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New Zealand lay down marker: What we learned from RWC 2025 round 3
Following 24 matches, played in front of hundreds of thousands of fans across six host cities, the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 pool stage is complete.
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Eight teams remain to contest the quarter-finals in Bristol and Exeter next weekend, and we are set fair for some mouth-watering knockout games.
The last eight line-up has a little something for everyone. New Zealand, probably the team that has set most pulses racing, will take on the neutrals’ favourites when they kick things off against the Springbok Women on Saturday.
South Africa have been one of the biggest stories of the tournament so far, and their progress to a first women’s World Cup quarter-final is made no less romantic by the heavy defeat they suffered against France on Sunday.
Sandy Park will be full to bursting as South Africa and New Zealand take the pitch to write a new chapter in the nations’ thrilling sporting rivalry.
France, who beat the Springbok Women to top spot in Pool D, come up against familiar foes in Ireland in Exeter the following day. The Irish will hope to shake off the hangover of their 40-0 defeat to the Black Ferns in quick time as they target a place in the semi-finals.
Bristol will host another all-Six Nations quarter-final on Sunday afternoon as England take on a Scotland team that emerged from Pool B in impressive fashion.
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Canada had too much for Bryan Easson’s side at Sandy Park on Saturday, but the world’s second-best side will not have enjoyed their encounter with Scotland, who now go in search of a first win against England for 27 years.
The first quarter-final at Ashton Gate will pit two more teams who know each other well – Australia and Canada – against each other on Saturday evening.
Canada beat the Wallaroos 45-7 Brisbane in May, but knockout rugby does strange things to teams. Australia showed exactly what they are capable of for 50 minutes in Brighton.
Can they build on that performance to spring a surprise?
Sorensen-McGee ignites Black Ferns
It might sound odd, but it was difficult to know exactly what to expect from the defending champions ahead of the World Cup.
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The Black Ferns arrived in England as Pacific Four Series winners, on points difference from Canada, but coach Allan Bunting appeared to still be searching for a consistency, in selection and performance.
Last October, New Zealand finished fourth in WXV 1, having lost to both England and Ireland, a team they were due to meet in Pool C of the World Cup.
Fast forward to the end of the pool stage, though, and the Black Ferns are arguably the tournament’s form team, on course for a mouth-watering semi-final against Canada.
The pool finale against Ireland in Brighton would have been circled long before the Black Ferns arrived in England and it could not have gone much better.
In front of 30,000 fans on the south coast, New Zealand put on a show. They did not just beat Ireland, they winded them, scoring six unanswered tries and keeping them pointless.
At the heart of the standout performance of the World Cup so far were the tournament’s two breakout stars, Jorja Miller and Braxton Sorensen-McGee.
The latter deservedly took the headlines, taking her World Cup tally to six tries in three matches with a second successive hat-trick.
Sorensen-McGee’s effortless running style makes it appear as if she is coasting across the turf most of the time. But that belies the pace and determination that help her burn past defenders.
When watching her play it is easy to forget that she is only 18 and still in her first year of international rugby, such is her apparent mastery of this stage.
The most obvious sign of her talent and current standing comes in the talent now watching from the outside. Ayesha Leti-I’iga was confined to the bench in Brighton, Katelyn Vaha’akolo wasn’t even part of the matchday squad.
It is too early to say whether New Zealand have found Portia Woodman-Wickliffe’s long-term successor. But the baton is being prepared to be passed.
Crowds show how far game has come
When sitting in packed stadiums watching high-octane international rugby it is easy to forget how quickly the World Cup has evolved.
It is only 11 years since the group stage was held, in its entirety, at the French Rugby Federation’s training base. Three years later, Ireland used university pitches.
The seeds for what we are seeing in England were sewn in New Zealand in 2022, but the game has taken a monumental leap forward over the past fortnight.
Walking into stadiums that are full to bursting with people who are there to support women’s rugby will never not get old. But hopefully it will become the norm long after the ticker tape has been tidied away in Twickenham on 27 September.
Evans grateful for support
It was into a sold-out Sandy Park that Georgia Evans strode following an exhausting week in which she hit back at some of the abuse she had received on social media.
Evans had become the target of online trolls in part because of the pink ribbons she wears in her hair when representing Wales as a brilliant second row.
In the aftermath, she received the support of teammates and rivals alike and that extended to the stands in Exeter.
Several of Evans’ teammates and coaches decided to wear pink ribbons in her honour on Saturday, as did a number of fans who packed the stands, young and old, male and female.
It provided a vibrant backdrop on a sunny day and, even in defeat to Fiji, a happy ending to a difficult week. “It was incredible,” Evans told RugbyPass.
“I’ve never worn a bow to make sure that everybody next to me wears a bow. I’ve done it for myself, but what it’s now turned into, [what it’s] a symbol of has been pretty incredible.
“I’m not an emotional person, but getting off the bus I actually couldn’t look at many people because it really touched me and I can’t thank everybody enough for showing their support, for wearing them bows and for what it represents in this game.
“There is space, there is room for everyone. And if I am just a small part of that message, thank you. Thank you for giving me that platform and thank you for enabling me to be myself.”
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