England vs. the United States: Women’s Rugby World Cup
Stadium of Light, Sunderland Date: Friday, August 22 Kick-off: 19:30 BST
The Women’s Rugby World Cup final in Twickenham has sold out, making it likely to be the largest crowd to watch a one-off women’s rugby game ever.
The previous record was set at Twickenham’s 82, 000-seat Allianz Stadium when England defeated France in the 2023 Six Nations.
66, 000 people tuned in to Stade de France’s opening day of the women’s rugby sevens at Paris 2024.
Three times as many tickets as were sold at the previous World Cup in New Zealand are sold, making 375, 000 of the 470, 000 tickets sold in total for the 32-game tournament, which begins on August 22.
The 2025 Rugby World Cup chair, Gill Whitehead, said, “We are very confident that the final will be the most popular women’s rugby match in history, easily exceeding the 66, 000 crowd that we saw in Paris in 2024.
The girls played at [Twickenham] Stoop]Stadium] around the corner to a crowd of 13, 000 people, according to the statement from England, “the last time the Women’s Rugby World Cup was held in 2010].
Never had the best of intentions or what I thought I would witness the girls leaving the tunnel and onto the three levels of a crowded Allianz Stadium. It is what makes up a girl’s “dreams.”
Numerous supporters have been drawn to recent Red Roses matches. England defeated Ireland and New Zealand at Twickenham last year in front of crowds of 48, 778, and 41-23.
In Eden Park, 42, 579 spectators watched the 2021 Rugby World Cup final, in which England succeded to New Zealand 34-31.
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Venue: Stadium of Light, Sunderland Date: Friday 22 August Kick-off: 19:30 BST
The Women’s Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham has sold out making it likely to be the biggest ever crowd for a one-off women’s rugby match.
The current record was also set at Twickenham’s 82,000 capacity Allianz Stadium when 58,498 watched England beat France in the 2023 Six Nations.
At Paris 2024, 66,000 watched the opening day of the women’s rugby sevens at Stade de France.
Across the 32-match tournament, which starts on Friday 22 August, 375,000 of the 470,000 tickets have already been sold, three times the number sold at the last World Cup in New Zealand.
“We are very confident the final will be the most attended women’s rugby match in history, easily surpassing the 66,000 crowd that we saw in Paris in 2024,” said Gill Whitehead, chair of the 2025 Rugby World Cup.
“The last time England hosted the Women’s Rugby World Cup [in 2010], the girls played at [Twickenham] Stoop [Stadium] around the corner to a crowd of 13,000.
“The prospect of the girls running out of the tunnel to the three tiers of a packed Allianz Stadium is something I never hoped or thought I would see. It is what girls’ dreams are made of.”
Recent Red Roses matches have pulled in large numbers of supporters. Crowds of 48,778 and 41,523 attended England wins over Ireland and New Zealand at Twickenham last year.
The 2021 Rugby World Cup final, where England narrowly lost to New Zealand 34-31, was played in front of 42,579 at Eden Park.
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United States President Donald Trump has stepped up his attacks against mail-in voting, which he claims was rigged in the 2020 elections, and has pledged to get rid of the postal voting system.
“We are now the only country in the world that uses mail-in voting,” he posted on his Truth Social platform on Monday.
His post echoed grievances about mail-in voting he had aired days earlier in an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity. After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska, Trump told Hannity that Putin said the 2020 US presidential election was “rigged” because of mail-in voting. It wasn’t. Trump lost that election. Officials in his own administration told him that.
Hours after his post, Trump slightly softened his language during a White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“And do you know that we’re the only country in the world – I believe, I may be wrong – but just about the only country in the world that uses [mail-in voting]. Because of what’s happened, massive fraud all over the place,” Trump said.
Mail-in voting provides more opportunities for fraud than in-person voting, researchers said, but it’s still rare, and election officials have safeguards in place.
Trump said during Monday’s remarks at the White House that his administration is preparing an executive order “to end mail-in ballots because they’re corrupt”.
We asked the White House for evidence to support Trump’s statement about other countries and received no response.
Data compiled by a Sweden-based organisation that advocates for democracy globally found in an October report that 34 countries or territories allow mail-in voting, which it refers to as “postal voting”.
Dozens of countries allow at least some mail-in voting
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance found that of those 34 countries or territories, 12 allow all voters to vote by mail and 22 permit only some voters to vote this way.
“Europe has the largest number of countries that make in-country postal voting available to all or some voters,” the report said.
No two countries have exactly the same postal voting system, said Annika Silva-Leander, the organisation’s North America head.
Silva-Leander noted some differences:
Ballot tracking: Ballot tracking allows voters and election officials to track ballots throughout the voting process to reduce fraud. Although that is common in the US, many countries don’t have it.
Different state systems: Many countries have the same postal voting system for the entire nation. In the US, the system differs from state to state. The majority of states allow voting by mail, including primarily Republican-voting, Democratic-voting and battleground states.
Mailing ballots to all voters is unusual: In most countries, postal voting supplements voting at polling stations, but some US states, such as Washington, rely largely on postal voting.
Ballot curing: This is a US process that allows voters to fix a problem, such as forgetting to sign the envelope, after casting their ballots. This process is not available in most countries.
The US has had voting by mail since its 1861-1865 Civil War. Voting by mail also has a long history across the globe.
Australia introduced postal voting more than a century ago, Graeme Orr, an expert on international electoral law at the University of Queensland in Australia, previously told PolitiFact.
All Canadians are eligible to use mail-in voting, said York University Associate Professor Cary Wu, who cowrote a 2024 paper about the effect of Trump’s antimail-voting messaging on Canadians’ views of postal voting.
“Voting by mail has long been a vital component of the democratic process in Canada,” Wu said.
Although the option of submitting a ballot by mail was extended to all Canadian voters in 1993, it was not commonly used in general elections before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the United Kingdom, on-demand postal voting was part of a wider modernisation in electoral administration in the early 2000s, according to a 2021 paper by UK researchers. Postal voting’s expansion was driven largely by a desire to increase turnout. Using data from the 2019 British Election Study, researchers found older voters and people with disabilities were more likely to opt for postal voting’s convenience.
Election workers prepare and sort postal votes before the start of the vote count, during the general election in Munich, Germany on February 23, 2025. [Gintare Karpaviciute/Reuters]
US states set mail-in voting laws
In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote: “The States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes” and must do what the president tells them.
Election law Professor Rick Hasen at the University of California at Los Angeles wrote on his blog that Trump’s statement is “wrong and dangerous”.
“The Constitution does not give the President any control over federal elections,” Hasen wrote, adding that federal courts have recognised those limits.
The US Constitution’s Article 1, Section 4 says the regulation of elections is a power of the states.
“The president plays literally no role in elections, and that’s by design of the founders,” said David Becker, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research.
Despite often criticising voting by mail, Trump himself occasionally cast a mail-in ballot, and in 2024, Trump invited Republicans to cast mail-in ballots.
We asked the White House for details about the forthcoming executive order he described, including whether it seeks to entirely ban mail-in voting. White House spokesperson Harrison Fields did not address that question but said Trump wants to require voter IDs and prevent “cheating through lax and incompetent voting laws in states like California and New York.”
There is no evidence of widespread cheating in California and New York, two of the most populous states that consistently vote for Democrats for president. Most states require voter IDs although the rules vary.
Our ruling
Trump didn’t explain his evidence and hours later softened his language when he said he “may be wrong”.
In 2024, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance found that 34 countries or territories allow postal voting. For example, Australia has had mail-in voting for a century, and all Canadians are eligible to vote by mail.
Four of Scotland’s five European representatives are still standing as we prepare for this week’s play-off rounds, with three guaranteed league phase action across Uefa’s competitions.
However, the bigger picture is not quite so rosy, with much harder qualification routes on the horizon unless significant strides are made in this campaign.
Celtic and Rangers are bidding for places in the Champions League, against Kairat and Club Brugge respectively, while Aberdeen take on FCSB of Bucharest in the Europa League.
The losers of those ties drop to the next tournament, but there is no such safety net for Hibernian, who take on Legia Warsaw for a Conference League spot.
“It’s a huge week,” Gavin Noon, who runs the X account Scotland’s Coefficient, told BBC Scotland.
“At the end of the season, Uefa will rank all the nations based on the amount of points collected over the last five years.
Who do we need to catch?
Switzerland and Austria are the countries immediately above Scotland in the Uefa club rankings.
Austria are 15th on the list, 2.8 points better off than Scotland.
It may not sound like much but Noon points out this is the “equivalent of winning seven more league phase matches”. Gulp!
And the Austrians have already stolen a march, with Dundee United knocked out of Conference League qualifying on penalties by Rapid Vienna.
“It’s quite a big gap,” said Noon. “It’s possible, but much more possible if Hibs make it as well.”
While Hibs were the first British team to play in Europe, way back in 1955, they have never reached group stage football in the modern era.
They will be underdogs against Poland’s biggest club but have shown up well against Midtjylland and Partizan Belgrade in previous rounds.
What happens if we don’t reel them in?
If Scotland cannot climb to 15th, the outlook is bleak.
“It’s quite a severe drop-off,” warns Noon.
It would mean representation dropping from five to four clubs in two years’ time.
In 2027-28, the Premiership champions would have three Champions League qualifiers instead of the current one.
The runners-up won’t even get a sniff of the Champions League or Europa League, faced with three Conference League qualifiers – along with the team finishing third.
The Scottish Cup winners would have four Europa League qualifying ties.
Falling out of the top 12 already means that this season’s Scottish Cup winners will enter the Europa League third qualifying round instead of the play-offs and will not be guaranteed group stage football.
How do we make up ground?
By our clubs winning more games than their rivals from Austria and Switzerland…
Results are weighted equally across all competitions but there is a system of bonus points which heavily favours those in the Champions League.
Celtic and Rangers are joined by Sturm Graz and Basel in the play-offs to reach the top table.
As they strive to progress in the second tier tournament, Aberdeen have company from Young Boys of Bern.
Reasons to be cheerful?
Celtic certainly enjoyed their first taste of the new-look Champions League, winning three and drawing three of their eight games last term to finish 21st in the table before a narrow loss to Bayern Munich when the knockout matches started.
Rangers have excelled in the Europa League of late, reaching the quarter-finals last time.
Of course, the Ibrox side went all the way to the final in 2022, suffering an agonising penalty shoot-out loss.
Olivia Attwood wowed fans at Topshop’s runway show last week as she showed off her ‘ supermodel legs ‘ in a pair of boots and a tailored mini dress from the brand
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Olivia Attwood wowed at the Topshop runway show(Image: Getty Images)
Millennials were rejoicing last week as the number on 00s high street brand, Topshop, made its grand return. After teasing its comeback online, Topshop landed with a bang as it hosted an outdoor runway show that saw famous faces like Cara Delevingne and Olivia Attwood attend.
Although Cara is the new face of the brand’s revival, it was Olivia whose outfit garnered the most attention from fans, as she posed for photos in a fitted denim mini dress and a pair of snakeskin boots that prompted one Instagram follower to comment: “How were u not a supermodel! Those legs”. Her dress is, of course, a Topshop design, with Olivia’s Topshop Heavy Twill Contrast Stitch Short Sleeve Mini Dress priced at £45.
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The denim mini dress is the perfect pick for this transitional time of year, where we’re still getting some sunshine and heat but there’s a definite glimmer of autumn in the air. It’s made from a heavy twill fabric which keeps you warm and gives it its structured shape, but the short sleeves and mini hemline make sure you’re not too covered when the sun comes out.
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The Topshop Heavy Twill Mini Dress has a flattering structured silhouette with a slight A-line shape to the skirt, whilst the waist is fitted with ruching details to give it more of an hourglass shape. The wider short sleeves also help balance it out, making your waist appear smaller and your legs longer.
Currently available in sizes four to 18, the dress is the perfect choice for all occasions, with Olivia proving how easy it is to dress up with a statement pair of heels or boots and a blazer. However you could just as easily keep it casual with some trainers or ballet flats and a tote bag for the day time.
Olivia’s twill mini dress is easy to style(Image: ASOS)
If you prefer a sleeveless style, H&, M’s Flared-Skirt Denim Dress is currently on sale for £21.25 down from £24.99, with a skater-style skirt and fitted bodice that makes it flattering and easy to wear. The short-denim dress from Mango, priced at $ 49.99, has a very similar silhouette to Olivia’s Topshop dress, but without the contrast stitching and sleeveless design.
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We can’t resist purchasing Olivia’s Topshop Heavy Twill Mini Dress because it’s one of the year’s biggest high street events, with the Topshop revival set to be one of them.
Defending champions India named top order batter Shubman Gill and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah on Tuesday in their Twenty20 squad for next month’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and middle order batter Shreyas Iyer, however, could not make the cut in the 15-member squad led by Suryakumar Yadav.
India’s test captain , Gill , has not played a T20 International since July last year when he was Suryakumar’s deputy on the tour of Sri Lanka.
“That’s where we started a new cycle”, Suryakumar, who took over T20 captaincy from Rohit Sharma after India won the 20-overs World , Cup , title last year, told reporters.
“After that he got busy with all the test series and he didn’t get an opportunity to play T20s because he was busy playing test cricket and Champions Trophy.
” So he’s there in the squad and we’re happy to have him. “
India also included Bumrah, whose recent workload has been a major concern for the team think-tank, which played him in three of the five tests in England in June and July.
Dynamic opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal was the most glaring omission from the India squad for the Asia Cup]Paul Childs/Action Images via Reuters]
No room for Jaisawal
With three opening options in , Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson – India could not accommodate Jaiswal.
” With regard to Yashasvi]Jaiswal], it’s just unfortunate again, “chief selector Ajit Agarkar said.
” There’s Abhishek Sharma, what he’s done over the last year or so, plus he can bowl a little bit, he gives us that option if required.
“One of these guys was going to miss out, Yashasvi just has to wait for his chance”.
Samson and Jitesh Sharma are the two wicketkeepers in the side, which also includes left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
India begin their Group A campaign against hosts United Arab Emirates in Dubai before meeting arch-rivals Pakistan at the same venue four days later.
