Latest news with #WXV
The Age
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Nine Entertainment secures broadcast rights for three more Rugby World Cups
Nine Entertainment has solidified its standing as the home of rugby by landing broadcast rights to three more World Cups, including a blockbuster home men's tournament in Australia in 2027. World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson confirmed the new broadcast deal with Nine and Stan Sport at a media conference at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Monday morning. Nine and Stan Sport, Rugby Australia's broadcast partners until 2030, will show the men's 2027 World Cup in Australia, as well as the two women's showpiece events in 2025 and 2029. Australia hasn't hosted a men's World Cup since 2003, a tournament where England star Jonny Wilkinson kicked a drop goal to sink the Wallabies in the final. Wallabies and Wallaroos matches at the tournaments will be on free-to-air television on the Nine Network and 9Now. Stan Sport will show every match of each World Cup. 'This landmark partnership is all about reigniting the love of rugby Down Under,' Robinson said. 'With Nine's unmatched reach, expert analysis and comprehensive coverage across its broadcast and digital platforms, we are ensuring rugby is accessible to a wide audience and offering a unique and immersive destination for fans in the country.' The deal also includes the World Rugby Sevens Series, Pacific Nations Cup, WXV tournaments and World Rugby U20 Championship. Nine chief executive Matt Stanton said: 'The Rugby World Cup agreement reinforces the power of Nine. Whether it's streaming on 9Now or Stan Sport, watching at home on the Nine Network, listening on radio or getting the analysis across our publishing mastheads, Nine can bring the game to Australian audiences like no other media company can.
Sydney Morning Herald
12-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Nine Entertainment secures broadcast rights for three more Rugby World Cups
Nine Entertainment has solidified its standing as the home of rugby by landing broadcast rights to three more World Cups, including a blockbuster home men's tournament in Australia in 2027. World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson confirmed the new broadcast deal with Nine and Stan Sport at a media conference at Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Monday morning. Nine and Stan Sport, Rugby Australia's broadcast partners until 2030, will show the men's 2027 World Cup in Australia, as well as the two women's showpiece events in 2025 and 2029. Australia hasn't hosted a men's World Cup since 2003, a tournament where England star Jonny Wilkinson kicked a drop goal to sink the Wallabies in the final. Wallabies and Wallaroos matches at the tournaments will be on free-to-air television on the Nine Network and 9Now. Stan Sport will show every match of each World Cup. 'This landmark partnership is all about reigniting the love of rugby Down Under,' Robinson said. 'With Nine's unmatched reach, expert analysis and comprehensive coverage across its broadcast and digital platforms, we are ensuring rugby is accessible to a wide audience and offering a unique and immersive destination for fans in the country.' The deal also includes the World Rugby Sevens Series, Pacific Nations Cup, WXV tournaments and World Rugby U20 Championship. Nine chief executive Matt Stanton said: 'The Rugby World Cup agreement reinforces the power of Nine. Whether it's streaming on 9Now or Stan Sport, watching at home on the Nine Network, listening on radio or getting the analysis across our publishing mastheads, Nine can bring the game to Australian audiences like no other media company can.
RTÉ News
24-04-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Aoife Dalton: Ireland have earned the right to be confident
Aoife Dalton says Ireland won't be motivated by the past when they return to Edinburgh to face Scotland on Saturday. Scott Bemand's side conclude their 2025 Guinness Women's Six Nations at the Hive this weekend, where a win will mark their best championship return in eight years. Since finishing second in the championship in 2017, Ireland have only picked up three wins on one occasion. Victory this weekend will see them match that haul, and give them their highest points total in the last eight seasons. Two years ago, Ireland were thumped 36-10 by Scotland in Edinburgh, the final defeat in their wooden spoon campaign. But ahead of returning to the Hive on Saturday, Dalton says righting those wrongs has not been part of their agenda. "We haven't really spoken about it," the centre (below) said this week. "We've a completely new coaching team now and we've had quite a big turnaround in terms of players but definitely, there are girls there from that time. "We could have said the same about going over to Parma or going to Wales, we lost all of those games two years ago. "[We are] Just trying to focus on ourselves and where we are now and how we can build on performances each week." Still a week shy of turning 22-years-old, Dalton has become an established international for Ireland since making her debut in 2022, with 21 caps to her name, and she has started all four games of this championship. Having finished third in the table with two wins last season, they followed it up with a breakthrough win against New Zealand, and a runners-up finish at the WXV in October. That's seen the perception of this Irish team change in a very short period, and Dalton says they are well aware that Scotland will be looking to take a scalp when they travel to the Murrayfield shadows this weekend. "The coaches have said it; we've kind of lost that element of surprise now, we don't tend to shock teams anymore when we put out a good performance. "We've earned the right to go over there and not be afraid to say that we want to win and we want to put big scores up against teams. "I think we can go over there with confidence. We've had two wins out of four now and have put in some good performances. "At the same time, two years ago we lost over there and with the nature of it being the last game, they are at home, they've one win, so they'll come out all guns blazing at the start and we have to be ready for that. "I think we're really excited. We've targeted all the away games. Over the last five years, we've probably had a pretty bad away record so we want to try and rewrite that narrative and hopefully get a win at the weekend," Dalton said. Saturday's game will also be the last opportunity for players to make an impression on Bemand before their World Cup pre-season camp begins in June. And while there will be a warm-up game against Scotland in August, as well as one versus Canada, assistant coach Denis Fogarty (above) says now is the time for players to catch the eye. "It will be massive for us, especially like I said, it's going into a World Cup block," Fogarty said. "It's quite important for us that we keep that momentum going. It was a tough outing probably against England, but how they bounced back [against Wales] has shown that growth. That resilience within the group. "The focus now is ensuring that we finish on a high. You see the depth within the squad is growing as well, which has helped. It even helps from a training point of view, of how competitive things are getting. "It's massive for us. We've spoken about it all week, of making sure that we finish this on a high and going into it [World Cup block] in a good space." Watch a URC double-header, Scarlets v Leinster and Ulster v Sharks, on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
Telegraph
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
We need to be brave and change Women's Six Nations format
In short, England are too dominant. That is not taking away from anything England have done. I have been part of England sides that have been dominant; we won the Six Nations seven years on the bounce between 2006 and 2012, and the biggest upset was when we didn't win the Grand Slam. The narrative that England need to lose to become the best is something that I don't totally agree with. After all, their training will be hugely challenging, but people are not watching that. The Six Nations tournament is up there at the pinnacle but a lack of competition can make the product harder to sell. I don't think you should penalise England, or any side, for being dominant. We should celebrate how good they are. It is not their fault; they are reaping the rewards of long-term investment in the team while other nations are in earlier stages of professionalism. Be brave and try something So how do you solve the problem and add more unpredictability? It is a fascinating question. You could go extreme, rip everything up and merge the Women's Six Nations with the Pacific Four Series, which involves Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, so you have the top teams in the world playing each other. But I think that is too tricky with costs, logistics, playing seasons, time zones and so on, as we have seen a little with the WXV tournament over the past two years. Still, we don't have to follow the men's game. This is an opportunity to view the women's game differently, to be brave and try something. Yes, we want to keep the core values and what is at the heart of it because the Six Nations is really special and players want to play in it. My first cap was against Scotland and it was an amazing feeling to wear the white shirt in a tournament like the Six Nations, to feel the history. It is an honour. It is like playing at the big stadiums. I remember playing at Twickenham for the first time in 2007 and there were maybe 100 people there, but the opportunity to be in that dressing room and on that pitch was amazing. Any changes must retain what is special but make it more competitive, add jeopardy, and give the other nations time to challenge. The best idea I've heard came from a conversation with BBC commentator Sara Orchard. It is a tiering system, which would be similar to what we did during Covid but instead of random pools it would be seeded because we want England to be challenged. Finals day could be rotated So you have the three best teams in tier one, which right now would be England, France and Ireland, and the other three – Italy, Scotland and Wales – in tier two. Teams play the other sides in their tier home and away, then there is a big finals day at one venue where one plays two to win the Six Nations, three plays four as in the bottom of tier one and top of tier two, and five plays six. That three v four game would be important because it would be for promotion and relegation for the following year's championship.
Telegraph
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Back-three depth has become England's super strength
Of all the areas where England have stepped up a level in the John Mitchell era, their back-three fluidity is perhaps the most obvious. If the Red Roses were once inhibited by their dependency on the set-piece, Mitchell's reign has brought free-flowing attacking flair – and at the heart of it have been Ellie Kildunne, Abby Dow and Jess Breach. The trio were responsible for 32 of the 75 tries the Red Roses scored in 2024. It is a frightening, mind-boggling statistic – one that comfortably puts the trio among the most potent back threes in rugby, men's or women's. There are several ingredients which make this combination – the so-called 'holy trinity' – so devastating. From Kildunne's evasiveness in contact, lengthening kicking ability and deceptive footwork, to Dow's robustness on the edges and Breach's eye to cut a great line and fine offloading game, the three-pronged attack have had an almost telepathic understanding in recent years. Against New Zealand last autumn during WXV, they stunned the Black Ferns with their unpredictable, interconnected running game, scoring seven tries between them. The Jess Breach > Ellie Kildunne connection is unreal 🤩 #WXV #WXV1 | #NZLvENG — WXV (@WXVRugby) October 6, 2024 Data from Opta shows that since the 2020 Women's Six Nations, the Red Roses back three perform better in every metric when Kildunne, Dow and Breach start together compared to other combinations. Their try yield is nearly one-and-a-half times greater, they secure double the number of turnovers, make more tackles and more line breaks. The trio have also kicked close to three times as much as other starting Red Roses back-three units and it is this characteristic that sets the Kildunne-Dow-Breach combination apart from others. To put their superiority into context, even those such as Millie David, the young Bristol Bears winger who finished as the top try-scorer in Premiership Women's Rugby last season, was awed by the way the Red Roses trio operate on the numerous times she has been in camp with the seniors. 'They play very flat to the line,' David told Telegraph Sport earlier this month. 'There's lots of short passes, lots of layers. It was definitely a task to try and switch the way I automatically play if I was at Bears to how they want to do things. It makes you think a little bit differently.' Which is probably why those like Mia Venner and Emma Sing, the Gloucester-Hatpury winger and full-back respectively, have barely had a look-in. Both are yet to feature since England's opening-round win over Italy, when Sing stayed on the pitch and Kildunne replaced Venner on the wing late on. If slick passing was the main focus during last year's Six Nations campaign, this year has been about embracing positional versatility as England build towards a home World Cup they know they must win. Back-three variation has therefore been a prominent theme. England have fielded three different back-three combinations across four rounds, with Kildunne, Dow and Breach starting two of those four matches together – against Wales and Ireland. On paper, they appear a straightforward choice to play France in the Grand Slam decider on Saturday, so where does this leave those fresher-faced candidates who are vying to usurp this imperious trio? Out of Venner, Sing and Claudia MacDonald, the latter appears the closest in this aim. Venner impressed in England's win over Italy but Dow would be a much more streetwise choice ahead of France, given her big-match experience and exceptional skill-set. With four tries and counting this championship, Kildunne speaks for herself. MacDonald, though, staked a claim for Breach's coveted spot in the Red Roses' 59-7 hammering of Scotland at Welford Road last weekend with a brace of well-taken tries. MacDonald's background as a scrum-half has undoubtedly helped her all-round game. She has been a powerful outlet down her wing but also a spark in broken-field play. Against Scotland, she cut inside off her flank for her first score after she was fed by Holly Aitchison before demonstrating fine edge work for her second. 📹 Claudia MacDonald appreciation post 🤩 #GuinnessW6N @RedRosesRugby — Guinness Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) April 20, 2025 This might appear harsh on Breach, who has worked considerably hard since the 2022 World Cup after struggling to break into the starting side towards the end of the Simon Middleton era. Of all her attributes, her defensive game has improved the most and she is an exquisite kick-chase runner. But MacDonald, who won a turnover against Scotland and finished with six line breaks, appears to be demonstrating a more intrepid game. She arduously scurries in-field looking for the work. Dow scored the pick of England's tries against Scotland with a magnificent solo effort in the 74th minute, which showcased England's back line in full flight. Off a scrum, England recycled quickly with Emily Scarratt running a key dummy line, before Kildunne threw a link pass out to Dow. 😍 Just Wow from Abby Dow 💥 #GuinnessW6N @RedRosesRugby — Guinness Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) April 19, 2025 In a show of their relentless determination, Kildunne and MacDonald both kept on the Ealing Trailfinders winger's shoulder as she showcased a flurry of ridiculous fends before falling over the whitewash. Kildunne's place, too, looks all but secured given Sing is still a raw diamond who has not featured since that first-round win. Mitchell has insisted he will pick the best side that is tactically suited for France at Allianz Stadium, rather than go on players' form. 'It's a good headache to have,' mused the Red Roses head coach, when asked about how he would decide. It is fascinating conundrum given the scorelines his side have been wracking up and the depth his side boasts in practically every position.
