It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in Villers-Bretoneux. The Aussies (selected from across Europe) were training together for the first time. There was an emphasis on clean crisp movements that made the soccer pitch look small. It rained all night and much of the morning. The pitch that was slippery when dry from the grass covering was even more slippery when the hard clay underneath developed a muddy skin. Luckily the rain ceased and the spectators were able to enjoy the pre-match presentations.

A lot of the spectators were familar with fact that the French team were the historical benchmark and were expecting a close tussle. That was not to be. Even though the French ruckman clearly won most tapouts with a great display of athletic jumping the Aussies played clinical dry weather football as they had practised. With the minimum of handling they were able to deliver the ball to an extremely potent forward line that lead fast and strong all day.

 The following article is from the Tyne Tees Tigers detailing the tremendous efforts of their Women’s footy team in their Haggis Cup battle with the Glasgow Sharks. The Tigers were victorious in their 1st Women’s Australian Rules football match with the final score.

Tyne Tees Tigers 30 d Glasgow Sharks 14

On Saturday the 12th of April, England’s first female Aussie Rules club-side travelled to Glasgow to take on the Glasgow Sharks Ladies in the 2014 Haggis Cup. This is the first time two British clubs have played a women’s game. The Tigers ladies who had only picked up an Aussie rules ball for the first time 12 weeks previously were excited with the anticipation of playing in this historic game, in the Haggis Cup at GHA Rugby Club

The game was played as 8-a-side with 4 x 15 minute quarters on a full size rugby pitch. With the home side having a large interchange bench (in Aussie Rules players can sub on and off at any time) and the Tigers having none over the course of the game the Tigers fitness would be tested.

Port Adelaide Power's first international recruit, Irishman Daniel Flynn, has returned to the club after initially looking to be lost.  Back Down Under for just a week, Flynn is straight into Port's SANFL side this week.

The international rookie has been named in Port's second tier side, Port Adelaide Magpies, in the local SANFL.  The Magpies happen to be playing the Adelaide Crows' SANFL side for the first time, with the match to be played in country Clare... that's country Clare, not county Clare.

See Irishman to debut for Magpies for more.

In a match not well publicised (on either Denmark or Sweden’s websites) and somewhat overshadowed by the 7th edition of the Anzac Cup at Villes Bretonneux, France, Sweden hosted Denmark in an International match in Skane, Sweden at the weekend on Saturday 26th April.

The effect of the match, which could safely be described as a “football lesson”, as Denmark amassed a whopping 26.22 (178) score to Sweden’s 3.4 (22) on the World Rankings, saw Denmark remain in 10th position but Sweden falling a dramatic four places from 13th to 16th, with Canada, Peace Team and France climbing one place each respectively.

It should be pointed out that prior to this match less than 1.75 rating points separated these four nations so although the ranking fall might have been dramatic, the fall in rating points (2.07) much less so.

Read the full story for the current WFN World Rankings table after this match.

To coincide with the success and popularity of the Haggis Cup in Scotland played a few weeks ago comes the news of another Australian Football club in the country. The Falkirk Silverbacks have arrived on the Scottish scene to continue the growth of the game.

Falkirk, with a population of around 35,000, sits in the Lowlands between Scotland's two largest cities. Glasgow is approximately 33 kilometres away to the south-west and the capital city of Edinburgh just 37 kilometres away to the south-east. It is this proximity to these cities which already boast healthy Australian Rules football clubs which has led to the expansion of the game to Falkirk.

Who’s the toughest footballer you ever saw? Leigh Matthews? Ted Whitten? Luke Hodge? Maybe  it  is Jonathan Brown.  Well here’s something which may sort the wheat from the chaff. How often did you see them play in temperatures of 7 degrees, with a chill factor that made it more like minus 7? 

Well that’s exactly what faced the tough, fearless and enthusiastic Russian players who competed in last weekend’s Gagarin Cup in Moscow. 

The event, named in honour of the Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space, was played in the Russian capital in front of a motivated, albeit teeth-chattering crowd. The event is also played on Cosmonaut Day, a national holiday observed in Russia. It is the largest Australian Rules showcase in the country, just tipping out the Concrete and Steel Cup played each September (2nd) to observe the anniversary of the end of World War Two (won last year by the Space Pirates).

The Scottish city of Glasgow will again come alive on April to the sounds of umpires whistles, screaming crowds and calls of “Baaalll…!!” as the 2014 Haggis Cup celebrates its 10th year. The Glasgow Sharks will be hosting and organising the event, to be played at the GHA Rugby Football Club fields at Giffnock on the 12th of April.

This year’s event also boasts a distinctly international flavour in the men’s competition with English clubs the Huddersfield Rams and Tyne Tees Tigers being joined by French club, the Paris Cockerels to take on the three Scottish teams: the Glasgow Sharks, Kingdom Kangaroos and Edinburgh Bloods. The women’s teams will be confirmed and released shortly.

This weekend’s clash between the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes and the Bordeaux Bombers may go a long way towards shaping the 2013/14 finals of the CNFA competition in France. With just seven matches remaining before the finals, the Coyotes feature in three of them and may well hold the key to which teams makes the finals.

The Coyotes have done little wrong this season, yet through the anomalies of the draw they sit currently in fifth place. So far this season they have trounced the Strasbourg Kangaroos, won a memorable one point game against their cross town Parisian neighbours the Paris Cockerels and went down by just four points to the Montpellier Fire Sharks who are also in finals contention.

The Great Britain Bulldogs last weekend held their training camp at the elite training facilities of Surrey Sports Park, in preparation for the upcoming announcement of their 2014 International Cup squad.

With four of the Bulldogs also selected for the European Legion to play against the AFL-AIS Academy in the Easter challenge series, the camp was a chance to see some of the athletic prowess the Bulldogs will bring to the tournament Down Under.

This report courtesy of GB Bulldogs Performance and Team Coordinator Claire Shapland.

Not content to sit out another season waiting to be a part of the big time footy in Croatia, new club the Slavonski Brod Tigers flexed their muscle last weekend against none other than the reigning Croatian premiers, the Zagreb Hawks.

Tomislav Vlaovic, co-founder of Croatia’s newest club, was full of pride when relating his match review to World Footy News. “The practice match was played in Slavonski Brod on the 9th of March between the newly founded Slavonski Brod Tigers and reigning premiers Zagreb Hawks.”