Mik A
mikadooo.bsky.social
Mik A
@mikadooo.bsky.social
Dad, engineer, likes watching rugby
Looks like Sunday’s Elite 1 match between Bordeaux and Blagnac will be broadcast by TV7. Seems to be accessible online at sudouest.fr/lachainetv7 without geo block or needing to open an account.
November 21, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Belgian turnovers keeping them in the game
November 18, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Samoa really struggling to turn pressure into points. Failing to convert a scrum 5m out while a player up was criminal.
November 18, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Emma Sing doing Emma Sing things
November 3, 2025 at 1:08 PM
From Duguid’s instagram:
November 1, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Anyone want to see a conversion attempt hit the woodwork not once, not twice, not three times but FOUR TIMES on its way between the sticks. Crossbar Challenge Level: Impossible.

Hannah Brink for the US Naval Academy team
November 1, 2025 at 6:00 PM
No surprise to see Gloucester-Hartpury well represented on the kicking charts. Likewise, no surprise to see Helen Nelson near the top.

Not in the top 5, but I thought Katana Howard was an excellent alternate kicker for Sale.
October 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM
It was only a matter of time before Sophie de Goede showed up in one or other of the charts - here equal third for tackles made

Pena showing she's not just there for the point scoring - 18 tackles made in a chart full of forwards. (Also, since you ask, 13 carries for 78m, 3 offloads and 1 turnover)
October 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM
There's a really good crop of young centres coming through, including Sarah Parry at Quins. I thought Carmella Morrall was excellent for Lightning and I hope she gets the chance to develop her partnership with Alev Kelter.

Claudia M-M bossing the metres made chart so far.
October 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Claudia Pena showing early form in the point-scoring charts, with a try and five conversions.

Helen Nelson flawless off the tee, with five conversions out of five.
October 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Some player stats from PWR week 1:

With so many tries scored, perhaps surprising there were no hat-tricks. Tess Feury and Kelsey Jones leading the charts so far.

Overall a good weekend for US Eagles, with try scorers in five of the eight teams by my count.
October 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM
and it wouldn't be a Quins game without a beauty from Claudia Pena
October 24, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Lots to enjoy about this ding-dong match between Quins Women and Loughborough. But a highlight has to be a 50m run-in by Lightning prop Amelia Williams.

Score 47-42 with 5 minutes to go.
October 24, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Saracens not wanting to be upstaged by the noisy neighbours
October 23, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Ooof - big signings for Quins Women!

Rugbypass describes the two signings as “injury cover” (not sure who for, but there’s some big names missing from tomorrow’s team sheet) and that the players will be at Quins to March next year.
October 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
It's interesting how the proportion who went to University appears to have dropped over time in multiple sports - I wonder if it's to do with better development pathways and pro opportunities coming earlier in life than used to be the case. The trend is least clear with Women's rugby.
October 15, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Amongst a range of sports, cricket had by far the most private school attendees (based on people who played for England in the year up to March 2025). Olympic medallists from Paris 2024 also notably drawn from private schools.

It's unclear whether Women's rugby's % drop from 2019 is a real trend
October 15, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Men's rugby is notably posher, with 36% having attended private school, but less brainy (only 31% went to Uni).

The rugby players surveyed were the Men's and Women's Six Nations squads for England, Scotland and Wales this year.
October 15, 2025 at 8:44 PM
According to the Sutton Trust, Women's rugby isn't too bad a reflection of the overall UK demographic. 10% educated outside the UK, 9% at private schools and virtually all the rest at comprehensives.

The proportion that went to Uni is however high compared to the UK norm (around 50% I think)
October 15, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Very weird how the Elite 1 Twitter account has posted naming the teams in that league but giving dead links to most of them.

I get that French rugby isn’t particularly big on Twitter, and some teams have no live presence there. But it’s not hard to do better than this post.
October 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Thanks for the link!

I agree with the scrum law trial (although would also be ok with refs simply enforcing the existing law. I also like the move against players in mauls swinging into offside positions.
October 14, 2025 at 10:01 AM
I’ve got to assume

- the thing about player IP is to allow the Kildunnes of this world to make their millions off the merch that bears their name or image. If so, smart by R360

- the UAE base is to allow the King’s nephew-in-law to avoid tax

- player residence is about tax avoidance or simplicity
October 1, 2025 at 10:42 PM
September 27, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Six of Canada's starting pack have played over 250 minutes in the tournament - England only 3.

Julia Schell is the tournament's only 400 minute woman 🦸‍♀️

Some Canada replacements have had very few minutes...
September 25, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Alysha Corrigan beware
September 25, 2025 at 4:22 PM