before Saturday’s opening league game, Scarlets fans intend to protest.

Ospreys and Wales captain Jac Morgan, who has indicated he will leave to play club rugby outside of Wales if his current side is eliminated, are other players who are unhappy.

The WRU proposals, according to the Welsh Rugby Players Association (WRPA), would “drive talent to leave Wales.”

The players’ collective opinion is clear, according to WRPA CEO Gareth Lewis, “the proposed two-club model does not have their support.”

The WRU’s governing body is open to compromise, according to the mood music from both inside and outside discussions.

You might wonder why four teams have endured this turmoil and worry if the WRU completely relented and continued to operate on unequal funding.

One team would need to go of its own accord, go through a tender process, or merge if they decided to have three teams.

The futures of Ospreys, Scarlets, and Dragons will be closely watched as Cardiff appears to be safe from the axe now that they have been taken over by the WRU in April when they go into administration.

For the 2026-27 season, Scarlets unveiled new investors this month while Ospreys are already renovating St Helen’s in Swansea.

Reddin has revealed that a meeting with an independent group had a different perspective.

While many of the same themes were emerging at club, player, and supporter meetings, Reddin said this “outside” group had a much more ambivalent viewpoint.

A number of documents will be requested from the WRU board to aid in its decision-making process.

In our consultation and engagement meetings, Reddin stated that “we have proposed an optimal system, advocated its merits, and have discussed this in great detail.”

“We have continued to pay close attention to the information and viewpoints that were presented.”

Reddin acknowledges that not every stakeholder will agree with any outcome.

“I’m confident that we will make a number of recommendations that will prioritize the future success of the Welsh rugby system,” Reddin said.

The WRU board will receive recommendations in October, at the end of that month, to make a final recommendation for the course of action.

The 12-member board includes chair Richard Collier-Keywood, chief executive Abi Tierney, and executive vice president Abi Tierney, Jennifer Mathias, and Amanda Bennett, all of whom are also members.

Anyone who anticipates a certain outcome from a decision will be disappointed because the consequences will be known.

With legal action and players’ strikes still looming, it could be the start rather than the end.

After firing Graham Potter as head coach, West Ham will appoint Nuno Espirito Santo as manager.

Before Monday’s game against Everton, Portuguese Nuno is expected to be in place, citing positive discussions with West Ham’s board.

After just eight months, Potter was fired from the club, which was struggling in 19th place in the Premier League.

Under the Englishman’s leadership, the Hammers only managed three points in their first five Premier League games this year.

The East London club stated that they “believe a change is necessary to help the team’s position in the Premier League as soon as possible.”

The second half of last year and the start of the 2025-26 season, according to them, “have not matched expectations.”

Potter, 50, said he believed he had the board’s support after “positive talks” and had been getting ready for the game at Everton on Monday night.

After being defeated at home by Crystal Palace on Saturday, the club reportedly considered changing its management, and discussions with Nuno have gotten more and more pressing.

Nuno, 51, was fired after only three games into the season at Forest after 21 months in charge.

As part of their first European bid in three decades, he led the club to seventh place in the Premier League, their highest ranking since 1994-1995.

After being appointed in January, Potter won just six games, finishing last season in 14th place in the league.

The club continued, “The board would like to thank Graham and his coaching staff for their hard work during their time with the Hammers.”

West Ham won its fifth league and cup game of the season with a 2-1 home defeat at home against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Hammers finished 14th in the table after being replaced by Spaniard Julen Lopetegui, who was fired in January after six months in charge.

When Potter was appointed on January 9, 2025, he said, “It’s a proud day to be head coach of this amazing club, big tradition, big history, big expectations, big challenge.”

However, the former Chelsea and Brighton boss found it difficult to obtain victories.

In the summer transfer window, West Ham spent £126 million on eight new arrivals, including the £38 million purchase of Mateus Fernandes from Southampton in August, in addition to the Ghana international Mohammed Kudus’ £55 million sale to Tottenham in July.

However, the club is now in the bottom three after defeats against Sunderland, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Palace. Additionally, they lost to fellow strugglers Wolves 3-2 in the second round of the Carabao Cup.

In response, West Ham issued a statement apologizing for the “results and performances on the pitch over the past two seasons” not meeting the expectations they had set for themselves.

Before the Palace game, angry fans staged a protest against the club’s board, and now Potter has been dismissed by the owners.

Potter became a viral trend on social media after its poor pitch performance, with users using AI to enlarge his face on to Barbie, Donald Trump, and the Chuckle Brothers.

Potter claimed on Friday that he had not been taking it too seriously.

You have to accept the job that comes with it, he said, because it made my 15-year-old son laugh a lot.

After taking home a bronze in the women’s F46 javelin at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, former champion Hollie Arnold said winning a medal was far beyond her expectations.

The 31-year-old returned from taking a nine-month break after placing third in Paris’ 2024 Paralympics with a season-best throw of 41.94m.

It’s a strange combination of emotions, they say. Arnold, who had previously won this event at the previous six World Championships, said: “I’m proud, there’s upset, there’s a million and one things.”

After Paris, I decided that mental health had to come first for me and that I needed to take some time to fully understand myself.

I’m really proud of myself because I didn’t know if I was going to be here this year because this was not on my cards this year.

After the first round of throws, Arnold led the field in India’s capital, but with five more attempts, she struggled to improve.

With a personal best of 43.74m, Dutchwoman Noelle Roerda outshines Uzbekistan’s Shahinakhon Yigitalieva.

Arnold continued, “It’s just been a really messy year, but I’ve found magic in chaos, and I think that’s something I’m very proud of.

The two highest-ranked teams will face off in the World Cup final on Saturday at Twickenham, where they will face the biggest prize in women’s rugby.

World number one England are bidding to win for a third time following success in 1994 and 2014 – when they beat Canada in the showpiece.

The Red Roses, who have been fully professional since 2019, have already won 32 Test matches and are favorites to reach 33.

They are also seeking to make up for the heartbreak of the 2022 final when they lost 34-31 to New Zealand after having winger Lydia Thompson sent off early in the first half.

To reach their second final, Canada defeated defending champion New Zealand, who arguably has been playing better rugby than England.

They are not fully professional and set up a £530, 000 (C $1m) fundraising drive – entitled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup – to help boost their chances.

You’ve never seen England’s best, in my opinion. There’s definitely more in this team – we always ask more of ourselves”, he said.

It’s probably wrong of us to set a limit because we probably don’t even know what that limit is. These girls are driven, they want to get better.

This tournament ” throws curve balls,” and Saturday will no exception. You must contend with a lot of hardship to get to this point.

“You’ve got one and two in the world in the final, which is so good for the game. We will have to earn an 80-minute performance for it.

” We’re never going to be perfect, but to win this tournament, you don’t have to be perfect.

In the end, it would be nice for this team to realize their potential and receive compensation for it because of how much talent there is.

Captain Zoe Aldcroft added: “We are so excited to get out there. We really believe that this is our time now that we have been working on it for three years.

” We’re so excited to experience it. We’ve wanted it for a long time but have never had it.

“The momentum and the impact that we have had on fans throughout the tournament, it’s going to be so exciting to see where we have pushed women’s rugby to and exciting for this new era of women’s rugby on Saturday.

Really, it makes you shiver. It’s like the 16th person on the pitch and it really pulls you forward. “

England’s Meg Jones, who has been nominated for the year’s World Rugby women’s 15s player, praised the team’s determination to make history.

” We’ve had to fight for every second of game time in this tournament. She continued, “We’ve earned the privilege to be here.”

” I think we were very close in the last World Cup, “added the Frenchman.

We lost in the semi-finals, and I would say that was because of all the metrics but not the score, so it can sometimes be difficult to interpret.

“But we were not ready in those high-pressure games to deliver and I think that’s a big difference.

We definitely changed the way we play, and I believe I saw that we were moving in the right direction and that we do a lot of good things a year and a half ago.

“We had a good game against England in Canada (a 21-12 loss in 2024) but we didn’t deliver on details.

In addition to Natasha Hunt and Alex Matthews, the England team that lost to the winning team from 2014, Flanker Aldcroft, will take the place of them.

Star full-back Ellie Kildunne, Abby Dow, Zoe Harrison, Amy Cokayne, Abbie Ward, Aldcroft and Matthews remain from the starting XV defeated by the Black Ferns in the final three years ago.

Only England’s players have started all six of their games since the World Cup, with the exception of centre Jess Breach, who has six tries.

Canada are also unchanged. In the Premiership Women’s Rugby League, eight of their starting XV players play for English clubs, including Exeter Chiefs center Alex Tessier, who is the team’s captain.

Replacements: Atkin-Davies, Clifford, Bern, Galligan, Feaunati, L Packer, Aitchison, Rowland.

Canada: Hogan-Rochester, Perry, Pelletier, Hunt, Tuttosi, Menin, De Goede, O’Donnell, Crossley, Paquin, Forteza, Corrigan, Symonds, Corrigan, Corrigan, Symonds, Corrigan, and Symonds.

What will be a record-setting crowd for a one-off women’s rugby match will take place in Twickenham for the final match.

Tickets for the 82, 000-capacity Allianz Stadium sold out a month ago, with the attendance therefore set to beat the record of 58, 498 set when England played France in the 2023 Six Nations.

The full-back hit her stride with two superb tries at Ashton Gate, having only flickered briefly in her two previous outings at this World Cup.

She was also wearing eye-catching cheetah-print footwear for the first time from her boot sponsor, which has been prominent throughout the tournament’s marketing campaign.

Canada standout Sophie de Goede is a rugby rarity as a goal-kicking lock forward, and with 58 points is the second-highest scorer in the World Cup so far.

Prior to the third-placed play-off against France, which occurs before the final itself, Braxton Sorensen-McGee from New Zealand has 59 points.

He succeeded Simon Middleton as head coach of the women’s team in 2023 and has won every game since taking over.

England have scored 43 tries in the tournament, while Canada have managed 35.

In her country’s opening pool match against Fiji, full-back Julia Schell scored six tries in an extraordinary 23-minute period.

Wing Jess Breach has crossed the whitewash six times for England, including a hat-trick in the thumping victory over Samoa. Five goals were scored by Kildunne and five by sophomore forward Kelsey Clifford.

The aim of the game is very simple: score more points than the other team over 80 minutes of play (two halves of 40 minutes).

You accomplish this by scoring penalties, conversions, drop-goals, and tries.

A try – for touching the ball to the ground in your opponent’s in-goal area – is worth five points

A kick following a try is worth two points, according to the conversion.

A penalty kick – awarded for foul play – is worth three points

A kick in open-play is also worth three points, as is a drop-goal.

England reached the final with a 35-17 win over France at Ashton Gate, extending their world record winning run to 32 matches.

After defeating the United States, Samoa, and Australia to win Pool A, they had defeated Scotland 40-8 in the quarter-finals.

The Red Roses have scored 283 points across their five games and conceded just 42.

In their semi-final victory over defending world champions New Zealand, Canada triumphed to a thrilling 34-19 victory.

Scotland’s Hollie Davidson will take charge of a World Cup final for a second time having refereed the 2022 match between New Zealand and England.

Leo Colgan (Ireland), the television match official (TMO), and Matteo Liperini (Italy), the foul play review officer (FPRO), will serve as Aimee Barrett-Theron (South Africa), and Clara Munarini (Italy), the assistant referee.

Australia’s Ella Goldsmith will referee the bronze final, supported by Kat Roche (USA) and Sara Cox (England) as assistant referees, Quinton Immelman (South Africa) as TMO and Ian Tempest (England) as FPRO.

There have been nine previous Women’s World Cups but only three nations have lifted the trophy – New Zealand (six times), England (twice) and the United States (once).

England reached eight finals, but they only won two of them, in 1994 and 2014.

Canada lost on their only previous appearance in a final, falling to England in 2014.

The inaugural Cardiff tournament was won by the United States.

2021: New Zealand 34-31 England – Eden Park, Auckland*

*Competition was postponed due to Covid pandemic until 2022.

2017: New Zealand 41-32 England – Ravenhill, Belfast

2014: England 21-9 Canada vs. Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris

2010: New Zealand 13-10 England – Twickenham Stoop, London

2006: England vs. New Zealand at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Edmonton

2002: New Zealand 19-9 England – Olympic Stadium, Barcelona

1998: New Zealand defeated the USA at the National Rugby Center Stadium in Amsterdam.

1994: England 38-23 USA – Raeburn Place, Edinburgh

The game will be called sudden-death extra time if the teams are tied at full-game.

There are two halves of 10 minutes allocated and the first team to score any points will win the match.

The game will begin at 16:00 BST and be streamed live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website and app.

BBC One &amp, iPlayer will be live from 15: 00 until 18: 35, with radio commentary of the whole match on Sports Extra from 15: 45 and on 5 Live from 17: 00.

In the third-place play-off of the Rugby World Cup, France and New Zealand square off against each other.