2nd September 2025
Good morning GAGRs and welcome to another Tuesday Rugby News. Of course, the Women’s Rugby World Cup is ongoing in England, with the second round of pool games completed and the quarter finals almost locked in. The Rugby Championship is entering the second round of matches, with the Wallabies preparing to host Los Pumas, and the All Blacks preparing to host two time World Champions, the Springboks.
And there is no update from Bris about his Rick Astley tickets, so I hope the big man is staying safe out there.
Rugby World Cup 2025
The 2025 World Cup has so far been a great celebration of rugby across the first two weeks, and it looks to continue as the tournament moves into the third round and then the knockouts. In some stats provided by our favourite Welsh correspondent, Eloise, more people watched round 1 of the Rugby World Cup than the entire tournament last time around, and 30% of the people at the games had never been to a rugby match before.
The opening weekend viewing figure surpassed the entire reach of the 2021 World Cup, which was played in 2022 and attracted 3.7 million viewers overall, including 1.8 million for the final.
It’s not just about tv viewing, the attendance record for the Women’s Rugby World Cup was also broken on the opening night as 42,723 watched the Red Roses beat the American Eagles 69-7 in Sunderland.
That is really quite something, and the quality of the games, the individual players, and the celebrations when the minnows score has been a lot of fun to watch. While the results have largely been as expected, there have been some upsets, including South Africa beating Italy for teh first time ever to qualify for the quarter finals.
The teams that will progress from three of the pools have been decided, though the order of the teams, and who they will play in the quarter finals will be decided in the final round. It’s only Pool A that is completely open, with the USA playing Samoa on Saturday night, and the Wallaroos playing England on Sunday morning.
The other key games this weekend are:
- Canada vs Scotland to determine first and second place in Pool B
- New Zealand vs Ireland to decide the order in Pool C
- France vs South Africa to decide Pool D.
Stats
Some of the stats coming out of the world cup are also compelling. Four Wallaroos are in the top six for tackles made, with Piper Duck leading the way on 48 tackles over two games, joined by Kaitlan Leaney in fourth place with 41, and Emily Chancellor and Michaela Leonard in equal fifth place with 39.
Some other stats
I was quite amused by the name association in this next one. The player with the most clean breaks is …. Jess Breach from England with 8 over matches. She shares that number with Canadian Alysha Corrigan, and not surprisingly Jorja Miller from New Zealand has 7, and Desiree Miller from Australia has 6.
Not surprisingly, in terms of teams, England lead the tries, points scored, and clean breaks stats, while Australia lead the tackle count with a total of 417, with Italy the next best on 395. I suspect that stat is a function of our discipline troubles, and the need to have better exits, and may be a leading indicator for us struggling against England this week.
Whichever way you look at it there has been plenty of good rugby, and great entertainment at the world cup, so if you get a chance, tune into the Wallaroos trying to make history against the English this weekend.
Rugby Championship
I can’t remember the Rugby Championship being more evenly poised after the first two rounds, particularly when you consider that the games were played as a double away leg for Australia in South Africa and New Zealand in Argentina. After two rounds, it is super close, and sets the whole tournament up nicely, and hopefully the Aussies can make the most of two home games against Argentina to shore up there position on the top end of the table.
Wallabies news
Well actually there isn’t much news out of the Wallabies camp just yet, the Wallabies are in Townsville preparing for a fast and brutal game against Argentina, with James Slipper closing in on that magical 150 game mark. In an article by Nick Wasilev, Slipper is quoted as saying that he loves playing in Townsville, and that he isn’t taking anything for granted, just trying to contribute to the team one game at a time. If he does take the field in the next two tests, it will be an amazing achievement to rack up 150 games and join Sam Whitelock (150), and Alun Wyn Jones (170 caps). All credit to Slipper for his resilience and versatility being able to play both sides of the scrum.
Returning Wallabies
There is good news for the Wallabies with some key players available for selection this week including Tom Lynagh, Pete Samu, Filipo Daugunu and Allan Alaalatoa.
All Blacks injuries news
The All Blacks will put their record at Eden Park on the line this week when they take on the two time world champion Springboks, and will do without the services of a raft of players who are out injured. Centre Timoci Tavatavanawai has been ruled out with a broken arm, and joins half backs Cam Roigard and Noah Hamilton on the sidelines, along with Patrick Tuipulotu, Caleb Clarke, and Luke Jacobson. Clarke and Jacobson will make their returns from injury for club sides this weekend and be available selection with the nearlies for the second test against the Boks.
To be honest, I hope the kiwis find a way to beat the Springboks, but then lose to the Wallabies later in the year.
Maybe it’s time to believe
If you get a chance to pop on over to RugbyPass, Brett McKay has written a good piece about the Wallabies, titled, “It might be time to start believing in these Wallabies”. No need to summarise it, the tile sets the tone, but it is a good read and you can find it here.
That’s a Wrap
That’s it for me this week, as always thanks for reading this far, have a great Tuesday.
Cheers
