Braxton Sorensen-McGee is just eighteen years old, a winger, full back, playmaker, finisher, a black fern in bloom, a story only just beginning to unfold and yet already one for the ages.

Last Sunday in Brighton the first of her three tries against Ireland left the crowd gasping. Scorching down the right wing she shimmied, side stepped and swerved with such beauty and power that Sorensen and McGee went in different directions leaving the Irish defenders holding nothing but the hyphen.

With five family members having played league for the Kiwis including stars of the game Dane and Kurt Sorensen the oval ball game was well and truly in her blood.

Her rugby life began as a two year old watching her brother playing rugby league. She followed his footsteps in borrowed boots too young to know she was already chasing destiny.

Despite being voted New Zealand Rugby League U16 Player of the Year the union code was calling her. At Auckland Girls’ Grammar she took the field, and with the Auckland Storm she claimed her place among the brightest, becoming Farah Palmer Cup Rookie of the Year in 2023. Her rise continued into the sevens format as Co-captain of New Zealand’s U18s,

Then came 2025. In Super Rugby Aupiki, with the Blues in full flight she scored six tries in eight games, and in the final, she stole the ball, ran seventy metres, and sealed the championship with the lightning in her boots.

On her Black Ferns debut earlier this year she scored a brace of tries against Australia crossing the white line twice and looking like she had played international rugby all her life.

Her second try was a 40 metre sprint, a long range effort that now appears to be part of her DNA and arguably worthy of registering intellectual property rights.

Rugby World Cup 2025 has brought her magical talents to a global audience with Six tries in a week, those remarkable back to back hat tricks against Japan and Ireland were a joy to behold.

Sorenson-McGee finished the pool stage as the tournament’s leading point scorer with 38 points, six tries – those two hat-tricks against Japan and Ireland – and four conversions.

Her attacking threat has made her joint-top line-breaker with 10 and together with the 228 metres gained, it puts her amongst the most dangerous ball carriers in the tournament.

Back home, her dog Thunder must be one of the fittest canines on the planet. I would imagine the pace of ‘walkies’ must be quite challenging for him. They say owners take after their dogs so you may not be surprised to discover that her fur baby is a Rottweiler.

Black Fern number 262 is straining at the leash to face South Africa in the first World Cup quarter final in Exeter this weekend and make no bones about it, we are in the presence of a rugby superstar.

Come the day and come the hour the women in green tried to answer Ireland’s call, but in the end that old black magic worked its spell in the Sussex September sunshine.

In the chocolate box of rugby, there were no soft centres at the Brighton & Hove Stadium. Despite the ominous feel of Autumn just a side-step away, there was no chance that any stray black fern leaves would be blown away.

A wonderful weekend of World Cup rugby in Sussex that began with the Red Roses overcoming the Wallaroos culminated with the women from the land of the long white cloud heading north-west as Group Winners. They will play a quarter-final tie against South Africa in Exeter.

For the second day running, a near capacity crowd basked in glorious sunshine and the factor 50 was flowing almost much as the tournament sponsors Asahi Dry lager.

Ireland started the brighter and dominated the opening ten minutes, but were unable to turn that early territorial superiority into points.

New Zealand were given a welcome breather when the referee paused the match at 3pm for the National Emergency Alert to pass. This had the desired effect for the women in black as three minutes later centre Stacey Waaka (one of the non-soft centres) crashed over for the opening try.

From then on the New Zealand defence was merciless their physicality and organisation were faultless and tries from Chryss Viliko and Braxton Sorensen-McGee gave the Black Ferns a 19-7 half-time lead.

New Zealand were even more remorseless in the second half and two further tries from Sorensen-McGee completed her hat-trick before Maia Joseph’s last minute touchdown completed a comprehensive 40-0 victory.

Renee Holmes’s was immaculate with the boot landing five out of six conversions to complement her fine all round display. Her kicking accuracy could be a huge factor when it comes to the sharp end of the tournament.

Ireland were well and truly beaten here by a very impressive Black Ferns team. On this showing, they will be a real threat to the Red Roses and anyone else who gets in the way of their World Cup ambitions.

    

Sussex, Sussex by the Sea! Good old Sussex by the Sea!

 You may tell them all we stand or fall, For Sussex by the Sea…

William Ward Higgs

To be in Sussex by the sea on an early sun-kissed September Saturday afternoon as the Women’s Rugby World Cup entered its final stage of group matches is one the perks of a job that mostly occupies the cold and wet winter weekends when daylight is in short supply.

Six miles inland from Brighton’s shingle beaches that once enticed Edwardian day trippers escaping the London smog, England faced Australia in a Pool A match at the home of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club.

The village of Falmer is located within the South Downs National Park, nestled on the edge of the rolling chalk hills and rich green woodlands characteristic of the region. The historic village itself retains its rural downland character, but it also houses the Amex Stadium, renamed the Brighton & Hove stadium for this World Cup weekend.

A 30,443 crowd and an unsubstantiated number of seagulls proved that when it comes to creating a wonderful ear-splitting family rugby occasion, this lovely south coast arena is right up there with the best of the city slickers.

The Red Roses certainly think so, having had their every move serenaded by youthful screams and cheers

Thirty-two miles down the road is the town of Chichester birthplace of England wing Jess Breach fittingly gaining her 50th in her home county

She marked the occasion with a try in the 8th minute and the accompanying cheer could be heard all the way down the A27.

But it was Australia that made all the early running and a 6th minute try stunned the partisan crowd and indeed the England team themselves.

The Wallaroos dominated possession for the first half hour and held on to the lead until Abbie Ward crashed over from close range on 32 minutes.

Six minutes later Kebeya’s try earned England a 19-7 lead going into the break.

The second half was a different story as the Red Roses made hay in the sunshine with four unanswered tries as the Wallaroos wilted.

England’s 47-7 win meant they ended the day as Pool A winners and now face Scotland in a Bristol Quarter Final next Sunday.

For Australia in defeat there is the very worthy consolation prize, as group runners-up, of a place in the last eight where they will come face to face with one of the tournament favourites Canada.

A capacity crowd once again emphasised how the women’s game is growing in popularity and quality, and as the sun set over the South Downs it will rise again tomorrow morning and another full house will arrive to witness New Zealand face Ireland, good old Sussex by the sea.

The World Rugby Women’s High Performance Referee Manager appears to have her hands full at the moment.

Managerial and parental roles are keeping her fully occupied during the Women’s Rugby World Cup tournament and her husband and two young boys accompanying her on this rugby odyssey are making sure the non-rugby roles get equal attention, commitment and dedication.

Behind that cold corporate sporting title ‘Women’s high performance match referee manager’ lies the name of one of women’s rugby’s great pathfinders.

For those of us who covered the women’s international game when there was just one man and his dog watching from the sidelines, the name and the face are reassuringly familiar it is that of Alhambra Nievas González. 

There is a kind of strength that doesn’t roar, it echoes. Alhambra carries such strength, woven from Andalusian sunrises, the whisper of the Sierra Nevada winds, and the sound of a rugby ball hitting green grass.

Her name taken from Granada’s fabled palace speaks of heritage and grace, qualities that she carries in abundance.

She was 19 when rugby claimed her. It wasn’t love at first sight, it was more like a meandering mountain river finding its course and that river continues to flow occasionally changing its direction.

Between her studies in telecommunications engineering, she found herself drawn to the oval ball, to the grit and values of a sport that was to shape her life.

She wore the bright red shirt of Spain with pride, skill, and great determination, but the rugby gods were already shaping her destiny.

In 2006, at a children’s tournament, she was handed a whistle and the rest as they say is history.

The higher she began to climb, the more the seemingly immovable barriers began to fall. 

From local fields to world arenas, she continued to rise in relentless and determined steps: Sevens tournaments, Rugby World Cups, Olympic qualifiers and then Rio 2016 and the Olympic sevens final beneath a golden Brazilian sun.

That same year, history put its arm around her shoulder as she became the first woman to referee a men’s international match and the first female World Rugby Referee of the year.

In 2018, she hung up her whistle, but this was not an ending, it was a new beginning as World Rugby named her Referee Development Manager.

As a result, her influence began to stretch way beyond the sport and the matches she alone could call.

She was shaping voices, building confidence, turning first-time referees into commanding presences.

Even in the stillness of a pandemic, she found ways to keep the game alive launching a Virtual High-Performance Academy where young women and men could still chase the dream she had once caught.

Alhambra Nievas is not just a woman who blew a whistle. She is a lighthouse in a sport that for too long thought the sea was only for men.

When the history of rugby is told, there will be a chapter where the crowd is quiet, and where a lone whistle cuts through, it is Alhambra’s whistle, and everything changes.

Rugby referees the world over could not have a better team-mate alongside them, she has been there and done it and thanks to her, it will be that little bit easier for those that follow.

Working alongside Ali as the Elite Women’s 15s Match Officials Head Coach is another trailblazer former Irish international player and world class referee Joy Neville.

Alhambra and Joy have not only been there done it and got the T shirt, they actually designed and printed the T shirt themselves, such has been their influence on the women’s game.

For Alhambra, Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 will be another journey on that meandering mountain river as she continues to inspire the new generation of match officials.

Vamos Amiga !

It was the 73rd minute in Exeter when the impossible became inevitable.

The scoreboard was already leaning heavily toward France, their dominance undeniable. But in that fleeting burst of space, Brazil’s Bianca Silva didn’t see the gulf in rankings, the gulf in resources, or the gulf in expectation. She saw her chance and took it.

Silva’s pace, honed from years on the sevens circuit, carried her clear. With the French line scrambling, she stretched out and touched down. Brazil had scored their first ever try at a Women’s Rugby World Cup.

The roar inside Sandy Park was louder than the margin on the scoreboard suggested. French fans, Brazilian fans, neutrals alike rose to their feet. It was more than a try, it was history being written in green and yellow.

Brazil’s rugby journey has long been tethered to the shorter format. As Olympic hosts in 2016, they invested in women’s sevens, and names like Bianca Silva became known for speed and flair. But XVs rugby, with its physical grind and tactical layers, was a different mountain.

Their path to England in 2025 wasn’t straightforward. They battled through qualifiers with limited resources, training in borrowed facilities, balancing full-time jobs with international ambitions. Many players had never experienced a full professional setup until this tournament.

For France, it was another commanding performance, their 84–5 victory a reminder of their place among rugby’s elite. But even French players joined in applause for Silva’s try. It was the kind of sporting moment that bends the narrative away from results and toward meaning.

“We’ve been waiting for this,” Silva said afterward, her voice breaking. “That try wasn’t just for me — it was for every girl in Brazil who’s picked up a rugby ball and wondered if this dream was too far away.”

Her teammates embraced her as if they had won the match itself. In many ways, they had.

Brazil’s try doesn’t erase the disparities in the women’s game. The challenges remain: funding, visibility, opportunities. But what Silva gave her team, and her country, is something beyond statistics.

A first try is a foothold. A reminder that they belong. A spark that could light fields far from Exeter, in São Paulo parks, in Brasília schools, in Rio’s favelas where children might now dream not just of football or volleyball, but of rugby.

On August 31st, 2025, in the southwest of England, Brazil crossed a line they had been chasing for years. The scoreboard may one day be forgotten. Bianca Silva’s try will not.

When Marine Ménager walks onto a rugby pitch, it is never just about her. The French international centre is often introduced in tandem with her twin sister, Romane. Together, they have become one of the most fascinating stories in world rugby: two siblings who not only share DNA but also a career path that has carried them from small-town pitches in northern France to the world stage.

For Marine, the twin dynamic has never been a burden but a source of strength. “We push each other, we compete, but above all we understand each other,” she once explained in an interview. That understanding is obvious when they play: one reading the field, the other exploding through a gap, both instinctively aware of the other’s movement. It’s the kind of chemistry you can’t coach—it’s lived.

Yet Marine has built an identity that is distinctly her own. While Romane often earns headlines for her finishing power, Marine’s value lies in her versatility. She is a centre who can turn a defensive stand into an attacking opportunity, a player who thrives in chaos but also brings calm when the game’s intensity peaks. Teammates describe her as relentless, the kind of competitor who raises the standard simply by refusing to settle for less.

Her journey has mirrored the growth of women’s rugby in France. When she began, the sport was still carving space in a crowded national landscape dominated by football and men’s rugby. Now, thanks to athletes like Marine, French women’s rugby is televised, discussed, and celebrated on a new scale. She has become a face of that movement—part athlete, part ambassador, fully committed.

The 2022 World Cup in New Zealand highlighted her importance. France’s third-place finish was bittersweet, but Marine’s performances underscored her resilience. She played not only for the result but for the credibility of the sport she loves. Every tackle, every run carried weight beyond the scoreboard.

Away from the spotlight, she is grounded. Those who know her speak of someone intensely dedicated to training yet unpretentious, someone who never forgets her roots in Villeneuve-d’Ascq. The drive that pushes her through international tournaments is the same drive that kept her on muddy northern pitches as a child, refusing to be told rugby wasn’t for girls.

Marine Ménager stands as more than just a player. She is a symbol of determination, of partnership, and of the new chapter unfolding in women’s rugby.

Marine’s story is not only about tries scored or trophies won. It’s about resilience, family, and the rise of a sport where women like her are no longer pushing at closed doors—they’re kicking them open.

Marine is donning that iconic blue jersey at the Rugby World Cup but sadly twin sister Romane suffered a concussion against Italy in the Six Nations having only just come back from an extended break for a previous concussion and is taking an extended break whilst considering her future.

France have started the 2025 tournament with two wins against both Italy and Brazil. Sterner tasks lie ahead with a likely quarter final against Ireland or New Zealand but for now the mood in the camp is that they are building nicely.

There are players who score tries, who dazzle with speed and leave a stadium gasping.

And then there are players like Alba Capell — players who do not just win games, but bend the story of a nation’s rugby with their bare hands.

She grew up in the iconic shirt of FC Barcelona, not in the grand round ball light of the Camp Nou, but on muddy fields of the oval Catalonia club where rugby is played in the raw.

As a young player she discovered a simple truth: if someone pushes you down, you get back up. And then you push back harder. It is a lesson she has carried from those first tackles into every shirt she has worn since.

When she first pulled on the red jersey of Spain against South Africa in 2022, there was a fearlessness in her stance, a quiet defiance in her eyes. She was not there to be a debutant. She was there to stay.

Then came heartbreak. The narrow defeat to Ireland in 2023 that shut Spain out of the World Cup and it broke her in a way she admits openly.

Alba cried, she hurt, but she promised herself that she would never feel that helpless again. Out of those wounds came something stronger.

And so, in Dubai at WXV 3 in 2024, with the match locked in a stalemate against Fiji, it was Capell who crashed through over the line to score the only try which proved to be decisive.

It was the moment Spain’s future opened up in front of them. When the whistle blew, she was named Player of the Match, but the award was only a shadow of what had really happened she had helped to redeem a nation’s hope.

It is this duality that defines her: steel and vulnerability, ferocity and tenderness, a warrior who admits the weight of defeat but uses it as a motivation.

Now with Sale Sharks in England’s Premier 15s, she continues to sharpen her skills against some of the best in the world, a young forward learning to thrive in the most unforgiving league. She is not the player you necessarily notice first. She is the one you notice last covered in mud, body bruised and lungs burning — still carrying, still tackling, still refusing to let up.

For Spain, she is more than a flanker. She is a symbol. A reminder that rugby here is not built on privilege or endless depth of talent, but on resilience — the kind that grows when a young girl decides that no defeat will ever define her.

And as the 2025 Rugby World Cup enters its second week, Alba Capell stands at the threshold not as a prodigy anymore, but as a promise kept. A promise to herself. A promise to Spain.

Because when she plays, it is not just rugby. It is poetry written in bruises, a rhythm of collisions, a heartbeat that refuses to quiet.

Vamos Alba.

Sunderland once produced a quarter of all the world’s ships. This proud city was the undisputed king of shipbuilding for over six centuries. By the early 20th century, the River Wear was lined with shipyards that built everything from wooden trading vessels to massive steel ships. Over 400 shipyards were registered here, making Sunderland the largest shipbuilding town in the world. Though the industry has since faded, the city’s maritime legacy is immortal.

So maybe it was appropriate that a launch took place at the Stadium of light as the much anticipated 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup set sail.

The home of Sunderland FC may have been an unfancied haunt for England defence coach and Newcastle United fan Sarah Hunter, but the result will have warmed the cockles of her black and white heart.

A first half where a dominant England scrum and a USA yellow card were the catalysts for a four try 28-7 England lead, gave way to a final forty minutes where the team and the crowd relaxed and went into full party mode.

Dow’s try two minutes into the second half put the game beyond any lingering doubt and the game was over as a contest. From then on in the Red Roses ran riot.

Appropriately at the home of shipbuilding it was plain sailing for the tournament hosts. It is likely that England will not be properly tested until the semi final stage of this tournament but that is not their fault. They will continue to work hard and improve as they always do with the prospect of any real jeopardy a distant threat.

So in the words of Anne Marie who sang at the opening ceremony we say ‘Ciao Adios’ to Wearside as England head to Northampton to face Samoa. The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup is underway god bless her and all who sail in her.

Île d’Oléron is an island off the west coast of France. It is joined to the mainland by a bridge and is crisscrossed by cycle paths. It features pine forests, dunes and sandy beaches such as La Brée-les-Bains. Fishing ports fringe the island, such as the busy La Cotinière in the major town of Saint-Pierre d’Oléron. Le Château d’Oléron, a town known for its oysters, is home to La Citadelle, a huge waterfront fortress. 

It is here that Carla Arbez started her rugby journey aged seven. Born in Biarritz, Carla is the daughter of a physiotherapist her boots were too big her at that tender age but it was not too long before she started to fill them both physically and metaphorically.

By 2023, Carla’s trajectory was meteoric — her debut for France in the Women’s Six Nations, a starting shirt against Italy, and a try to announce her arrival. She went on to compete in the WXV tournament that year. Then came the silence. 2024 passed without a call-up. For some, that’s a shadow that lingers; for Carla, it was the space where resilience grew.

She doubled down — on fitness, on skill, and on her greatest weapon: her kicking game. Week after week, she trained with former footballer Benoît Trémoulinas, chasing fluidity, distance, and accuracy. It wasn’t glamorous. It was repetition, frustration, and tiny victories that no crowd would ever see. But by the end of it, she could drive a ball 15 meters further — and carry herself with 10 times the confidence.

In 2025, she pulled the blue jersey back over her shoulders, starting against Ireland and Scotland as if she had never been away. In the final of the French Championship, she joked that she “lost ten years of life expectancy” in the final play — the kind of remark that makes you smile, because you know she lives those moments with every heartbeat.

With Stade Bordelais, she has been at the helm of a dynasty: three consecutive national titles, an unbeaten start to the season, and a brand of leadership that is more compass than command. Her teammates don’t just follow her calls — they trust her vision.

But behind the precision and control she is still the Basque girl from Biarritz who moved from Oléron to La Rochelle to Bayonne, chasing the game and her dreams with the determination of someone who had already decided this sport was not just a pastime, but a language she was born to speak.

When Carla Arbez steps onto a rugby pitch, there’s a certain electricity in the air — the kind that makes you lean forward before the whistle even blows. She is not just a fly-half she is the architect of moments, the conductor of the orchestra and the quiet strong solid heartbeat behind surging attacks and pressure-breaking kicks.

She earned a Master’s degree in Physical and Mental Preparation in 2022, reflecting a keen focus on the holistic aspects of athletic performance and now works as a sports educator at Stade Bordelais Omnisports, combining her intellectual pursuits with her on-field role.

Carla is an extremely private person and prefers to do her talking on the field. Her partner is Sarah-Maude Lachance, a fellow fly half at Stade Borderlaise who has been selected for Canada’s Rugby World Cup squad.

Their paths could cross in the Quarter Finals of the tournament and that could be one of the stories of the tournament.

On the verge of writing a new chapter in Brazilian rugby history, the Yaras have been called up for their unprecedented participation in the Rugby World Cup, which will take place from August 22 to September 27 in England. The squad was announced at an event held at Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo.

The team’s core is formed by athletes who compete in the sport’s two main formats: rugby XV and rugby sevens. Among the 32 players selected by head coach Emiliano Caffera, 11 have competed in at least one edition of the Olympic Games, which follow the sevens format. Standouts include Luiza Campos and Raquel Kochhann, both three-time Olympians—Kochhann was also the flag bearer for Team Brazil at the Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024.

“It’s hard to put into words what this call-up and World Cup participation mean. Everything we’ve achieved proves that Brazilian rugby deserves more attention. It will be a huge challenge for us. Rugby XV is very different from sevens, and it’s a much more inclusive format. This blend is what makes this squad so special,” explained Raquel Kochhann.

The women’s team has been holding training camps and friendly matches regularly since the beginning of the year. Since May, the Yaras have been training with a group of 46 athletes, giving Emiliano Caffera an opportunity to test combinations before finalizing the squad.

“These 32 players are the best athletes we have in Brazil right now, and I’m confident that this group, beyond doing well at the World Cup, will contribute greatly to the development of rugby in the coming years. This World Cup is another step toward growing the sport in our country,” said the Uruguayan coach, who has led the Brazilian national team since October 2023.

The Yaras will depart for England on August 14 and will make their World Cup debut on August 24 against South Africa, in Northampton. A week later, in Exeter, the team will face France, and their final group stage match is scheduled for September 7, against Italy.

For the tournament, Brazil will wear an exclusive uniform developed by the sportswear brand Oneallsports. While the Olympic jerseys for Paris featured graphic elements inspired by Indigenous art, this time the design was created by Indigenous artist Auá Mendes, who incorporated symbols from Tupi-Guarani cosmology to represent the strength and ancestry of the players.

“Brazil’s participation in this World Cup is a historic milestone for the sport in our country and the culmination of work that has been underway for many years. We’ve developed a project that ranges from grassroots development to high-performance, which allowed us to build a team capable of qualifying for the world’s biggest rugby tournament,” said Alexandre Chiofetti, CEO of Brasil Rugby. This will be the tenth edition of the women’s Rugby World Cup. Held since 1991, the tournament will, for the first time, feature a South American team.

Full squad list:

•Aline Mayumi – Pasteur (SP)

•Ana Carolina Santana – Melina (MT)

•Bianca Silva – Leoas de Paraisópolis (SP) & Nagato Blue Angels (Japan)

•Camilla Ísis – El-Shaddai (RJ)

•Carolyne Pereira – Melina (MT) & Grua (AM)

•Dayana Dakar – Niterói (RJ)

•Edna Santini – São José (SP) & São Miguel (Portugal)

•Eshyllen Coimbra – El-Shaddai (RJ)

•Fernanda Tenório – El-Shaddai (RJ)

•Franciele Barros – Sporting (Portugal)

•Giovana Mamede – Jacareí (SP)

•Giovanna Barth – Maringá (PR)

•Íris Coluna – Poli (SP)

•Isabela Saccomanno – São José (SP)

•Isadora Lopes – Melina (MT)

•Julia Leni – Curitiba (PR)

•Larissa Carvalho – Curitiba (PR)

•Larissa Henwood – Counties Manukau (New Zealand)

•Leila Silva – Leoas de Paraisópolis (SP)

•Letícia Medeiros – Jacareí (SP) & Bond University (Australia)

•Letícia Silva – Melina (MT)

•Luiza Campos – Charrua (RS)

•Marcelle Souza – El-Shaddai (RJ)

•Maria Gabriela Graf – Desterro (SC) & Brothers (Australia)

•Mariana Nicolau – São José (SP)

•Marina Fioravanti – Poli (SP)

•Natalia Jonck – Brothers (Australia)

•Pâmela Santos – Charrua (RS)

•Raquel Kochhann – Charrua (RS) & Desterro (SC)

•Samara Vergara – Pasteur (SP)

•Taís Prioste – Bobigny (France)

•Yasmim Soares – Melina (MT)