Despite losing their previous eight Six Nations matches, Wales came into the game with confidence after they registered a record four tries against world champions England in their last outing.
They started stronger in Belfast, but Wafer gave Ireland the lead against the run of play when the back row’s persistence paid off and she forced her way over the line before Dannah O’Brien added a challenging extra two.
Wales looked to respond quickly with a huge tackle from Parsons denying Hannah Dallavalle after Carys Cox had taken advantage of a mix-up and fed the ball through.
The visitors kept pushing and registered their first try when Georgia Evans dived over from close range and Keira Bevan was able to convert to level the match.
A double movement denied Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald after she had powered her way over as the home side, buoyed by a vocal crowd, began to settle.
Wafer then turned provider, shrugging off multiple white shirts before a superb offload to Parsons, who raced down the right wing to restore Ireland’s lead.
They then struck a hammer blow just before the break as, opting to play on with clock in the red, Ireland were rewarded for their persistence as they added their third try when Hogan crossed after sustained pressure from a ruck.
After the restart, a television match official [TMO] check confirmed Moloney-MacDonald’s kick out at Evans warranted a yellow card.
Wales were unable to take advantage of having an extra player and it was soon 14-players apiece for a period as Jasmine Joyce was shown a yellow card for placing her hands on the ground when bringing Eve Higgins down.
As the hour mark approached, Aoife Dalton and Linda Djougang linked up and fed the ball to Wafer to cross to secure the bonus point.
Bemand then turned to his bench and made a flurry of changes which added energy to their play.
Replacement Jones thought she had added Ireland’s fifth shortly after her introduction, only for her effort to be ruled out after a TMO review.
Joyce added Wales’ second try in the final five minutes as she held off Parsons and stretched to ground the ball.
Ireland did land a fifth try in the final seconds as Hogan bundled over from close range, with O’Brien able to convert for a fourth time.
The UNIFIL has faced a growing number of casualties as Israel continues air raids despite a ceasefire and Hezbollah has responded with rockets and drones.
Published On 2 May 20262 May 2026
China’s ambassador to the United Nations, Fu Cong, has said there is a need to re-examine the UN Security Council’s decision to terminate the mandate of the longstanding peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, which is due to end later this year.
Speaking to reporters on Friday at the UN headquarters in New York, Ambassador Fu expressed China’s deep concern about the situation in Lebanon as Beijing assumed the council’s rotating presidency for May.
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He observed that a genuine ceasefire did not exist in Lebanon, describing the current state of conflict as merely a “lesser fire”.
“We do believe that we should revisit the decision, actually, to withdraw the UNIFIL,” Fu said, using the acronym for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.
“I think at least the view of the overwhelming majority of the Security Council is that this is not the time to really, to withdraw the UNIFIL out of that part of the country,” Fu said.
China is waiting for a report from the UN secretariat, expected in June, “before we take our position”, he added.
Fu also said, “It is incumbent on Israel to stop this bombardment of Lebanon.”
China’s UN Ambassador Fu Cong addresses a UNSC meeting in 2025 [File: Richard Drew/AP]
Created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after the 1978 invasion, UNIFIL saw its mandate expanded after the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah and was responsible for a demilitarised buffer between the opposing sides.
However, the UNSC unanimously resolved last year to begin withdrawing the UNIFIL mission’s 10,800 international peacekeepers by December 2026.
According to Lebanese authorities, Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2 have killed 2,618 people and forced more than one million to flee their homes.
The UNIFIL mission has also faced a growing number of casualties. According to UN officials, at least six peacekeepers have been killed and many others injured since Israel began its attack on March 2.
The deaths include soldiers from various contributing nations, including Indonesia and France, who have been caught in shelling incidents and roadside attacks.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned these incidents, noting that the UN’s “blue helmets” have come under fire while performing essential duties, such as clearing explosive ordnance and escorting logistics convoys.
UNIFIL head Major-General Diodato Abagnara pays tribute to French soldier Florian Montorio, who was killed while clearing a road in south Lebanon [File: Handout/UNIFIL via Reuters]
After the big talk in the build-up, Ireland blew France away in the opening 40 minutes but, largely, were left unrewarded for their efforts.
Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald crossed for Ireland but had two efforts chalked off, while Brittany Hogan and Fiona Tuite were also denied first-half scores.
France, who are tipped to meet England in a Grand Slam decider on the final day of the Six Nations, showed a clinical edge and moved clear after the restart through Carla Arbez, Anais Grando and Lea Champon, while Ireland could not back up their first-half performance and fell short.
Under head coach Scott Bemand, Ireland have moved up to fifth in the world and stunned New Zealand and Australia in 2024, but the elusive Six Nations scalp goes on.
England had too much on the opening day, when a slow start was punished, and defeat by France shows there is still work to be done.
“In these kinds of Test matches the margins become finer, so we’re after finer margins than we were,” Bemand said.
“Nail your kick to touch and nail your exit – they are the type of things that don’t let France in.
“We will keep going after the finer margins and keep trying to get better. I’ve got a group who is up for that.”
The Red Roses jamboree roared into Bristol, attracting a record crowd for their third consecutive match at this Six Nations and bringing with it a sea of white shirts, red cowgirl hats and rose-petal headwear galore. And, most importantly, tries.
Fresh from crossing 12 times against Scotland at Murrayfield last week, England scored another 10 tries in a 62-24 victory over Wales – a result that leaves John Mitchell’s side top of the table with maximum points from three matches.
With a fifth consecutive Triple Crown secured, they remain on course for a record eighth straight Women’s Six Nations title.
Impressive statistics. But attack coach Emily Scarratt told BBC Two the dressing room was a little “muted” after the game.
Yes, England won comfortably and without ever losing control to extend their record unbeaten run to 36 Tests, but this wasn’t the steamrollering many expected, with Wales – to use Mitchell’s word – “surprising” them.
The visitors scored four tries – including two in the final 10 minutes as England’s concentration wandered – to pick up a valuable bonus point, and twice profited after bamboozling England with their line-out routine.
England were, at times, guilty of poor discipline – giving away nine penalties – and sloppy handling. Improvements will need to be made by the time they face title rivals France in round five.
“You’re always in a Test match when you play a team like Wales,” said Scarratt. “I thought they really brought it today and posed some different challenges for us, which is pretty awesome in our development.
“We still got a pretty good job done. There’s a muted sense in the group, which is obviously a really good feeling when you put a score on like that.”
But while Wales fired a couple of warning shots, this was another routine win for England and one that does little to assuage concerns the Six Nations is too predictable and their dominance may not benefit themselves and the game.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The U.S. Air Force has shared new details about how it will modify a subset of HH-60W Jolly Green II combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopters to perform the so-called Air Force District of Washington (AFDW) mission set. AFDW HH-60Ws will be tasked with ferrying VIPs around the nation’s capital, as well as supporting continuity of government plans. In the latter role, the Jolly Green IIs will be poised to spirit senior U.S. officials and lawmakers to safety at a moment’s notice to ensure the federal government can continue to function even in the event of an attack or a similarly serious contingency. HH-60Ws were just in the news recently in relation to their primary CSAR mission, having taken part in efforts to rescue the crew of an F-15E Strike Eagle shot down in Iran.
The Air Force currently uses a fleet of aging UH-1N Twin Huey helicopters based at Andrews Air Force Base (technically now part of Joint Base Andrews) to perform AFDW missions. The service had initially planned to replace them with new MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters, but revealed last year it was considering using HH-60Ws for this role instead. The Air Force’s proposed budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year, which was rolled out earlier this week, confirms that it is officially moving ahead with plans to supplant the UH-1Ns at Andrews with Jolly Green IIs. The service is still procuring and fielding MH-139s, primarily to help provide security around Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos.
A stock picture of UH-1N Twin Hueys assigned to the 1st Helicopter Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base. USAFOne of the US Air Force’s new MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters. One of the service’s UH-1Ns in a configuration used to provide security around ICBM silos is seen in the background. USAF The first AFGSC MH-139A at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, with a UH-1N seen flying in the background. USAF
“26 HH-60Ws will replace the UH-1Ns at Air Force District Washington (AFDW) to execute continuity of operations / continuity of government missions in the National Capital Region,” according to the Air Force budget documents. The term National Capital Region (NCR) refers to a larger area that surrounds Washington, D.C., proper.
The baseline HH-60W is a member of the extended H-60/S-70 Black Hawk family produced by Sikorsky, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin. The Jolly Green II has a number of distinct features in line with its primary CSAR mission, including a nose-mounted radar, an in-flight refueling probe, and a main cabin with a configuration optimized for the recovery of personnel, including individuals who may be injured. It also has provisions for mounted machine guns for self-defense, as well as launchers for decoy flares and chaff. The first HH-60Ws began entering Air Force service in 2022.
Up close with the HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter at Nellis AFB for The War Zone.
The AFDW “modifications include possible removal of components including, but not limited to, the following: Rescue Team Seat, Isolated Personnel Litter, Gun System, Chaff/Flare Buckets, and Doors/Floor Armor,” per the Air Force’s latest budget request. “In addition, this effort may include, but not limited to, the following modifications to the baseline HH-60W: ARC 210 Gen 6 radios, Infrared Countermeasure (IRCM) system, and alternate seating arrangement.”
Mention here of an IRCM system is worth highlighting. The integration of a built-in infrared countermeasure system onto the HH-60W, in general, has been a particular point of interest for the Air Force for years now. Various IRCM system designs are available on the open market today, all of which are intended to provide added protection against heat-seeking anti-air missiles. For helicopters, these systems provide a particularly valuable extra layer of defense against threats posed by shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, also known as man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS).
As TWZ has pointed out in the past, it has also been curious that HH-60Ws did not come with an IRCM capability from the start, given the explicit dangers the helicopters have been expected to face when performing CSAR missions. The AN/AAQ-45 system was even previously integrated into the Air Force’s older HH-60G Pave Hawks, which the Jolly Green IIs are replacing.
Wild footage from a USAF C-130 fueling two helicopters over Iran shared by telegram channels. The cars & the dialect are Iranian and from southwest. pic.twitter.com/K9cufOOY26
A separate Air Force contracting notice put out earlier this month also provides additional details about the planned AFDW cabin configuration for the HH-60W.
“The AF [Air Force] will remove several components from the baseline 60W to allow for the installation of passenger seats for AFDW. Seating is required for 11 passengers,” that notice explains. “Seating must meet applicable crash and safety requirements including emergency egress.”
The “reconfiguration of [the] interior layout to accommodate [the] seating” will also be done in a way that allows for “preserving critical CSAR equipment (rescue hoist, defensive weapons, medical stations)” that the helicopters will still need for their new role.
Graphics depicting how the HH-60W’s cabin can be configured now for CSAR missions. Lockheed Martin
Just in terms of general speed, range, and payload capacity, the HH-60W will offer a major boost in capability over the UH-1Ns that perform AFDW missions today. The Jolly Green IIs also offer advantages in this regard over the smaller and lighter MH-139s.
In addition, the Air Force has not indicated any plans to eliminate the HH-60W’s aerial refueling capability as part of the AFDW modifications. Neither the UH-1N nor the MH-139 is capable of being refueled in flight.
Combat Rescue Helicopter Successfully Executes Major Test Milestone: Aerial Refueling
All of this could be particularly valuable during continuity of government taskings in the very busy and otherwise complex skies over the NCR. The airspace around Washington, D.C., is also the most densely defended and heavily monitored anywhere in the United States. This was all highlighted in the fatal mid-air collision involving an Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet in January 2025. The Black Hawk, assigned to a unit at Davison Army Airfield in Virginia, had been conducting a continuity of government training flight.
The flights could come at any time, including in the dead of night, and, depending on the circumstances, might face a host of other complex environmental factors and other challenging conditions. Power outages could put additional emphasis on the need to use night vision goggles, which impose limits on situational awareness. Attacks involving nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons would prompt the need to wear other bulky protective gear. In the outright rush to evacuate key personnel, the airspace would be filled with large numbers of aircraft, as highlighted by large COG exercises the 12th Aviation Battalion regularly conducts involving dozens of its helicopters.
As is made clear here, Air Force HH-60Ws would not be the only helicopters zooming around the NCR during a continuity of government scenario, either. Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), best known for operating helicopters in the Marine One role, would also be involved. Helicopters belonging to the U.S. Park Police, as well as various other law enforcement and civilian agencies, would also have a role to play. You can read more about this here.
Military and police helicopters land at the US Capitol this evening.
As mentioned earlier, the AFDW mission set also includes performing more routine VIP airlift sorties on a daily basis.
There is a question of what modifying 26 HH-60Ws for the AFDW role might mean for the operational capacity of the rest of the CSAR-focused fleet. The Air Force’s 2027 Fiscal Year budget request does not show any plans to procure additional Jolly Green IIs to meet this new need in the nation’s capital. Years ago, the service already made the decision to scale back purchases of HH-60Ws, down from an original program of record for 113 of the helicopters. The total planned fleet size now looks to be 91, per the recently released budget documents. Without the acquisition of more Jolly Green IIs, this would mean that roughly 30 percent of the entire fleet is set to be re-roled away from the dedicated CSAR mission.
“It is more cost effective to modify previously procured HH-60Ws contained in back up inventory than to procure additional MH-139A aircraft,” an Air Force spokesperson had told Air & Space Forces Magazine last year when asked about the Air Force’s evolving plans for the AFDW mission set.
As it stands now, per the service’s latest budget request, the Air Force is looking to kick off formal development of the AFDW configuration for the HH-60W in Fiscal Year 2027, which begins on October 1 of this year. The goal is then to start refitting Jolly Green IIs for this role in the 2028 Fiscal Year.
Once modified, the specifically configured HH-60Ws will then begin taking over critical AFDW missions from the aging UH-1Ns at Andrews.
Head coach Scott Bemand says Ireland are “ready” for the pressure of facing France in Clermont on Saturday after learning from a string of big-game experiences.
Ireland began their Women’s Six Nations campaign with a 33-12 loss to England in front of a record 77,120 at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
Bemand’s side also faced New Zealand and France in front of near-capacity crowds at the World Cup last year – and the coach feels those days will stand to his squad as they bid for a first win on French soil.
“We’ve got the benefit now with our group having come through the World Cup piece where we had full stadiums, a lot of noise and a lot of expectation, internal expectation,” said Bemand.
“Going away to France is a class experience. We were away in England two weeks ago so we’ve had a recent opportunity of stepping into that sort of arena.
“I saw a completely different group to two years ago walking into that space, so as we continue to evolve, continue to get more confident in ourselves and our performances, I think we’re ready for this one.”
Bemand, who has made one change from last week’s nine-try win over Italy, added the team feel “excitement and anticipation rather than nerves”.
“We’re ready for this, we’ve trained well this week,” he added.
“We’re now recovering, we’ll travel, we’re going to enjoy it. The weather looks good over there and we’ll be absolutely gunning to start and get out of the blocks when the whistle goes on Saturday night.”
Ireland’s Nations Championship fixture against Japan will take place at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, Australia on 11 July (11:00 BST).
Andy Farrell’s side open the inaugural tournament against Australia in Sydney on 4 July and will face the Brave Blossoms before travelling to New Zealand to take on the All Blacks at Auckland’s Eden Park on 18 July.
Ireland have won 10 out of 11 Tests with Japan, the sole defeat coming at the 2019 Rugby World Cup at Shizuoka Stadium. Ireland won the last meeting 41-10 in Dublin last November.
After July’s fixtures, Ireland will host Argentina, Fiji and South Africa in November at Aviva Stadium.
The biennial 12-team Nations Championship comprises six rounds of matches across the summer and autumn Test windows before a ‘finals weekend’ on 27-29 November at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.
After each team has played the other six from the opposing hemisphere once, they are ranked within their own hemisphere.
The finals weekend in London will start with the sixth-placed northern hemisphere side taking on their southern hemisphere equivalent, and culminate in the two group winners taking each other on for the title.
The results on the finals weekend will also contribute to a north v south overall score and title.
Bethan Lewis will lead Wales against England in the Women’s Six Nations on Saturday (14:15 BST) with fellow back rower Kate Williams ruled out through injury.
Williams came off in the second half of the 38-7 defeat by France last weekend with a leg problem and will miss Wales’ meeting with the world champions at Ashton Gate.
Alex Callender, Williams’ co-captain last year, is still recovering from an ankle injury.
Lewis led Wales against Canada at last summer’s World Cup and said: “It’s always a massive honour to put on the jersey and to be able to lead the girls out against England.”
The England game will come too soon for Wales centre Carys Cox, who was a late withdrawal from the France defeat after taking a knock in training, but head coach Sean Lynn says wing Seren Singleton is fit despite leaving the field with her arm in a sling.
Bern has scored two tries in each of England’s wins over Scotland and Ireland in the opening two rounds of the Six Nations.
She believes adding more try-scoring threats to England’s attack can be key to fuelling record crowds in the absence of opposition who can threaten their winning streak.
Ten of England’s 16 tries in the knockout stages of last year’s World Cup came via their forwards as they leaned on the power of their pack and set-piece en route to glory.
Emily Scarratt, the Red Roses’ all-time leading points scorer, has since taken up the role.
“Where we’re trying to evolve to now is being threats from anywhere,” said Bern.
“We recognise that we won a World Cup, and it was great, but we definitely could have made improvements in our attack.
“We always talk about how even if something’s not broken, we can break it and start again. Just because it worked doesn’t mean we can’t change anything.
“We want people to come to the stadium and see something different every week.
“We want to be entertaining. We want to show that all of our Red Roses have amazing abilities to carry, fend and play an exciting style of rugby to showcase to the world.”
England face Wales, who have lost 11 of their past 12 Tests, at a sold-out Ashton Gate in Bristol on Saturday (14:15 BST kick-off).
So what to make of a day which delivered history for Scottish women’s sport, as well as a 12-try demolition?
It is true, England are not the benchmark for Scotland.
Victory away to Wales last week was a solid start, and now it is all about the response in Italy next week and trying to beat Ireland in the final game, either side of a home game against France.
But all performances are crucial to building momentum and keeping the fans coming back, as Malcolm herself said.
Just ask the Scotland women’s football team, who have seen crowds shrink back at Hampden amid a struggle to qualify for major finals.
The Scotland captain, as ever, got the tone spot on when summing up a strange day.
“Today was about so much more than just the game,” Malcolm said. “For those of us that have been around 10 years plus – we’ve come from back pitches with a couple of people in stands.
“To even arrive today and get the reception we got was phenomenal. It’s a result of the work we’ve done as players on the pitch to put in performances that make people want to come back.
“Today wasn’t one of them. But that doesn’t take away from what we’ve created over the last 10 years to make this happen.
“We’re at the beginning of a new journey. We’re going to keep pushing to get back to that point to put in a performance in that stadium that fans can be proud of.”
Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher told the UN Security Council that South Sudan is at risk of slipping into ‘full-scale famine and collapse’ as fighting intensifies and the UN peacekeeping mission is cut back.
Scotland fly-half Helen Nelson, who ranks fourth highest for the number of kicks out of hand in the English top-flight, may well look to exploit space around Kildunne, while Rhona Lloyd, who will line up opposite Kildunne, has scored 11 league tries for Sale so far this season.
Elsewhere prop Maud Muir wins her 50th cap for England as she starts at tighthead in place of Sarah Bern, who is part of a set of replacements which includes 112-cap Marlie Packer and Gloucester-Hartpury’s Mia Venner.
England are hunting their eighth successive Women’s Six Nations title, but are attempting to maintain their streak without a host of names who helped them to the World Cup last year.
Number eight Alex Matthews will miss the meeting with Scotland with a shoulder injury, while earlier on Thursday it was announced that prop Hannah Botterman had joined those sidelined for the tournament with an ankle injury.
Head coach John Mitchell will hope that the enforced changes will prove the making of a next generation of players, while maintaining the Red Roses’ grip on the tournament.
However Scotland, who will play in front of a 25,000-plus crowd at Scottish Gas Murrayfield in the biggest stand-alone women’s sporting fixture in their country’s history, will be primed to exploit any wobbles.
England: Sing; Breach, Jones (capt), Rowland, Kildunne; Harrison, L Packer; Clifford, Cokayne, Muir, Burton, Ives Campion, Short, Kabeya, Feaunati,
Replacements: Powell, Carson, Bern, Lutui, M Packer, Robinson, Aitchison, Venner
The experts call Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon on April 8 ‘a blatant violation of the UN Charter’.
Published On 15 Apr 202615 Apr 2026
A group of United Nations experts has denounced Israel’s attack on Lebanon a day after the United States and Iran agreed a ceasefire as illegal and urged UN member states to halt all arms transfers to Israel.
The 19 experts – including special rapporteurs and independent experts across a range of human rights mandates – issued the condemnation on Wednesday as Israel continued to pound areas of southern Lebanon, killing at least 16 people, including four paramedics, Lebanese state media reported.
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Referring to a devastating wave of Israeli attacks across Lebanon on April 8, which Lebanese authorities said killed more than 350 people, including 30 children, the experts said: “This is not self-defence. It is a blatant violation of the UN Charter, a deliberate destruction of prospects for peace, and an affront to multilateralism and the UN-based international order.”
They called for Israel to “cease all military operations in Lebanon” and urged UN member states to halt arms transfers to Israel while “there is credible evidence of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law”, according to the UN Human Rights Council.
Israel escalated its attacks on Lebanon on March 2 after the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in response to the US-Israel killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei two days earlier, the first day of their war on Iran.
Israel has carried out a devastating bombardment across Lebanon and a ground invasion in the south, killing more than 2,000 people and forcibly displacing more than 1.2 million.
The UN experts said such forced displacement “of a civilian population constitutes crimes against humanity”. They also condemned Israel’s targeted “destruction of homes”, particularly in predominantly Shia areas of the south, as “a form of collective punishment” that “points to ethnic cleansing”.
Israel’s continuing bombardment of Lebanon has been a point of tension in US-Iran negotiations. Tehran said Lebanon should be covered in the ongoing ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire with Iran and Israel will continue to target Hezbollah “wherever required”.
On Saturday, days before Israel and Lebanon held rare, high-level diplomatic talks in the US, Netanyahu said Israel wanted long-term peace with Lebanon but on the condition that Hezbollah is disarmed.
The Reuters news agency quoted a senior Israeli official as saying Israel’s security cabinet planned to convene on Wednesday evening to discuss a possible ceasefire in Lebanon. It also quoted several senior Lebanese officials as saying ceasefire efforts were under way.
McGann was not always as confident as her persona on TikTok suggests and credits Higgins for helping her come out of her shell.
The two first met at an Ireland sevens camp in Dublin at 16 and have stayed friends during their rise from playing for the sevens at the Olympics in 2024 to representing the 15s at a World Cup last year and various editions of the Six Nations.
“The first time I met Anna was a sevens camp at DCU [Dublin City University], there was a girl the side of the pitch not saying much. She didn’t speak really until our first Dubai Invitational and then you were like ‘who is this?'” Higgins joked.
“I was so shy. I think Eve and the girls were so good and a reason as to why I came out of my shell and was so comfortable and that didn’t happen until I was 21-22,” McGann explained.
“They helped shape me into the person I am and be more comfortable to be myself.”
Despite their closeness, Higgins says the two have never had a falling out, even though they share a room together during Ireland camps.
“Eve and I roomed together for five weeks at the World Cup and somehow we’re not sick of each other,” McGann said.
“We would know if we need to give each other space. That’s the best thing we have. We’ve known each other so long and have grown,” Higgins added.
As mentioned, both players made the transition from sevens to 15s rugby alongside countless others in Scott Bemand’s current squad.
Higgins believes that is the case for so many because it was the only real pathway available for players of her generation to play in a professional environment.
“It’s mostly because there’s not provincial teams for women. Sevens was an opportunity for women’s rugby players to train every week.
“Thankfully now there’s a women’s programme, so there’s 15s and sevens but at the time only seven players were contracted to train week in week out. That was the pathway for us to play semi-professional rugby.”
Should Lynn need any inspiration, he need not look far across the office.
Wales men’s head coach Steve Tandy helped his side end a three-year Six Nations losing streak with a final-round victory over Italy last month, while performances in defeat offered plenty of encouragement.
It is hoped the women can turn a similar corner in their campaign.
“I’ve worked really closely with Steve Tandy, I’ve been into his camp, it’s an open environment,” said Lynn.
“That’s what we’re about, supporting each other as a nation.”
Wales captain Kate Williams said: “We can be inspired by them [Wales men], but we’re not limited to what they’re doing as well.
“We’re looking internally about what we can do and finding confidence in ourselves to then be able to put out our own performance and write our own story.”
Following a highly successful Rugby World Cup last year, supporter numbers in the UK climbed from 7.94m pre-existing fans of women’s rugby to 13.21m, according to research commissioned by BBC Sport.
England’s victory over Canada in September’s final took place in front of 81,885 fans at Allianz Stadium – a record for a women’s rugby match and the second-highest attendance for a men’s or women’s World Cup final.
It was the most-watched women’s rugby match on UK television, with a record-breaking peak audience of 5.8m viewers. It also beat both the Six Nations and the British and Irish Lions’ winning tour of Australia to become the most-watched rugby match of last year.
Rugby union was the second most-watched women’s sport in 2025, so with momentum at an all-time high, this year’s Women’s Six Nations is set to be comfortably the biggest yet in terms of crowd numbers.
Pre-tournament demand has already broken records, with all four home nations staging fixtures at their national stadiums.
The record crowd for a Women’s Six Nations game is 58,498 for the Grand Slam decider between England and France in 2023.
That record is set to fall, with more than 75,000 tickets sold for England’s opener against Ireland at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
“There is probably a line of thinking that audiences will just keep growing, but they are actually hard to maintain,” Rugby Football Union director of women’s rugby Alex Teasdale told BBC Sport.
“The role of the Red Roses as ambassadors has helped sustain some of that strong buy-in, and the fans have had a brilliant time.
“It has been really pleasing to see, but anyone involved in women’s sport knows it is not a given.
“You have to work hard to give fans a brilliant experience so they want to keep coming back.”
Scotland will play their first Women’s Six Nations match in front of fans at Murrayfield when they host England next weekend.
Scotland women’s record home attendance of 7,774 was set at Hive Stadium in 2024, but more than 25,000 tickets have been sold for the fixture.
The expected record crowd will be the biggest for a standalone women’s sporting event in Scotland.
Ireland’s game against Scotland on the final weekend will be their first at the 51,711-capacity Aviva Stadium and their record home attendance of 7,754 is set to be smashed, with more than 16,000 tickets already reported to have been sold.
Wales, who play Scotland at Principality Stadium on the opening weekend, are aiming to better last year’s record crowd of 21,186 for a Wales women’s team event on home soil.
Meanwhile, France will host England at the 42,115-capacity Stade Atlantique in Bordeaux in the final round, where they will hope to have a full house for a possible Grand Slam decider.
But will the entertainment on the pitch match the clamour for tickets?
The Strait of Hormuz, which links the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, has held global attention since Israel and the US began their war on Iran in February.
Until fighting began, the narrow channel, through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies are shipped from Gulf producers in peacetime, remained toll-free and safe for vessels. The strait is shared by Iran and Oman and does not fall into the category of international waters.
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After the US and Israel began strikes, Iran retaliated by attacking “enemy” merchant ships in the strait, effectively halting passage for all, stranding shipping, and creating one of the worst-ever global energy distribution crises.
Tehran continued to refuse to re-open the strait to all traffic at the start of this week, despite US President Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges if it did not relent. Trump backed away from his threat on Tuesday night when a two-week ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan, was declared.
That followed a 10-point peace proposal from Iran that Trump described as a “workable” basis on which to negotiate a permanent end to hostilities.
As part of the truce, Tehran has now issued official terms it says will guide its control of the Strait going forward. The US has not directly acknowledged the terms ahead of talks set to begin in Islamabad on Friday. However, analysts say Tehran’s continued control will be unpopular with Washington, as well as other countries.
During the crisis, only a few ships from specific countries deemed friendly to Iran and those which pay a toll have been granted safe passage. At least two tolls for ships are believed to have been paid in Chinese yuan, in what appears to be a strategy to weaken the US dollar, but also to avoid US sanctions. China, which buys 80 percent of Iran’s oil, already pays Tehran in yuan.
Here’s what we know about how shipments will work from now on:
(Al Jazeera)
Who is controlling the strait now?
On Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said Iran would grant safe passage through the strait during the ceasefire in “coordination with Iran’s Armed Forces and with due consideration of technical limitations”.
On Wednesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) released a map of the strait showing a safe route for ships to follow. The map appears to direct ships further north towards the Iranian coast and away from the traditional route closer to the coast of Oman.
In a statement, the IRGC said all vessels must use the new map for navigation due to “the likelihood of the presence of various types of anti-ship mines in the main traffic zone”.
Alternative routes through the Strait of Hormuz have been announced by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), providing new entry and exit pathways for maritime traffic [Screen grab/ Al Jazeera]
It is unclear whether Iran is collecting toll fees during the ceasefire period.
However, Trump said on Tuesday the US would be “helping with the traffic buildup” in the strait and that the US army would be “hanging around” as the negotiations go on.
The Strait will be “OPEN & SAFE” he posted on his Truth Social media site on Thursday, adding that US troops would not leave the area, and threatening to resume attacks if the talks don’t go well.
It’s not known to what extent US troops are directing what happens in the strait now.
Delhi-based maritime analyst C Uday Bhaskar told Al Jazeera that there is a lot of “uncertainty” about who can sail through the strait, and that only between three and five ships have transited since the war was paused.
How does Iran’s 10-point plan affect the Strait?
Among Tehran’s main demands listed on its 10-point plan are that the US and Israel permanently cease all attacks on Iran and its allies – particularly Lebanon – lift all sanctions, and allow Iran to retain control over Hormuz. The plan has not been fully published but is understood to be a starting point for talks.
Iranian media say Iran is considering a plan to charge up to $2m per vessel to be shared with Oman on the opposite side of the strait. Other reports suggest Iran could charge $1 per barrel of oil being shipped.
Revenues raised would be used to rebuild military and civilian infrastructure damaged by US-Israeli strikes, Tehran said.
Oman has rejected the idea. Transport minister Said Al-Maawali said on Wednesday that the Omanis previously “signed all international maritime transport agreements” which bar taking fees.
What does international law say about tolls on shipping?
Critics of Iran’s plan to charge tolls say it violates international law guiding safe maritime passage, and should not be part of a final ceasefire agreement.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) says levies cannot be charged on ships sailing through international straits or territorial seas.
The law allows coastal states to collect fees for services rendered, such as navigation assistance or port use, but not for passage itself.
Neither the US nor Iran has ratified that particular convention, however.
Even if they had, there could be ways to get around this law anyway. Analyst Bhaskar told Al Jazeera that if Iran instead charged fees to de-mine the strait and make it safe for passage again, that could be allowable under maritime laws.
There is no precedent in recent history of countries officially taxing passage through international straits or waterways.
In October 2024, a United Nations Security Council report alleged that the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen were collecting “illegal fees” from shipping companies to allow vessels to pass through the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, where it was targeting ships linked to Israel during the Gaza war.
Last week, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei suggested the Houthis could shut the Bab al-Mandeb shipping route again in light of the war on Iran.
(Al Jazeera)
How might countries react to a Hormuz toll?
Tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz would likely most affect oil and gas-producing countries in the Gulf, but ripple effects will spread to others as well, as the current supply shocks have shown.
Gulf countries, which issued statements calling for the reopening of the passage and praising the ceasefire on Wednesday, would also face a continuing degree of uncertainty, analysts say, as Iran could again disrupt flows in the future.
Before the ceasefire was announced, Bahrain had already proposed a resolution at the UN Security Council calling on member states to coordinate and jointly reopen the passage by “all necessary means”. It was backed by Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan. On April 7, 11 of 15 UNSC members voted in favour of that resolution.
But Russia and China vetoed the resolution, saying it was biased against Iran and did not address the initial strikes on Iran by the US and Israel.
Beyond the region, observers say the US is unlikely to accept indefinite toll demands by Iran as part of the negotiations expected to begin on Friday.
A toll to pass through the Strait of Hormuz “is not going to go down well with President Trump and his expectations that the strait should be open for everyone”, Amin Saikal, a professor at the Australian National University, said.
Other major powers have also voiced opposition. Ahead of the ceasefire, Britain had begun discussions with 40 other countries to find a way to reopen the strait.
Practical realities in the strait might see a different scenario play out with ship owners losing millions each day their vessels remain stranded seeking to get them out quickly and undamaged experts say. They are more likely to comply with Iran, at least for now.
“If I were the owner of a VLCC [very large crude carrier] which weighs about 300,000 tonnes, whose value could be a quarter billion dollars…I would believe the Iranians if they said we have laid mines,” Bhaskar said.
Erin King will make her first international appearance in a year as she captains Ireland in Saturday’s Six Nations opener in England.
King missed the World Cup last year after she sustained a knee injury in the defeat by the Red Roses in the 2025 Six Nations.
The 22-year-old has been named Ireland’s captain for the 2026 edition and will start at flanker against an England side who are looking to win an eighth Six Nations in a row.
She is joined in the back row by Brittany Hogan and Aoife Wafer, who was the Six Nations player of the championship in 2025 but had an injury-hit year.
Former England prop Ellena Perry will make her Irish Six Nations debut after switching allegiances ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
At the start of a new World Cup cycle and with a new coaching team in place, there’s a sense of a new page being turned in this Scotland set-up.
Bryan Easson departed after five years following that quarter-final exit to England, with former United States head coach Sione Fukofuka taking over.
Captain Rachel Malcolm says Scotland want to get to the stage of “fighting in that top four, top five in the world”, but warns with a new coach and a host of new players, the team may have to endure a step back to take a few forward.
Thankfully the build-up to this Six Nations has been less stressful than prior to the World Cup, when the squad were angered by a perceived lack of respect over contracts that left several players facing unemployment after the tournament.
Malcolm was in the thick of it as captain and spokesman, in negotiations with the Scottish Rugby hierarchy and in outlining the players’ position to the media.
Clearly not all the scars have healed – especially for those players left without a contract – but the mood music sounds a lot better than it did a few months ago.
“There is no-one in a position right now as stressful as those girls were put in, which is exactly what I want as a captain. I really want our focus and our energy to be going into the rugby,” Malcolm told the BBC’s Scotland Rugby Podcast.
Ireland scrum coach Denis Fogarty said the side must “not let the games go past us” during the Six Nations.
Ireland’s first fixture is against hosts England at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday [14:25 BST] with over 75,000 tickets sold, a tournament record.
World champions England are aiming to secure their eighth successive title and a fifth consecutive Grand Slam.
“One goal for us is to win all our home games, the last couple of years we have only won two games in the Six Nations. It didn’t feel right, we felt we were better than that,” Fogarty said.
“We looked at the occasion, I think it is important that we make our mark in these games and not let the games go past us, even at the back end of the games.
“Especially against England and France, we want to turn one of those teams over and that is our mindset going into it. Obviously, the home games will be really important for us overall.”
Last year, England were the comfortable 49-5 victors against Scott Bemand’s side at Virgin Media Park in Cork for their 12th successive victory over Ireland.
Fogarty also acknowledged that the side struggled with scrums during that match and it “has definitely hurt” him.
“We have spoken about it and the area has probably lingered around for quite some time, it has definitely hurt me and the players,” he continued.
“Even prepping for the World Cup and the World Cup, we have moved that forward, we knew we needed to.
“This week, they have really gone after this area to make sure we don’t let it happen again as it did have a big impact in the game. They have prepped really well and we are confident it will not happen again.”
