The Women’s World Cup needs to find another gear — maybe two — this weekend as neutrals cross their fingers in the hope of Canada and France giving New Zealand and England, the runaway tournament favourites, matches bursting with excitement and excellence to eclipse the occasional tendency towards hyperbole born of patriotism.
England may be the greatest women’s team of all, but unless an opponent forces them to perform under pressure, this will not be a memorable triumph. The Red Roses’ footballing counterparts were anything but all-conquering. Late fightbacks, extra time and penalties made their knockout games unforgettable, never mind the quality.
Two more routs will be the chosen course for those involved, but it wouldn’t do anything for the women’s game on a global scale — Twickenham full houses or not. It is why the Australian men’s bold attempt to beat the British & Irish Lions in Melbourne, which fell just short before they conclusively outpointed them in the third and final Test in Sydney, was good — not only for the Wallabies but also the Lions.
Due to the dominance of the powerhouse nations, the women’s World Cup has not been memorable
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The Lions would have loved to win the series 3-0 but the businessmen behind the brand would take a competitive 2-1 triumph over a whitewash every time. When it comes to sport, routs are rubbish for all bar the winning teams and their fans.
That’s why the Rugby Championship between Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina is such a mesmerising competition. All four teams have won two and lost two fixtures. Any side has varying chances of winning the tournament, which cannot be said to date for the Women’s World Cup.
The Rugby Championship quartet have earned a break this weekend after another pair of epic — yes, epic — matches last Saturday. The manner in which South Africa dismantled the All Blacks, having lost 24-17 to their old rivals the previous week, was something to behold.
This was a back-to-back World Cup-winning team returning to their best. The Springboks’ second half went beyond just about anything they have ever produced, as New Zealand lost by a record margin of 33 points. When you beat the All Blacks 43-10, it’s impossible to call it anything but memorable.
A week removed from losing to New Zealand, South Africa inflicted a record defeat on the All Blacks
GETTY
Across the Tasman Sea, there was another memorable match, with Argentina holding out against a late Australian fightback in Sydney. The match went to the dying seconds, as it had the previous weekend in Townsville, North Queensland, when it was the Wallabies who snatched victory as the clock ticked into overtime.
The Lions were not the only team of tourists with their own army of supporters. Wherever you looked in the Sydney district of Paddington on Saturday night, there was the ubiquitous Lionel Messi No10 shirt. Football and rugby merged in a fantastical display of patriotic support.
The Pumas play with passion, rhythm and flow, but they are pragmatists when it comes to the taking of points. Bath-bound Santiago Carreras kicked his team clear in Sydney but the lack of tries from kicks to the corner leaves them bereft of bonus points and unlikely champions.
Their other win was even more memorable than last week in Sydney; an historic first ever home victory against the All Blacks, which regained any lost momentum for Argentina after England’s excellent summer series win on their soil.
Australia enjoyed a last-gasp victory against Argentina one weekend before another incredible comeback against the Pumas fell just short the next
EPA
In Australia there were a few cheeky comments suggesting the Lions series was mere preparation for the Rugby Championship. The manner in which Joe Schmidt’s men cut the South African team apart at altitude at Ellis Park, in Johannesburg, was yet another match that made it into the category of memorable. Undoubtedly the Lions series had them honed in a way the Springboks were not, but Australia hadn’t won at Ellis Park in 62 years. Throw in the revved up second-Test effort against the Lions and victory in the third Test and suddenly rugby league wasn’t the only format worth watching down under.
The style of the swashbuckling Wallabies, going for the win and not the draw against Argentina in added time of the first instalment of the Pumas’ two-part thriller, caught the Aussie imagination. Overall, after eight matches of the championship, four can lay claim to being unquestionably memorable. The All Blacks’ win against their great rivals from South Africa in Auckland was a gruelling, intense, 24-17 affair in howling conditions. Pundits were queuing up to tell us how these two sides have “the greatest rivalry”, and rugby doesn’t get better than this old-fashioned slugfest. A week later, it got better still with that stunning Springboks turnaround.
The most mundane match so far has been New Zealand’s 41-24 win in Argentina, and even that featured a mini second-half fightback from the home team. It all means that 2025 is likely to be remembered as the Rugby Championship’s finest vintage. We have seen a sequence of games that have been either awesome or thrilling — sometimes both.
Back at the Women’s World Cup, the rugby audience needs to see whether England can be tested by the French on Saturday, whether New Zealand and Canada can ignite the tournament on Friday night, whether the growing crowds and enthusiasm can be sustained by the memories of marvellous matches. There are two semi-finals, a final and the (ever forgettable) third-place play-off remaining. For the good of the women’s game worldwide, let’s hope one of the remaining challengers find a way to take the Red Roses to the limit.
Australia achieved it against South Africa in the Rugby Championship, as did Argentina against New Zealand. The sheer competitiveness has made for a mighty tournament. The women’s teams of Canada, New Zealand, France — it’s over to you. The clock is ticking.