Archive August 15, 2025

2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup

Venue: England Date: 22 August – 27 September

England are making their final preparations for the Women’s Rugby World Cup, acclimatising to the pressure of being red-hot favourites on home soil.

The Red Roses open the tournament in a week’s time with a match against the United States on Friday, 22 August in Sunderland.

The hosts have lost only once in their past 58 matches – a surprise defeat by New Zealand in the final of the last edition of the tournament in 2022.

They have won six successive Six Nations Grand Slams, avenged that defeat by the Black Ferns in each of the teams’ past three meetings and are well clear at the top of the world rankings.

Head coach John Mitchell is conscious that the pressure of expectation will be one of their most formidable challenges to overcome if they are to lift the trophy on 27 September at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.

“With our mental-skills support, we are helping the girls individually. Or, for the girls in previous World Cups, unpack and bring closure to those things,” said Mitchell.

“That experience of 2022 has now made us ready for now.”

England face Samoa and Australia in their other Pool A games.

Ireland are fifth in the world rankings, up from 10th two years ago. They failed to even qualify for the 2022 tournament.

Their rise has included a memorable 29-27 upset of New Zealand in September 2024. They were also within a score of France until the closing stages of the teams’ Six Nations meeting in March.

A big factor in their progress in the tournament may be the fitness of Aoife Wafer. The 22-year-old star back row was named the player of this year’s women’s Six Nations, but is still recovering from knee ligament damage sustained in April.

“We feel we’ve got a really strong plan in place to get her back on the pitch,” said coach Scott Bemand of Wafer in July.

“People want to see her play. We want to see her play. We think we’re tracking towards that.”

With influential back-five operators Dorothy Wall and Erin King already out, Bemand duly named Wafer in his squad, hoping she can make a swift and strong return to action.

Another victory over the Black Ferns would improve Ireland’s chances of progressing in the knockout stage and also potentially put New Zealand into England’s side of the draw.

Ireland warmed up for the tournament with a gutsy 47-26 defeat by Canada and a 27-21 comeback win over Scotland.

Scotland have lost five of their seven matches this year and have been hindered by off-pitch disruption in the build-up to the tournament.

Coach Bryan Easson will leave his post after the World Cup, while, according to the players, more than half the squad fear they will also be looking for new employment when it is finished as they are on short-term contracts.

“My ethos as a captain is to make my players feel like superwomen – it’s to make them feel valued and like they belong,” said captain Rachel Malcolm in July.

“And the processes which have gone on behind the scenes have definitely done almost the opposite of those three things.”

Adding to Scotland’s worries is an ankle injury to experienced hooker Lana Skeldon, who is in the squad despite being carried off in the defeat by Ireland.

Scotland edged the teams’ Six Nations meeting in March, prevailing 24-21 in a soggy Edinburgh.

That match was coach Sean Lynn’s first in charge of Wales, having arrived on the back of winning three successive English domestic titles with Gloucester-Hartpury.

Of more damage to Wales’ hopes than that scoreline may be an ankle injury suffered by co-captain Alex Callender.

The number eight has been named in Wales’ squad, but is a doubt for that important opener against Scotland.

“We have to leave Australia in Australia and then it is about the focal point of the World Cup,” said Lynn after the second Test defeat.

Wales have also gone through their own contracts dispute, with players claiming they were blackmailed into signing deals by the Welsh Rugby Union’s (WRU) hard-ball negotiating tactics and threats to cancel matches last year.

The WRU has since apologised and said it should have done better.

Star wing Jasmine Joyce-Butchers, who made her debut in 2017, says the current environment is one of the best she has experienced with Wales.

“The girls are brilliant – Lynny [Sean Lynn] and the coaching staff have been outstanding,” she said.

“It’s definitely a place now where I can be my true self and express who I am and I don’t get judged for that.

“We’ve just got to remember that we are in such a better place than we were last year.”

As an appetiser for the tournament, New Zealand’s 27-27 draw with Canada in Christchurch in May was hard to beat.

A hammer-and-tongs contest, with the two sides never separated by more than seven points, ended with a 22-phase, 83rd-minute Black Ferns try levelling the score and a conversion to snatch victory flying wide.

Holders New Zealand have a habit of peaking for the World Cup – winning six of the eight they have competed at.

After losing six out of 10 games during a difficult 12 months from mid-October 2023, head coach Allan Bunting believes his team are rising to the occasion once more.

“We’re a different team now,” Bunting said.

Canada leapfrogged New Zealand into second spot in the world rankings last autumn and were sent on their way to England by a record 11,453 fans – the biggest crowd for a women’s rugby match in the country – who watched a 42-10 win over the United States this month.

Their squad contains of a host of players who have honed their game in Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) , such as Exeter centre Alex Tessier and Saracens back row Sophie de Goede, along with seven exciting converts from the sevens team that won Olympic silver in Paris last summer.

Their fans are turning out their pockets as well as turning out in numbers.

Rugby Canada launched a fundraising drive entitled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup in March 2025. Its goal is to add one million Canadian dollars (£540,000) to boost a campaign which has “only a fraction of the budget of our top competition”. They are 88% of the way to their target.

France complete the world’s top four and have been closest to breaking England’s winning streak, coming within a point of the Red Roses in this year’s Women’s Six Nations finale.

However, Les Bleues’ confidence took a knock as England travelled to Mont-de-Marsan for both teams’ final warm-up game and came away with a commanding 40-6 victory.

“I know my group – they’ll be stung by what happened tonight and will want to show a different face,” said co-head coach Gaelle Mignot.

This World Cup marks the final campaign of Jo Yapp’s time in charge of Australia. The former Worcester scrum-half appeared for England at three World Cups as a player, captaining her country at the 2006 tournament.

The Wallaroos had hopes to include sevens superstars Charlotte Caslick and Maddison Levi in their squad, but Caslick has been forced out with injury while Levi opted to focus on the shorter-format game.

Sixteen teams are competing in the tournament, up from 12 in 2022.

Brazil will make their first appearance, while Fiji return for a second shot after debuting in New Zealand.

For once, there were no victory celebrations for BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton at the end of last season.

Sutton faced off against a guest and the combined efforts of thousands of BBC Sport readers in each of the 38 rounds of Premier League games in 2024-25, and was going for his third predictions title in a row.

Can you or he do any better this time?

Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

You can make your own score predictions below too, and then see which scoreline is the most popular. That will be used to calculate your points total to compare with Sutton and his guests.

This time, you all have a new opponent too – AI.

A correct result (picking a win, draw or defeat) is worth 10 points. The exact score earns 40 points.

Sutton’s guest for the opening round of games is singer Tom Grennan.

Grennan’s new album, Everywhere I Went Led Me to Where I Didn’t Want to Be, is out on Friday. His previous two albums both reached number one in the UK.

He kicks off his autumn UK and Ireland arena tour with a special “intimate” gig for fans in an exhibition hall at Coventry City’s stadium at the end of August.

He is a passionate Sky Blues supporter and is hoping they can maintain their remarkable momentum from last season and return to the Premier League for the first time since 2001.

Coventry were 17th in the Championship when Frank Lampard took charge in November but ended up finishing fifth, only losing their play-off semi-final to Sunderland in stoppage time of extra time.

“I went to as many games as I could, including the play-offs – and unfortunately that one did not go our way,” Grennan told BBC Sport. “It was a nutty few months to be a Sky Blues fan but that is the Championship, isn’t it?

“The aim now is to pick up where we left off and win promotion. It will be a hard slog and things can change in an instant, but I definitely think we can do it.

“Frank understands the Championship and knows the kind of players we need. We’ve got some great players in the squad and hopefully they can carry on with the same winning mentality they had at the end of last season.”

We will have to see how all of Liverpool’s new players settle in, and also, sub-consciously, the effect the sad loss of Diogo Jota will have on their squad – it is very difficult to measure that.

Bournemouth have sold most of their defenders, but I still think they will be fine this season because they are so well-organised under Andoni Iraola.

Liverpool signed one of them, Milos Kerkez, but their boss Arne Slot is still worried about his backline by the sounds of things, because of the goals they have leaked in pre-season.

So, I would expect some goals in this one, especially because Bournemouth are always quite attack-minded.

The Cherries will score at Anfield, but Liverpool will score more.

They have made a few changes to their team but they are the champions and they are at home. They will get over the line, and Mohamed Salah will get off the mark, although I am not sure I am going to get him into my Fantasy Premier League team.

Sutton’s prediction: 3-1

Tom’s prediction: Liverpool are the team to beat now and they are going to start this season strong as well. 2-0

Newcastle’s big problem is Alexander Isak, who surely won’t be involved while his future is being resolved.

That means they are without one of the Premier League’s best strikers, and Anthony Gordon will probably play as a false nine, which is not ideal.

Villa have their own issues and they must be struggling to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) because there has been a lot of talk of Ollie Watkins leaving this summer – they have signed another striker, Evann Guessand, but they definitely need to keep hold of Watkins too.

This is a hard one to call because, despite all the doom and gloom surrounding Newcastle, they are still a strong and exciting side.

But Villa are at home and we know how dangerous they are under Unai Emery, so I am going to back them to edge this and pile on the misery for Newcastle.

Sutton’s prediction: 2-1

Tom’s prediction: Both of these teams want to make the Champions League places, and this is going to be close. 1-2

I had a nightmare predicting Fulham last season because they were less consistent than usual at home, but picked up a few unexpected points away.

They have not really added to their squad this summer, but under Marco Silva they are still a decent team who play attractive football.

It is Brighton I am backing here, though, even if I do wonder what effect Joao Pedro leaving will have on the Seagulls – who were so exciting in attack at times last season.

The Seagulls have signed a young Greek striker, Charalampos Kostoulas, who has a big reputation but he is only 18, so they will be relying on wily old Danny Welbeck – as well as Kaoru Mitoma – while Kostoulas adapts.

We had Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler on this week’s Monday Night Club and it was really interesting to listen to him talk about all aspects of management.

Hurzeler said they had turned down bids for Mitoma in the past. We know Brighton’s model is to sell players, but Hurzeler clearly has got ambition himself – and while players like Mitoma are there, they are going to be in the top half of the table.

I was thinking of being bold and starting the season by backing them to get a big win, but I am going to be sensible – for once.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-0

Tom’s prediction: Brighton to edge this. 1-0

Sunderland have made so many changes, they are unrecognisable from the team that won promotion last season.

I love their ambition, but I am not sure it will keep them up. A good start is vital to the promoted teams, and how quickly can they gel?

There are question marks over West Ham, too. They were feeble at times under Graham Potter after he took charge halfway through last season and, while he could argue that wasn’t his team, he cannot have the same excuse now.

This is a big season for Potter, and I think it will start well. West Ham have got enough nous to deal with the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light, and leave with three points.

Sutton’s prediction: 0-1

Tom’s prediction: It is going to be hard for Sunderland this season. 0-2

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy says he is not expecting Thomas Frank to win the Premier League in his first season, which is nice of him. I wonder exactly when he is expecting it to happen, then?

I am a fan of Frank, who is so versatile with his formations and, whoever else Spurs sign this summer, they already have some very good players.

They will be pushing for fifth place, but I’m afraid I don’t see anything but a relegation struggle for Burnley.

I have a lot of respect for Clarets boss Scott Parker and what he achieved winning promotion last season, because their record of 30 clean sheets in 46 league games was just phenomenal.

They are in with the big boys again now, though, and while it is one thing keeping the likes of Plymouth and Oxford out, doing the same at this level is a completely different proposition.

This is a gimme for Spurs – the perfect fixture for them to get over the way they lost the Super Cup in midweek, and for Frank to get off the mark.

Sutton’s prediction: 3-0

Tom’s prediction: I’m going with Tottenham here. 1-0

Wolves were always well organised last season under manager Vitor Pereira and they are a powerful team too, but they are going to miss Matheus Cunha – how do they replace his goals and assists?

It is a worry for Manchester City that Rodri is injured again, but they are going to have to deal with that for the next few weeks.

We don’t really know how City will line up with their new players either, but they surely can’t be as fragile – or rudderless – as they were without Rodri last season.

Maybe City will turn up and blow Wolves away but I think this will be a lot closer than that.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-2

Tom’s prediction: City always seem to start the season strong. 0-3

There is real excitement about Chelsea at the moment.

They have just won the Fifa Club World Cup but the Premier League is the one they want and I bet one or two of their fans are thinking they have got half a chance this season.

This game might be a reminder of how hard that is going to be, because Crystal Palace are such a well-balanced and dangerous side under Oliver Glasner.

I still think Chelsea will win, though. They have a few options up front now and some versatile attackers too, so they can try different ways to break Palace down.

Sutton’s prediction: 2-1

Tom’s prediction: I am not sure what to expect from Chelsea this season. 1-1

People are writing both of these teams off for different reasons, and saying they won’t be as good as last season.

As well as seeing their manager go to Spurs, Brentford have lost Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa seems to want out too, so the worry with them is who will get their goals?

I still think the Bees have enough battle-hardened Premier League players to compete, but maybe Kevin Schade needs a bit of help up top.

It is also going to be difficult for Nottingham Forest to go again and be as good as they were last year. They have sold Anthony Elanga and Chris Wood turns 34 in December – but at least they kept hold of Morgan Gibbs-White.

I think this will be very tight and quite a scruffy game but as long as Forest win it, they won’t care.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-0

Tom’s prediction: Forest had such a good season last time, I think they will start well this time too. 2-1

What a great game this is to start the season with. I am genuinely excited about Manchester United’s new signings, especially Mbeumo and Cunha – we have already seen just how good they are in the Premier League.

I can’t claim to have an incredible knowledge on EVERY player so I must admit I have seen less of United’s new striker Benjamin Sesko, but he seems a player with a lot of potential and his arrival surely spells the end for Rasmus Hojlund at Old Trafford.

Arsenal have a new centre-forward too of course, and United boss Ruben Amorim knows all about Viktor Gyokeres after their time together at Sporting.

I am looking forward to seeing how Gyokeres links up with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, and how quickly they can develop an understanding.

Add in how there is always needle in this match, and that a win would be huge for either side, and there is a lot to look forward to.

It is going to be close, but although I feel really positive about United this season, I think they will lose this and Gyokeres may just have the final say against his old manager.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-2

Tom’s prediction: This is a big test for both clubs. I am thinking 0-0, but let’s go for United to nick it at home. 1-0

Leeds boss Daniel Farke is a very underrated manager and his teams always carry a threat – it is their defence I am worried about this season.

They will have a real go at Everton under the floodlights and Elland Road is going to be rocking, so this is a tough opening for the Toffees.

I feel sorry for Everton boss David Moyes, because he overachieved so much when he took over in January.

That has increased expectation for this season but, although they have managed to bring in Jack Grealish, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry, Moyes has not been able to strengthen his squad the way he wanted.

One of the players who left Everton this summer, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, looks like he is set to join Leeds this week.

We know there is a talent in there, he has just had so many injuries. If Calvert-Lewin joins Leeds in time, it would not surprise me at all if he scores on Monday and gets his new team a point against his old one – wouldn’t that be typical?

Sutton’s prediction: 1-1

Tom’s prediction: Leeds will get something. 1-1

It never fails to deliver, and already the return of the SWPL is upon us.

As a new season looms, which teams will grab the headlines and which players will impress?

One thing is for sure, the SWPL always brings excitement, and you’d be foolish to bet against it doing so again this season. Final-day drama? There’s every chance.

But there’s a long way to go before all that, and it’s worth reminding ourselves that this season sees a new structure to the SWPL. The top flight is reverting from 12 to 10 teams. After 18 fixtures the league will split into a top six and a bottom four, with the clubs playing each other twice again in their “mini-league”.

Hibernian’s resilience last season as they claimed their first league title in 18 years was impressive. As their injury list grew, so too their determination. They won the title on the final day at Ibrox, beating Rangers 1-0 and sealing the league by three points in the end.

Striker Eilidh Adams played her part in helping her side to the title, scoring 24 goals in a season she describes as her “best yet at the club”, and sees no reason why the Edinburgh side can’t repeat the feat. Adams says everyone believes they’re “good enough to compete”.

Hibs have held on to the core of their league-winning squad, although the Champions League is likely to test their strength, should they progress from qualifying.

You write Glasgow City off at your peril. The club call themselves the “original trailblazers” and they continue to build upon their early success.

It’s fair to say that departures from the club have grabbed the headlines. They lost assistant head coach Leanne Crichton to Rangers, as she replaces Jo Potter as head coach, while player of the year nominee and stand-out defender Samantha van Diemen left for Serie A side Roma.

City stalwart Hayley Lauder has replaced Crichton, while among the new faces at Petershill is someone who knows Scottish football inside out. Emma Brownlie has joined from Hearts and is relishing “a great opportunity” and ” new challenge”.

Both Rangers and Celtic endured disappointment in the league last season. Rangers won the two domestic cups but being pipped on the final day for the title and a European spot hurt. While Celtic as defending champions fell well short of expectations – finishing 15 points behind Hibs and in fourth spot. Both clubs admit they’ll need to do better in this campaign.

Celtic’s Chloe Craig says they will be looking to “right the wrongs” of last season, and believes not having “the pressure on” them this season will be beneficial.

Meanwhile across the city, Rangers seem equally determined to move on from their league failings of last season. Captain Nicola Docherty says new boss Crichton brings with her “a winning mentality”.

Almost eight years ago Hearts announced they’d be investing significantly in their women’s team. There was an expansion to their academy and over time that’s allowed the move into full-time football.

Evidence of their progression has been clear to see and although they were off the pace at the end, finishing 18 points behind Edinburgh rivals Hibs, they did have a say in the title race. They took points from Hibs, Celtic, Glasgow City and Rangers, thus proving on their day they’re a match for any of the big hitters.

The aim will surely be to beat those sides more often than not over the course of a season and defender Carly Girasoli believes they can maintain their threat, saying they “want to be up there competing”.

All things being equal there’s likely to be one place in the top six up for grabs when it comes to the the split. But it’s by no means a foregone conclusion as to who’ll make it.

Motherwell got there last season, the season before it was Partick Thistle and both teams are likely to be there or thereabouts again. Aberdeen could very well be in amongst it too. They finished last season strongly and have strengthened well.

The relegation battle might not be as brutal as it was last season to allow for the new structure. One team will go down automatically while the team finishing ninth will take on the SWPL 2 side who wins their promotion play-offs in a winner takes all one-off tie.

BBC Scotland will continue to stream live SWPL matches. Our first comes from the Oriam on Sunday as Hearts face Celtic (13:00 BST). You’ll find it on the BBC Sport Scotland website and iPlayer. BBC Alba and iPlayer will show champions Hibernian’s opener against Aberdeen, which kicks of at 16:10 BST.

The weekend’s action is all rounded up in our Sportscene highlights show on BBC Scotland and iPlayer on Monday from 19:30.

And don’t forget we have a page on our website dedicated to the women’s game.