Today, The Morgans and The Grandma are recovered from their stomach virus and they are the special guests at the big party of women's rugby in the world: TheWomen Six Nations.
The family is currently at Ashton GateStadiumin Bristolenjoying a fantastic rugby match between England and Wales, and it couldn't be any other way, since The Morgans live in a city that breathes rugby on all four sides: Sant BoideLlobregat.
The Women's Six Nations Championship,known as the GuinnessWomen's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition featuring six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995-96 season as the Home Nations, with four teams: England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
In the 1998-99 season, it became the Five Nations, with France joining the original four. The following season, Spain replaced Ireland for two seasons.
In 2001-02, the women's Six Nations competition was born with England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Spain and Wales playing, after Ireland re-joined the competition. Spain, at that time, were higher ranked than Italy, and therefore were awarded their place in the competition on merit.
In 2006, a championship trophy was commissioned from silversmith Thomas Lyte, to be followed by a second trophy commissioned for the Under 20 Six Nations championship. Designed and created by Thomas Lyte, the trophies are made from sterling silver and feature engraving detail with the logos of the competing countries.
In 2007, the Six Nations committee formally adopted Italy as the sixth national team member in the championship, replacing Spain. This aligned the women's competition with the men's competition.
A new trophy was unveiled in 2023, designed and made by British silverware manufacturers Thomas Lyte. The trophy stands 25 inches in height and features six arms reaching upwards representing the nations taking part in the competition.
England have been the dominant team in the competition, winning 21 of the 30 editions, as of 2025.
Today, The Grandma got up early so as not to miss the plane that took her to Brussels where Joseph de Ca'th Lon was waiting for her to drive to Neuville-Ask where they plan to attend the France-Italy Six Nations match this afternoon.
It has been an intense morning of accumulated sleep and coffees, but now they will rest a little at the hotel, write this new post, watch the first half of the FA Women's Cup match between Manchester United and Chelsea, and Joseph will give her a summary (if possible) of their stay at the Olympic Games. Then, they will go to the Stade Pierre Mauroy where they hope to experience a great rugby spectacle, possibly the most honest sport and with the fairest play in the entire sports panorama.
Joseph is a fan of Ireland and The Grandma of the U.E. Santboiana where she has great friends like Toni, Susanna, Àngels or Mima, who have made her enjoy this spectacular sport. If you like rugby, any Six Nations match should be watched, and if possible, lived.
Tomorrow they will make a quick visit to Lile before returning to Basel and Barcelona,where both must continue with their respective lives.
Neuvile-Ask is a very beautiful city, where Picard is historically spoken, with a great sporting tradition where its women's basketball team stands out, but it is also one of the headquarters of the French national rugby team when it plays in the Six Nations.
Neuvile-Askin Picard or Villeneuve-d'Ascqin French is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. With more than 60,000 inhabitants and 50,000 students, it is one of the main cities of the Lille metropolitan area (Métropole Européenne de Lille) and the largest in area after the city of Lille itself. It is also one of the main cities of the Hauts-de-France region.
Built up owing to the merger between the former communes of Ascq, Annappes and Flers-lez-Lille, Neuvile-Ask is a new town and the cradle of the first automatic metro system in the world (VAL).
Neuvile-Ask is nicknamed the 'green technopole' thanks to the implantation of many researchers, including two campuses of the University of Lille and many graduate engineering schools, and companies in a pleasant living environment. Owing to its activity centres, its Haute Borne European scientific park and two shopping malls, Neuvile-Ask is one of the main economic spots of the Hauts-de-France region; multinational corporations such as Bonduelle, Cofidis and Decathlon have their head office there.
Outside its academic, scientific and business facilities, Neuvile-Ask is known for its sporting events, boasting two stadiums (Stade Pierre-Mauroy and Stadium Lille Métropole), some top division sports teams, its museums, its green spaces, and its facilities for disabled people.
Its name means new city of Ascq in French. Ascq is possibly derived from the Dutch word for ash. The name of the city is generally written without the customary (official) hyphen.
The city counts approximately 10 km2 of greenspace, lakes, forests and arable lands. It is located between Lille and Roubaix, at the crossroads of the principal freeways towards Paris, Ghent, Antwerp and Brussels.
Development on what is now Neuvile-Ask can be traced back to the Celtic Gaul era, and are anchored in two feudal mounds, a Gallo-Roman site and a Carolingian one.
The area was selected in the 1960s to accommodate a new town then designated the name Lille-Est, which was to channel the growth of the agglomeration of Lille city and development of institutions based in the area. The commune of Neuvile-Ask was created in 1970 by the amalgamation of the communes of Ascq, Annappes and Flers. Its name evokes at the same time the new (neuve) and the old: former commune Ascq and its memory as martyr town of 1 April 1944, date on which the Nazis massacred 86 men (Ascq massacre).
The city's merger with Lille was contentious and failed twice (1972 and 1976). The Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1977.
The Stade Pierre-Mauroy, also known as the Decathlon Arena-Stade Pierre-Mauroy for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use retractable roof stadium in Neuvile-Ask, Metropolis of Lille, Northern France, that opened in August 2012. With a seating capacity of 50,186, it is the fourth-largest sports stadium in France and the home of French professional football club Lille.
Initially named Grand Stade Lille Métropole, the stadium was renamed on 21 June 2013, after the death of the former Mayor of Lille and former Prime Minister of France Pierre Mauroy (1928–2013).
The stadium, which hosted UEFA Euro 2016 and 2023 Rugby World Cup, can also be turned into an adjustable arena being expandable to 30,000 seats where indoor sports games and concerts take place. Therefore, multiple Davis Cup events, EuroBasket 2015 and 2024 Summer Olympics basketball and handball tournaments matches have been held in the building.
Today, The Grandma is very excited because The AllBlacks have invited her and her friends to participate in their training.
Since The Grandma watched a match of U.E.Santboiana
than she became a great fan of rugby although it's impossible to her to
understand the rules and the meaning of this interesting sport. She has
arrived to the conclusion that the most important of rugby is to advance
and this is the reason because of she is so interested in this sport,
because it's a metaphor of live: you always must advance. Advance in
your life, in your studies, in your work, in your knowledge, in your
experiences... Advancing is the secret to improve in all things that you
want to do.
The New Zealandnational rugby union team, called the All Blacks,represents New Zealand
in men's rugby union, which is known as the country's national sport.
The team has won the last two Rugby World Cups, in 2011 and 2015, as
well as the inaugural tournament in 1987.
They
have a 77% winning record in test match rugby, and are the only
international side with a winning record against every opponent. Since
their international debut in 1903, they have lost to only six of the 19
nations they have played in test matches. Since the introduction of the
World Rugby Rankings in 2003, New Zealand has held the number one ranking longer than all other teams combined. The All Blacks jointly hold the record for the most consecutive test match wins for a tier one ranked nation, along with England.
New Zealand competes with Argentina, Australia and South Africa in TheRugby Championship. The All Blacks have won the trophy fifteen times in the competition's twenty-two-year history. New Zealand have completed a Grand Slam tour four times 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010. The All Blacks have been named the World Rugby Team of the Year ten times since the award was created in 2001, and an All Black has won the World Rugby Player of the Year award ten times over the same period. Fifteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.
The team's first match was in 1884,
and their first international test match was in 1903 against Australia
in Sydney. The following year, they hosted their first ever home test, a
match against a British Isles side in Wellington. This was followed by a
34-game, including 5 tests, tour of Europe and North America in 1905,
where the team suffered only one defeat, their first ever test loss,
against Wales.
New Zealand's
early uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white
knickerbockers. By the 1905 tour, they were wearing all black, except
for the silver fern, and the name All Blacks dates from this time. The team perform a haka, a Māori challenge or posture dance, before each match. The haka has traditionally been Te Rauparaha's Ka Mate, although since 2005 KapaoPango has also been performed. Rugby union, almost universally referred to only as rugby in New Zealand, was introduced to New Zealand by Charles Monro in 1870; Monro discovered the sport while completing his studies at Christ's College, Finchley, England.
The first recorded game in New Zealand took place in May 1870 in Nelson between the Nelson club and Nelson College. The first provincial union, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, was formed in 1879, and in 1882 New Zealand's first internationals were played when New South Wales (NSW) toured the country. NSW did not face a New Zealand representative team but played seven provincial sides, the tourists won four games and lost three. Two years later the first New Zealand team to travel overseas toured New South Wales; where New Zealand won all eight of their games. A privately organised British team, which later became the British and Irish Lions, toured New Zealand
in 1888. No test matches were played, and the side only played
provincial sides. The British players were drawn mainly from Northern
England, but there were representatives from Wales and Scotland.
International rugby was suspended during the First World War, but a NewZealand
Services team did compete in inter-services competition known as the
King's Cup. After their departure from Europe the side toured South
Africa before their return to New Zealand, and that tour paved the way for a South African team to tour New Zealand in 1921. The Springboks, as the South African team is known, played New Zealand in a test series that ended all square. New Zealand conducted a return tour to South Africa in 1928, and the test series was again drawn; both teams winning two tests each. For the 1960 All Blacks tour of South Africa, the South African authorities insisted that Maori players be excluded from the team.
The subsequent controversy led to the New Zealand Rugby Union refusing any other tour for the following 10 years until the 1970 tour, when Maori players were accepted as honorary whites.
The 1976 All Blacks
tour of apartheid South Africa generated much controversy and led to
the boycott of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal by 33 African
nations after the IOC refused to ban the team. New Zealand
again failed to win the test series in South Africa: they did not do so
until 1996, after the fall of apartheid and the introduction of neutral
referees. The 1976 tour contributed to the Gleneagles Agreement being adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of State in 1977.
The professional era in rugby union began in 1995, spurred by creation of the SANZAR group, a combination of South Africa, New Zealand
and Australia which was formed with the purpose of selling broadcast
rights for two new competitions, the domestic Super 12 competition and
the Tri-Nations. The first Tri-Nations was contested in 1996, with New Zealand winning all four of their tests to take the trophy.
The All Blacks perform a haka, Māori challenge, before each international match. The haka has been closely associated with New Zealand rugby ever since a tour of Australia and the United Kingdom by the 1888–89 New ZealandNative football team, though the New Zealand team that toured New South Wales in 1884 may also have performed a haka.
Today, The Grandma has been relaxing at home. She has been reading about sports and she has paid attention about the commemoration of a great event. On a day like today in 1882, Wales and England contest the first HomeNations, now Six Nations, rugby union match.
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales.
The Six Nations is the successor to the Home Nations Championship (1883-1909 and 1932-39), played between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, which was the first international rugby union tournament. With the addition of France, this became the Five Nations Championship (1910-31 and 1947-99), which in turn became the Six Nations Championship with the addition of Italy.
England hold the record for outright wins with 29. Since the Six Nations era started in 2000, only Italy and Scotland have failed to win the Six Nations title.
The women's tournament started as the Women's Home Nations in the 1996 season.
The tournament was first played in 1883 as the Home Nations Championship among the four Home Nations -England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. However, England was excluded from the 1888 and 1889 tournaments due to their refusal to join the International Rugby Football Board.
The tournament then became the Five
Nations Championship in 1910 with the addition of France. The tournament
was expanded in 2000 to become the Six Nations Championship with the addition of Italy.
Following the relative success of the Tier 2 nations in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, there were calls by Octavian Morariu, the president of Rugby Europe, to let Georgia and Romania join the Six Nations due to their consistent success in the European Nations Cup and ability to compete in the Rugby World Cup.
The winners of the Six Nations are presented with the Championship Trophy.This was originally conceived by the Earl of Westmorland, and was first presented to the winners of the 1993 championship, France. It is a sterling silver trophy, designed by James Brent-Ward and made by a team of eight silversmiths from the London firm William Comyns.
It has 15 side panels representing the 15 members of the team and with three handles to represent the three officials, referee and two touch judges. The cup has a capacity of 3.75 litres -sufficient for five bottles of champagne. Within the mahogany base is a concealed drawer which contains six alternative finials, each a silver replica of one of the team emblems, which can be screwed on the detachable lid.
A new trophy was introduced for the 2015 Championship. The new trophy was designed and crafted by Thomas Lyte silversmiths and replaces the 1993 edition, which is being retired as it represented the nations that took part in the Five Nations Championship. Ireland were the last team to win the old trophy, and coincidentally, the first team to win the new one.
Today, The Grandma is very excited because The All Blacks have invited her and her friends to participate in their training. Since The Grandma watched a match of U.E.Santboiana than she became a great fan of rugby although it's impossible to her to understand the rules and the meaning of this interesting sport.
She has arrived to the conclusion that the most important of rugby is to advance and this is the reason because of she is so interested in this sport, because it's a metaphor of live: you always must advance. Advance in your life, in your studies, in your work, in your knowledge, in your experiences... Advancing is the secret to improve in all things that you want to do.
During the travel from Wellington to Auckland, The Grandma has read a new chapter of Rosemary Border's Ghost Stories and she has studied a new lesson of her First Certificate Language Practice manual (Grammar 13).
The New Zealandnational rugby union team, called the All Blacks,represents New Zealand in men's rugby union, which is known as the country's national sport. The team has won the last two Rugby World Cups, in 2011 and 2015, as well as the inaugural tournament in 1987.
They have a 77% winning record in test match rugby, and are the only international side with a winning record against every opponent. Since their international debut in 1903, they have lost to only six of the 19 nations they have played in test matches. Since the introduction of the World Rugby Rankings in 2003, New Zealand has held the number one ranking longer than all other teams combined. The All Blacks jointly hold the record for the most consecutive test match wins for a tier one ranked nation, along with England.
The All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup in 2011
New Zealand competes with Argentina, Australia and South Africa in The Rugby Championship. The All Blacks have won the trophy fifteen times in the competition's twenty-two-year history.
New Zealand have completed a Grand Slam tour four times 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010. The All Blacks have been named the World Rugby Team of the Year ten times since the award was created in 2001, and an All Black has won the World Rugby Player of the Year award ten times over the same period. Fifteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.
The team's first match was in 1884, and their first international test match was in 1903 against Australia in Sydney. The following year, they hosted their first ever home test, a match against a British Isles side in Wellington. This was followed by a 34-game, including 5 tests, tour of Europe and North America in 1905, where the team suffered only one defeat, their first ever test loss, against Wales.
New Zealand's early uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. By the 1905 tour, they were wearing all black, except for the silver fern, and the name All Blacks dates from this time. The team perform a haka, a Māori challenge or posture dance, before each match. The haka has traditionally been Te Rauparaha's Ka Mate, although since 2005 Kapao Pango has also been performed.
Rugby union, almost universally referred to only as rugby in New Zealand, was introduced to New Zealand by Charles Monro in 1870; Monro discovered the sport while completing his studies at Christ's College, Finchley, England.
The All Blacks' haka in 1932
The first recorded game in New Zealand took place in May 1870 in Nelson between the Nelson club and Nelson College.
The first provincial union, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, was formed in 1879, and in 1882 New Zealand's first internationals were played when New South Wales (NSW) toured the country. NSW did not face a New Zealand representative team but played seven provincial sides, the tourists won four games and lost three. Two years later the first New Zealand team to travel overseas toured New South Wales; where New Zealand won all eight of their games.
A privately organised British team, which later became the British and Irish Lions, toured New Zealand
in 1888. No test matches were played, and the side only played
provincial sides. The British players were drawn mainly from Northern
England, but there were representatives from Wales and Scotland.
International rugby was suspended during the First World War, but a New Zealand Services team did compete in inter-services competition known as the King's Cup. After their departure from Europe the side toured South Africa before their return to New Zealand, and that tour paved the way for a South African team to tour New Zealand in 1921.
The Springboks, as the South African team is known, played New Zealand in a test series that ended all square. New Zealand conducted a return tour to South Africa in 1928, and the test series was again drawn; both teams winning two tests each.
For the 1960 All Blacks tour of South Africa, the South African authorities insisted that Maori players be excluded from the team.
The All Blacks' haka nowadays
The subsequent controversy led to the New Zealand Rugby Union refusing any other tour for the following 10 years until the 1970 tour, when Maori players were accepted as honorary whites.
The 1976 All Blacks tour of apartheid South Africa generated much controversy and led to the boycott of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal by 33 African nations after the IOC refused to ban the team.
New Zealand again failed to win the test series in South Africa: they did not do so until 1996, after the fall of apartheid and the introduction of neutral referees. The 1976 tour contributed to the Gleneagles Agreement being adopted by the Commonwealth Heads of State in 1977.
The professional era in rugby union began in 1995, spurred by creation of the SANZAR group, a combination of South Africa, New Zealand and Australia which was formed with the purpose of selling broadcast rights for two new competitions, the domestic Super 12 competition and the Tri-Nations. The first Tri-Nations was contested in 1996, with New Zealand winning all four of their tests to take the trophy.
The All Blacks perform a haka, Māori challenge, before each international match. The haka has been closely associated with New Zealand rugby ever since a tour of Australia and the United Kingdom by the 1888–89 New ZealandNative football team, though the New Zealand team that toured New South Wales in 1884 may also have performed a haka.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)
