womens

There have been nine previous Women’s World Cups but only three nations have lifted the trophy – New Zealand (six times), England (twice) and the United States (once).

England have played in eight finals but only won two of them, in 1994 and 2014.

Canada lost on their only previous appearance in a final, falling to England in 2014.

The United States won the inaugural tournament in Cardiff.

2021: New Zealand 34-31 England – Eden Park, Auckland*

*competition was postponed to 2022 because of Covid pandemic

2017: New Zealand 41-32 England – Ravenhill, Belfast

2014: England 21-9 Canada – Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris

2010: New Zealand 13-10 England – Twickenham Stoop, London

2006: New Zealand 25-17 England – Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton

2002: New Zealand 19-9 England – Olympic Stadium, Barcelona

1998: New Zealand 44-12 USA – National Rugby Centre Stadium, Amsterdam

1994: England 38-23 USA – Raeburn Place, Edinburgh

1991: USA 19-6 England – Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff

Spain and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati has made history by becoming the first player to win the women’s Ballon d’Or three times.

Bonmati, 27, took the award with her international team-mate, Arsenal winger Mariona Caldentey, coming second.

There were five England players in the top 10. Arsenal trio Alessia Russo, Chloe Kelly and Leah Williamson came third, fifth and seventh respectively, with Chelsea duo Lucy Bronze and Hannah Hampton ninth and 10th.

Bonmati also won the award in 2023 and 2024. It means Barcelona players have won the honour in each of the past five years after midfielder Alexia Putellas earned the prize in 2021 and 2022.

Speaking on stage, Bonmati, who received the award from Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta, said: “My third time in a row here, and I still can’t believe it. Incredible. Thank you to France Football for this, for the third time – it really could have gone to anyone.

“If it was possible to share it I would, because I think it has been a year with an exceptionally high level, above all among my team-mates, who had a great year.

“Also to receive it from the hands of Andres Iniesta, one of my idols since I was little, alongside Xavi. I learned my football from them – to this day I thank them for all that they have taught me. Thank you to them for everything that they have done in football.

“I owe Barcelona everything – this is the club of my life. I hope to represent this badge for many more years.”

The award, officially called the Ballon d’Or Feminin, recognises the best footballer of the year and is voted for by a jury of journalists.

Outside the top 10, Arsenal defenders Emily Fox and Steph Catley came 25th and 29th respectively, with midfielder Frida Maanum ending 27th. Chelsea pair Sandy Baltimore and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd finished 15th and 23rd, while former Blues midfielder Pernille Harder was 20th.

Scotland and Real Madrid midfielder Caroline Weir finished 30th in the vote.

It was a great night for the Lionesses as manager Sarina Wiegman won the women’s coach award and Chelsea’s Hannah Hampton was named best women’s goalkeeper.

The GB men’s quad – Cedol Dafydd, Callum Dixon, Matthew Haywood and Rory Harris – have had a superb season becoming European champions and winning the World Cup in Lucerne and they continued that form, dominating the second half of their heat to take their place in Tuesday’s semi-finals.

Ireland’s Ronan Byrne, Brian Colsh, Adam Murphy and Andrew Sheehan failed to qualify.

It is a new combination in the women‘s pair for Great Britain and Lizzie Witt and Jade Lindo acquitted themselves well, coming third in their heat behind Serbia and Chile but fast enough to claim one of the six fastest-loser places in the semi-finals.

Lindo was introduced to rowing through the Discover Your Gold talent ID programme and soon joined the GB Start pathway at Twickenham Boat Club. Witt was inspired to take up the sport when she went to see the 2012 Olympics at Eton Dorney. This is her first season of full-time rowing.

Ireland’s Emily Hegarty and Aoife Casey failed to progress.

In the men’s pair, James Vogel and Harry Geffen stormed off the start and were leading with 250m to go.

The Leander club duo were then caught by the experienced Spanish pair of Jaime Canalejo and Javier Garcia, along with Sweden.

Third place meant an anxious wait but they too progressed into Tuesday’s semi-finals as one of the quickest non-automatic qualifiers.

The County Fermanagh pair of Ross Corrigan and Nathan Timoney, representing Ireland, made it through as an automatic qualifier after finishing second behind Romania in their heat.

This was their first race since the Olympic final in Paris where they finished sixth but they are the defending bronze medallists from the World Championships two years ago.

Six-time world champions New Zealand were undefeated in the Women’s Rugby World Cup for 11 years – a winning streak that spanned 4,063 days.

None of the matchday 23 in Bristol on Friday had lost a World Cup game.

They had not lost a knockout game in the competition since 1991.

They had only lost twice in 42 World Cup games.

Their record now reads: Played 43, lost three.

Canada, who had to set up a £530,000 (C$1m) fundraising drive – titled Mission: Win Rugby World Cup – to help them reach the tournament, delivered an incredible semi-final performance in Bristol to end New Zealand’s bid for a third straight title.

A sensational first-half performance, including three tries in the opening 25 minutes, saw the number two ranked side in the world gain control of the game right from the opening whistle.

When lock Sophie de Goede knocked over a conversion for her own try after striding clear, the half-time scoreline read 24-7.

A response was always expected by the back-to-back world champions, but Canada cleverly saw out the game to set up a final against France or England at Twickenham next Saturday.

“You see how well-resourced some nations are, and then you have fairytales,” former England captain Katy Daley-Mclean told BBC Two. “Canada are a fairytale.

“You don’t beat New Zealand in World Cups. That was a statement of intent for whoever they play next week.

“They were outstanding. They dismantled New Zealand, they were powerful and brave and absolutely nailed their performance.”

New Zealand World Cup winner Ruby Tui added: “It was tectonic, it was seismic. There was an earthquake here at Ashton Gate.

“They’ve done something very special.”

England forward Hannah Botterman speaks to BBC Sport’s Jo Currie as she gets her hair cut before the Rugby World Cup semi-final against France on Saturday.

Watch England v France live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 15:30 BST on Saturday, 20 September.

England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales have gained control of their autumn fixtures as part of World Rugby’s alterations to the women’s global calendar.

The new WXV Global Series, which will replace the WXV competition, will run from 2026-2028 and feature the top 12 teams in the world.

Seeking to build on the success of the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England, national federations and unions will be able to choose their own home and away games in September and October.

Alongside each of the home nations, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States qualify as the top 12 sides.

Those 12 nations are locked in to the WXV Global Series until the next Rugby World Cup in 2029.

Each side will receive the same amount of money from World Rugby to compete in the fixtures no matter how many Tests they choose to play.

Fixtures will be announced by each nation after the World Cup.

“This is really important in the context of [breakaway league] R360 and other competitions that are being discussed as we need to give the national federations, players and fans certainty,” World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said.

“This allows that certainty over a four-year cycle that allows the national federations and unions to go and have those conversations [on contracts] with the player groups. It is a really important milestone.”

Teams ranked 13-18, who World Rugby describe as facing greater “financial challenges”, will play their fixtures in a single destination in 2026 and 2028, funded by the global governing body.

Those teams are Brazil, Fiji, Hong Kong China, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

This means WXV – a three-tier competition introduced in 2023 to supply more meaningful games before the World Cup – will no longer run.

BBC Sport understands the top 12 sides will play between 9-16 Tests in a calendar year, outside of World Cup years, with a maximum of six Tests.

The total of games will include fixtures played by home nations in 2027 when they also provide players for the first British and Irish Lions women’s tour to New Zealand.

World Rugby says there will be over 100 games across the three-year Global Series competition and £9m will be invested, which is hoped will build on the World Cup in England that has seen record viewing figures and the final at Twickenham on 27 September sold out.

“The launch of the WXV Global Series marks another landmark moment for the women’s game, following what will be an era-defining Women’s Rugby World Cup in England,” World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson added.

“It delivers on our commitment to raise standards, provide consistent and competitive fixtures, a clear international calendar that prioritises welfare, and create sustainable commercial outcomes for the women’s game globally.”

In 2023, World Rugby announced a new men’s competition starting in 2026 made up of 24 teams, split into two divisions.

Ellie Kildunne returns from a concussion suffered in England’s final pool-stage game against Australia a fortnight ago to take her place as starting full-back in the Rugby World Cup semi-final against France on Saturday.

The 26-year-old World Player of the Year sat out the quarter-final win over Scotland, but has come through the necessary medical checks to add pace and attacking intent to England’s back three.

Prop Hannah Botterman, who has been a force in the loose and at the breakdown so far at the tournament, returns at loose-head prop after back spasms, replacing Kelsey Clifford, who scored two tries against Scotland in her absence.

Zoe Harrison’s game management means she is preferred at fly-half to Holly Aitchison, who impressed at times against Scotland, but whose higher-risk game did not always come off in wet conditions.

Aitchison, 28, had been John Mitchell’s regular starting fly-half until Harrison’s form led to her taking the spot during this year’s Women’s Six Nations.

Despite being known for her kicking game and control, since 2023 Harrison’s involvement in tries per 80 minutes is nearly double that of Aitchison at 1.8 to 1.0.

Saracens fly-half Harrison started the World Cup final defeat by New Zealand in 2022 and is now in pole position to do so again if Mitchell’s side make the final.

Abbie Ward is promoted from the bench and will partner Morwenna Talling, whose player of the match performance against Scotland earns her the nod over Rosie Galligan, in the second row.

Holders New Zealand and Canada meet in the other semi-final on Friday night.

Defeat by the Black Ferns in the last World Cup final is England’s only loss in their past 62 matches – a statistic that stretches back to 2019.

However, Saturday’s semi-final is likely to be the Red Roses’ toughest game by far of a World Cup campaign in which they are yet to be tested.

France, who fought back to beat Ireland 18-13 in the quarter-finals, are the side who have come closest to ending England’s record 31-match winning run, losing this year’s Six Nations Grand Slam finale 43-42.

But World Cup hosts England are on a 16-game winning run against Les Bleues – last losing to their cross-Channel neighbours in the 2018 Six Nations.

Mitchell has consistently rotated his side to build depth for the World Cup and now appears to have settled on his strongest matchday 23.

England, who last won the tournament in 2014, have lost the past two finals to New Zealand.

France back-row Axelle Berthoumieu has been cited for an alleged bite on Ireland’s Aoife Wafer in Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final.

France were trailing 13-0 at the time of the incident but recovered to take the win and will face England next.

Any retrospective action after a citing review could see the French back row handed a ban that may rule her out of the semi-final.

READ MORE: ‘Disgrace’ – France player cited after alleged bite

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England score six tries on their way to an impressive 40-8 win over Scotland to set up a clash with France in the semi-finals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

MATCH REPORT: Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter-finals – England 40-8 Scotland

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Watch all the drama from the women’s marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo as Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir beats Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa in a sprint finish, and Julia Paternain wins Uruguay’s first ever World Championships medal.

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Scotland have not been able to lay so much as a glove on England since however.

Instead it has been one-way traffic, with the Red Roses juggernaut steaming through Scotland again and again.

England have played Scotland 34 times in total, and, apart from those two defeats from another millennia, have won every time.

In the past five meetings, the average points difference between the teams has stretched to nearly 50.

The Auld Enemy has become old news; a rivalry devoid of jeopardy, a bitter punchline delivered on repeat for the Scots.

Kennedy believes the current gap between the teams is due to three things; structure, investment and raw numbers.

“There are a lot more players in England, firstly,” she says.

“Secondly, it is the pathways for players to become internationals. England set them up early on. They were ahead of every nation in that, not just Scotland.

“England were a lot quicker off the mark with investing in both sevens and XVs, which then feeds into domestic rugby. You don’t just become an international player, you have to come though those clubs.”

Kennedy is hopeful that the Celtic Challenge, a cross-border club competition with teams from Scotland, Ireland and Wales that launched in 2023, can provide a proving ground to rival England’s PWR in time.

Katie Piper has admitted she is unsure on her Loose Women future as ITV get ready to have a huge daytime television shake up

Katie Piper has candidly admitted she doesn’t know what the future holds for her Loose Women role. The presenter is among a number of stars who could see their time on the show cut short due to the impending huge changes on the ITV panel show.

She has admitted she is currently in the dark about her future as the new look Daytime line-up gets ready to launch in January. The changes will see Loose Women switch to just being a seasonal show.

Elsewhere, Good Morning Britain will be extended, chopping Lorraine episodes to just 30 minutes. For the Loose Women panel, they will only be on air seasonally, running for just 30 weeks.

READ MORE: Loose Women star hits out at ‘cruel’ cuts by ITV ahead of schedule changesREAD MORE: Alison Hammond admits relief over This Morning’s NTA win after string of scandals

Speaking of the switch-up, Katie admitted she doesn’t know what is coming her way. When asked by The Sun about the situation at the National Television Awards, she admitted: “You’d have to ask the producers that. I don’t know.”

The decision to drop the show’s 100-strong audience will also see bosses remove the need for extra security and a warm-up act. But the move is said to have angered a number of the regular panellists who feed off the audience interaction.

The cost-cutting measure also sees This Morning and GMB move away from its current home at BBC Studioworks Television Centre.

And in July, the big changes at Loose Women were explained in full. The iconic lunchtime chat show, which is best known for its bold debates and A-list guests, is reportedly getting ready to cut celebrity interviews completely from January as part of the channel’s sweeping budget cuts.

Instead, it’s said the high-profile bookings will now be prioritised for Lorraine and This Morning. This will leave Loose Women to rely solely on its panel discussions of the day’s news and lifestyle topics.

“Not having guests is a big blow for both the presenters and viewers at home,” an insider revealed at the time. “The celebrity interviews are often one of the highlights of the show and bring a unique energy you don’t get on other programmes. It feels like a strange decision to cut them altogether.”

It will also only air for 30 weeks of the year rather than its usual 52, meaning production time will be slashed by nearly in half.

And speaking of cutting the audience, Nadia Sawalha admitted she was “devastated” by the news. It also meant that f her close friend and warm-up artist Lee Peart has lost his job as a result.

“The audience is so important for the show,” Nadia said. “What a lot of people don’t realise is that we’re self-employed. Every contract is a new contract – I could be let go tomorrow or in five years. It’s brutal.”

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Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport, said: “The response to the Women’s Rugby World Cup so far has been phenomenal. These figures reflect not only the growing appetite for the women’s game, but also the impact of our commitment to telling these stories in fresh, creative and digitally accessible ways.”

Matches have also been covered in live pages on the BBC Sport website. The most popular was England v USA, which had 757,000 views.

Games have also been streamed on the iPlayer and Sport apps, attracting a combined 5.8m streams so far. Non-home nation matches have also been popular, with 200,000 watching France v South Africa in Group D.

All four quarter-finals, including England’s clash with Scotland, will be broadcast on BBC Two and iPlayer across this weekend on 13 and 14 September.

The semi-finals will also be live on TV, with the final on Saturday 27 September live on BBC One.

Following England’s performance against Australia Rugby Union Weekly discuss the dilemma John Mitchell faces picking his back three ahead of the Red Roses’ World Cup quarter-final against Scotland.

WATCH: Best tries from Women’s Rugby World Cup pool stage

Women’s Rugby World Cup – Pool C: Ireland v New Zealand

Venue: Brighton & Hove Albion Stadium Date: Sunday, 7 September Kick-off: 14:45 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer from 14:30, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra from 14:30 and BBC Radio Ulster and Foyle from 14:00; also live with text commentary on the BBC Sport website.

Ireland head coach Scott Bemand says he is “confident” Aoife Wafer will be ready for a World Cup quarter-final after resisting the urge to include her for Sunday’s final Pool C game against New Zealand in Brighton.

The back row is yet to feature in the competition because of pre-tournament knee surgery and although she was considered for Sunday’s game against the defending champions, the Irish camp has erred on the side of caution.

Bemand confirmed there was a temptation to introduce the Wexford woman for the meeting with the Black Ferns, but with either France or South Africa to come next week, having the Women’s Six Nations player of the tournament ready for then takes priority.

“All the way through there has been a bit of a plan around Aoife, from the very beginning to her joining up with the group a couple of days after we arrived, and everything is tracking and trending,” Bemand said.

“Aoife is back in training, she’s doing well, and she’s desperate to be involved.

“We considered picking her this week, but we’ve made a decision as her best opportunity and the team’s best opportunity, is to go hard in training again next week and we’ll see where that stands us for the following week.

“I’m really confident and if you look in her eyes you can see she is really confident as well.”

On any other day, Townsend, playing at her home major, would have been the crowd favourite.

On Sunday, the Louis Armstrong Stadium rode every high and low as she spurned eight match points before losing to Barbora Krejcikova in three sets to exit the women’s singles in the last 16.

But on the same stage in the doubles, she was playing against a partisan crowd.

Williams is, after all, a four-time champion at Flushing Meadows across the formats, winning back-to-back singles titles in 2000 and 2001 and earning two doubles titles alongside sister Serena in 1999 and 2009.

Across her career, she has fought back from wrist and back injuries as well as being diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that causes fatigue.

This was her first appearance in the last eight of a Grand Slam since reaching the semi-finals in the singles in New York in 2017 and her first doubles quarter-final since winning Wimbledon in 2016.

But despite the raucous reception as she walked on to court, the match was one-way traffic.

The top seeds were relentless, winning 12 of the first13 points to race into a 3-0 lead.

Their success was met with polite, if muted, applause and it was not until the fourth game, when Williams rolled back the years with a bruising forehand winner off Siniakova’s serve, that the crowd erupted into life.

Williams later held her second service game to 15 but Townsend and Siniakova, who only dropped six points on serve throughout the match, had one foot in the last four after 22 minutes.

The second set proved more competitive, with Williams and Fernandez both holding their serves, but with their opponents sending down 12 winners and just two unforced errors, they could not get a foothold in the match.

Townsend and Czech Siniakova, who have yet to drop a set, will face fourth seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens for a place in the final.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski – the sixth seeds – fought back from a set down to reach the third round of the men’s doubles with a 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 win over Monaco’s Hugo Nys and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

However, Briton Marcus Willis was knocked out as he and Karol Drzewiecki of Poland fell to 4-6 6-3 6-1 defeat by Czech pair Tomas Machac and Matej Vocel.

Williams, a seven-time singles and 14-time women’s doubles Grand Slam champion, is playing her 25th US Open.

She won the first of her two women’s doubles titles in New York with younger sister Serena in 1999, three years before Fernandez was born.

Addressing Williams in her on-court interview, former US Open singles runner-up Fernandez said: “Seeing you play on court with the same big smile you had back then is so inspirational and motivates me to keep going. I love that you love tennis.”

It is the first time that Williams has reached the quarter-finals of a major since winning the Wimbledon title, also alongside Serena, in 2016.

Asked if she had a message for her younger sibling, Williams joked: “She’s so happy for Leylah and I, she’s given us advice and we just need her in the box, so my message is ‘Serena, you need to show up!'”

Their quarter-final opponents could be top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, whose third-round match had not begun when Williams and Fernandez left the court having signed autographs for many of their waiting supporters.

For Alexandrova, it was the second defeat of the day on Louis Armstrong Stadium, having earlier been knocked out of the singles by Iga Swiatek on the same court.

Wales knew that the opening game against Scotland would likely decide their World Cup fate.

A disappointing 38-8 defeat left an uphill task to qualify for the knockout stages, and a win on Saturday over the world’s number two ranked side Canada was required.

Sean Lynn, who took over as Wales head coach before this year’s Women’s Six Nations, made seven changes to his starting XV.

Wales’ front row had average age of just 20, with back rower Branwen Metcalfe, 18, also making her Test debut from the bench.

Despite falling to a 42-0 defeat by one of the World Cup favourites, Lynn’s youthful side showed plenty of green shoots to work with moving forward.

“I am glad the Wales women showed their respect for the jersey and the effort they are willing to put in,” former Wales captain Philippa Tuttiett told BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly.

“If you bring that to Sean Lynn with his coaching prowess then he will be able to move forward with that team.”

However, Wales must first keep an eye on the emerging nations behind them, with Fiji, who are ranked four places below them in 14th, likely to offer a tough final pool game on Saturday in Exeter.

Spain, ranked 13th, suffered a 43-27 defeat by Ireland on Sunday and are another side that are showing signs of progress.

“Let’s put Spain in the Six Nations,” former England captain Maggie Alphonsi told BBC Sport.

A TOP women’s rugby league player faces a ban after being sent off for apparently asking a referee which opponent he is having sex with.

Sinead Peach, of champions York Valkyrie, was given an instant red card by Oliver Salmon after supposedly posing the x-rated question during their side’s loss at St Helens on Saturday.

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After seeing an 8-0 lead slip in the 18-8 loss, Peach – a former Woman of Steel – allowed her frustrations to boil over in the 79th minute.

When a decision went against her side, she allegedly asked the referee: “Which one are you shagging?”

Mr Salmon halted the match after the outburst and immediately told the 27-year-old what he thought.

“Sinead, come here,” he ordered to the York captain. “I’m not having any of that.

“I’m not having you saying, ‘Which one are you shagging?’ You’re off.”

The resulting penalty allowed Saints to add the final two points of their win.

Now the Rugby Football League’s match review panel will look into the incident and decide whether Peach will face any disciplinary charges.

If, as expected, she does, she will face a hefty ban if found guilty of questioning the integrity of a match official.

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Semi-professional Canada flexed their muscles by running 11 tries past Fiji and then easing past Wales, that after needing a fundraising campaign before the tournament.

‘Mission: Win World Cup 2025’ was launched to fill a $1m (£740k) shortfall in paying for the preparation plan.

Canada have 32 contracted players for this World Cup while Wales have 37.

The Welsh Rugby Union’s radical plans for elite rugby have put the men’s clubs of Cardiff, Dragons, Ospreys and Scarlets at risk but they have also proposed the formation of two professional women’s teams.

The document stated an aim of providing a combined total of 80 players for those squads, which will rely on the pathway providing sufficient talent.

The governing body has been criticised for its backing and approach to the women’s game in the past, which has led to Wales playing catch-up with England and France.

However, wing Jasmine Joyce-Butchers made no excuses.

“To be honest I think we are in a good place in that we have got contracts in place, we get funded, we get a lot of help, our training facilities are fantastic,” said the three-time Olympian, who made her Wales debut in 2017.

“I don’t know what else could be done. As individuals we’ve potentially got to look at ourselves and do more to be better as a team.”

Lynn, formerly boss of Gloucester-Hartpury, raised concerns about Wales’ strength and conditioning after their Six Nations whitewash.

There are deeper problems and Bevan, who plays club rugby for Bristol Bears, pointed to the problems that new men’s head coach Steve Tandy will inherit.

“It’s a tough one because the men’s game in Wales probably isn’t where it needs to be either,” she said. “Their [the WRU] priority is probably the men’s game at the minute.

“I know a lot of us play our rugby in PWR (Premiership Women’s Rugby) so are getting good minutes and playing with and against the best in the world.”