February 2025 Rugby Round-Up
Enjoy as Rugbystore rounds-up the biggest stories of the month, plus a review of all on going competitions.
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Joe Schmidt to leave Australia this October
The drawn-out contract saga between Joe Schmidt and Rugby Australia has finally come to an end, with the New Zealander set to step down later this year.
Schmidt took control of the Wallabies following their horrible performance at the 2023 World Cup, with many concerned about the future of the union code down under. In his short tenure the former Ireland Head Coach had shown steady progression and seemed to get the Australian national team back on track ahead of this Summers Lions tour.
Following a strong set of performances in the Autumn Tests Rugby Australia had made moves to try and secure his services till the end of the 2027 World Cup. Unfortunately for them, it was announced earlier this month that Schmidt will leave following the conclusion of this year’s Rugby Championship.
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Warren Gatland departs Wales
Following 14 straight losses the decision was made for the WRU and Warren Gatland to part ways for the second time. Over his two stints and 16 years, the New Zealander led Wales to four 6 Nations titles, with three of them being Grand Slams.
Cardiff Head Coach Matt Sheratt has agreed to come in on an interim basis until the end of the 6 Nations, but has already distanced himself from taking the role on full-time.
The rumoured front-runners for the role are Ireland’s, Simon Easterby, Former Wallabies head coach, Michael Cheika, and Glasgow Warrior’s title winning coach Franco Smith.
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Autumn Test Announcements
This month saw all the Tier 1 nations announce their fixtures for the 2025 Autumn Tests. With the All Blacks taking on Scotland, England and Wales and the reigning World Champion Springboks traveling to Italy, Ireland, France and Wales.
Your regularly featured Tier 2 sides in Fiji and Japan are playing across the Autumn as well, with the USA also making their first ever Murrayfield appearance in early November.
Competitions Round-up
6 Nations
Ireland are the only unbeaten side left after three rounds of the competition following their Triple Crown success with wins over England, Scotland and Wales so far. Their nearest challengers in France have slipped up against England in round 2, but have been on a hot scoring streak with 141 points scored so far in this years competition.
Speaking of England, Steve Borthwick’s side have put themselves in a position to contend for the title with their narrow wins over France and Scotland. With the win against the latter securing their first Calcutta Cup since 2020.
Wales’ struggles have continued, as they’ve reached 15 Tests without a win. Although, there were some positives people took from their most recent performance in their defeat to Ireland.
Premiership Rugby Cup
The group stage concluded for this years Premiership Rugby Cup, with Ealing Trailfinders surprising many by making it out of the groups, where the RFU Championship side were rewarded with a Quarter-Final clash against the Northampton Saints. They went on to win that tie 43-26 and are now facing a Semi-Final match-up against the Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park on the 8th of March. Meanwhile, the other Semi-Final will see the Newcastle Falcons host Bath on the Saturday the 7th of March.
United Rugby Championship
This month has only seen most of the clubs in the URC play two matches, as each side tried to make do without a host of their international players. Leinster, Glasgow Warriors and the Bulls have all consolidated their places at the top end of the table, while everyone except the Dragons are still tussling it out for the other five play-off berths. The big winners are Zebre, who secured a third successive win for the first time in seven years when they beat the Dragons last time out. That form has seen them close the gap to eighth place to four points, with a late push for the play-offs starting to look like a possibility for the Italians.
Super Rugby
Super Rugby Pacific has kicked off for the 2025 season and has already entertained with its mix of hard-hitting, attacking rugby. With stunning games like Force’s last minute win against Moana Pasifika and the Chiefs defeating the Blues in round 1 just highlighting the competitive landscape for the campaign ahead. After three rounds of games only the Chiefs, Queensland Reds and Waratahs remain unbeaten. While it may have only just begun, it is clear that we are instore for another end-to-end season in the Southern Hemisphere’s premier club competition.
That’s been the round up for February 2025, but for any other blog posts and news make sure to checkout the Rugbystore Blog.