London
England’s national rugby team lost 22-24 in a pivotal, heartbreakingly tight game to New Zealand this past Saturday, Nov. 2. It was a home match for England, as they played at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.
New Zealand secured the win after English player George Ford’s kick hit the post, resulting in him missing a 78th-minute penalty that would’ve given England an additional three points to narrowly defeat the All Blacks 25-24. However, New Zealand held onto their 24-22 lead, sustaining their long-established winning streak against England. In their past two matchups over the summer, on July 6 and 13, England was unable to defeat New Zealand despite their consistently close scores. England has not scored an at-home victory against the All Blacks since 2012.
“I don’t know how many we can lose in the dying embers,” Ben Earl, a flanker for the English, told ESPN after the loss.
England will be back in action at home this Saturday, Nov. 9 against the Australia Wallabies.
Paris
The women’s Tour de France, or the Tour de France Femmes, declared the extension of its previous eight-stage route to nine, revealing the longest and most arduous course yet. This new nine-day course was announced on Tuesday, Oct. 29, and reflects the growing standards of and investment into women’s cycling.
“The level in women’s cycling is rising and that’s why we have nine stages instead of eight. And nine hard ones,” Tour de France Femmes director Marion Rousse told Le Monde.
The 1,165km race begins in Vannes, Brittany, and cuts a diagonal across France to the “Queen stage” climb on the eighth day, before the cyclists will ascend over four mountains and end the ninth stage in Châtel. Unlike the men’s race, the race will be held entirely on French soil.
While the men’s Tour de France has been around since 1903 and is one of the most popular sporting events in the world, the women’s edition of the event was only established in 2022, and the nine-stage route isn’t anywhere near the length of the men’s 21-day ride.
The Tour de France Femmes 2025 race will commence on July 26 and end on Aug. 3, marking the fourth official women’s Tour de France.
Washington, D.C.
The Washington Spirit is heading into the National Women’s Soccer League playoffs this weekend as the overall No. 2 seed, with an impressive 18-2-6 record. The squad will play at home this Sunday, Nov. 10 at 12:30 p.m. during the first round of the playoffs against the No. 7 seeded Bay FC — notably, in Bay’s inaugural season.
The Spirit are coming off of a 1-0 victory against the North Carolina Courage, in which forward Ashley Hatch scored her seventh goal of the season in the 37th minute of the game to boost the team’s already-secured playoff spot.
The Spirit has been riddled with injuries all year long — from the nearly season-ending injuries of Trinity Rodman and Leicy Santos to Andi Sullivan’s recent ACL tear.
However, with Rodman and Santos back in action, the Spirit is heading into the tournament as the team to beat, and a slightly understated one at that.
In particular, the team’s rookie class is one for the history books, as they have been setting NWSL records all season. This year’s newcomers, namely Croix Bethune, Hal Hershfelt, Kate Wiesner, Makenna Morris and Courtney Brown, may go down as the best rookie class in the league’s history — especially now that the NWSL draft has been eliminated.
Together, the rookies have scored 15 out of the Spirit’s 50 season goals thus far. Forward Morris, the 13th overall pick in this year’s NWSL draft, was recently named the NWSL Rookie of the Month for her staggering three goals and one assist in four games throughout October and November play. Midfielder rookie Bethune won the same award four times throughout the year and tied Tobin Heath’s well-established NWSL record of 10 assists in a single season — and she did so in just 17 games.
Contact Levi Langley at [email protected].
