Kildunne, Kabeya and a cracker: Quins kick off Premiership Women’s Rugby season in style
A carnival atmosphere greeted the season opener with Harlequins beating Loughborough Lightning 52-42 in a thrillerCowboy hats, international stars and a carnival atmosphere.The Rugby World Cup may be over but the women’s rugby party rages on in England with the Premiership Women’s Rugby season beginning under Friday Night Lights at the Stoop, just across the road from where the sport’s gamechanging moment happened just shy of a month ago.If you listen closely enough, the cheers from England’s World Cup victory over Canada in September still reverberate around Twickenham.For many in the game the voices of the 81,885 fans at the home of English rugby will for ever be the soundtrack to women’s rugby’s record-breaking moment.The tournament was a huge success and with England lifting the trophy, the hope is that interest will translate to the domestic season.
The PWR opener was the first opportunity to convert that hope into reality and it more than lived up to expectation.The amplified roar at the Stoop attested to one of Quins’ highest attended games in the past five years, with 30% of the just under 3,000 fans attending their first women’s rugby match.Of course, the numbers weren’t as high as those across the World Cup but the impact was clear.The supporters were rewarded with an absolute thriller as Harlequins executed a 52-42 win over Loughborough Lightning.Sadia Kabeya, who was player of the final last month and started at openside flanker for Loughborough, said the diversity of support was huge at the World Cup final and that too translated at the Stoop.
Among those in the stands were dads and daughters, a burly middle-aged man wearing a Quins “Kildunne” shirt and groups of friends with pints in their hands.Kildunne fever was clear but the excitement was not just for the England full-back and her on-pitch teammates but for Quins’ new signings too.Ireland’s Aoife Wafer was in attendance but not yet playing as she builds back to full fitness with the Black Ferns duo Layla Sae and Liana Mikaele-Tu’u linking up with the club over the next few weeks.The PWR is known for having plenty of international talent and that has only been growing between seasons as stars such as Canada’s Olivia Apps, who has signed for Saracens, have joined the league.Pre-match the Rugby World Cup trophy was on display for fans to see and as the teams were announced it was the World Cup winners Kildunne and Lucy Packer who received the biggest cheer from the home crowd.
There was also a light show while the recently retired two-time World Cup winner and now Loughborough assistant coach Emily Scarratt ran up and down the touchline, waving to fans as she went.Fireworks in the Quins quarters, colours and pyrotechnics set the tone for this cracker of a game.Quins, who were in their pink away kit to raise awareness for breast cancer, absorbed a lot of early pressure but their defensive dam eventually broke with a superb run down the left by Kabeya.She fended off two defenders and fed Bo Westcombe-Evans, who returned from injury in the PWR Cup last month, for the game’s opening try.Kabeya was a lightning spark throughout the fixture and was key as Loughborough added to their tally with a try from Lucy Calladine.
The hosts levelled with a silky team move putting Abbie Fleming over, followed by a gorgeous intercept try by Beth Wilcock which had fans on their feet.More tries were exchanged and by half-time Loughborough took a narrow 28-26 lead.A rendition of “the mighty Quins” was what the hosts needed after the break to push over the line through Nicole Wythe.There were more than rugby moves on display too as Quins’ replacements danced along to Taylor Swift’s Shake it Off before Clàudia Peña shook off defenders to extend the hosts’ lead and two more tries by the home side sealed the win.Sign up to The BreakdownThe latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewedafter newsletter promotionSupporters squirrelled their way to the advertising boards to meet their idols post-match, a sight which is expected to be seen across the league this weekend.
The attendances are set to be improved from last season at all four games in the opening round, the only club not in action Bristol Bears as it is their bye-week, with Sale Sharks’ game against Leicester Tigers a sell-out on Saturday and good crowds expected at Trailfinders v Exeter and Gloucester-Hartpury v Saracens.The World Cup effect is in full flow and all those involved in the game will be hoping it is a trend that continues.Women’s rugby feels like the party that will never end with the toast of this season being the final on 28 June back at the Stoop.A sell-out for the showpiece is the aim and it is highly likely, with how rapidly this sport is growing, the league may be met with an unfamiliar but welcome problem of fans struggling to get a ticket.
The Guide #214: Sleep-inducing songs and tranquilising TV – the culture that sends us to sleep (in a good way)
How do you sleep at night? If you’re like Hannah, a recent subject of the Guardian’s My cultural awakening column, it’s to the sound of a rat whisking eggs. The series shares stories of people who made a significant life change thanks to a piece of popular culture, and in the case of Hannah, that meant curing insomnia by watching Ratatouille. Every night for the last 15 years, at home or abroad, she switches on the Pixar classic and, within minutes, finds herself dropping off, thanks to the film’s comforting, consistent soundscape. It’s so effective, in fact, she’s never even seen it all the way through.Hannah’s might be a bit of an extreme example, but her tale does touch on something universal: culture seems to play an increasingly important role these days in helping people nod off
Seth Meyers on Trump’s White House ballroom: ‘This couldn’t be any more of a bait and switch’
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Seth Meyers on Trump’s White House demolition: ‘This is insane’
Late-night hosts dissected Donald Trump’s kingly behavior, from the destruction of the White House’s East Wing to his demand for payment from the justice department.“We have warned for years that Donald Trump is destroying American institutions,” said Seth Meyers on Wednesday evening, “but of course when we said ‘destroying’, we meant metaphorically speaking. We didn’t mean that he was literally destroying buildings.”“But I guess Trump heard that and thought, ‘On it.’ Because now he’s literally destroying the East Wing of the White House,” the Late Night host continued
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Caitlin, I am a big proponent of not yucking someone else’s yum. But this is testing me. What are on those girlies’ feet?They’re toes, Cait. They’re toes. More specifically, toes encased in rubber to create a kind of foot-glove-trainer
Stephen Colbert on Trump’s White House East Wing demolition: ‘So deeply unsettling’
Late-night hosts reacted to Donald Trump’s partial demolition of the East Wing of the White House for his proposed $250m gilded ballroom.“At this point, we’re nine months into this, you’d think it would be impossible for us to be shocked by Donald Trump,” said Stephen Colbert on Tuesday’s Late Show. “But give the man credit – every so often, he takes the time to attach the electrodes to our nipples. And then it feels like the first time.”Case in point: on Monday, as part of his White House renovation project to construct a gilded ballroom, Trump sent out a backhoe to rip off a part of the East Wing
Jon Stewart on Donald Trump: ‘He’s the imitation crab of kings right now’
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