NZ begins Women's Rugby World Cup defense with a win and Brazil debuts

New Zealand began its defense of the Women’s Rugby World Cup by scratching a 54-8 win over Spain in York on Sunday.

The Black Ferns were comfortable eight-try winners — with only 13 players for the last quarter — but at the possible cost of flanker Kaipo Olsen-Baker, who suffered a right leg injury and was carried off the field in tears.

Olsen-Baker missed the 2022 home World Cup because of a training injury and lasted only 14 minutes in York.

Other injured players couldn't be replaced because the bench was already empty, but even with 13 players New Zealand scored two tries though conceded its very first try to Spain in injury time.

Ireland and South Africa achieved their highest World Cup scores in their opening matches.

Ireland overcame Japan 42-14 and, in the second game of the Northampton doubleheader, South Africa overwhelmed debutant Brazil 66-6.

Both teams' previous best scores were against Kazakhstan: Ireland’s was 40-5 in 2014 and South Africa's was just 25-10 in 2010.

Brazil's Yaras became the first team from South America to feature in the World Cup and played only their 18th test ever.

New Zealand made all the running, 1,600 meters to Spain's 348, and committed Spain to a staggering 221 tackles. But last passes by the Black Ferns were frequently missed amid an inspired scrambled defense by Las Leones, who were playing New Zealand for the first time in 27 years.

“There was a lot of excitement out there and some of those passes were not sticking,” New Zealand captain Alana Bremner said. “But first game we weren't expecting perfection.”

With nine players from the 2022 final and another nine making their World Cup debut, New Zealand didn't click in its first test in six weeks until Jorja Miller scored from out of nothing. She stepped two defenders on the Spain 22, slipped another, and split two more in a brilliant solo try.

The world's best sevens player was over again four minutes later, then player of the match Liana Mikaele-Tu'u crashed over and it was 21-0 after 24 minutes. But the Black Ferns couldn't score another try until the second half.

The halftime injection of Olsen-Baker in place of Miller, lock Laura Bayfield and scrumhalf Risi Pouri-Lane helped New Zealand up the tempo and 21-3 at halftime quickly blew out to 35-3.

The un-retired Portia Woodman-Wickliffe scored to extend her World Cup all-time tries record to 21 but dropping to 13 players slowed down New Zealand.

Spain, coming off a 97-7 warmup loss to England this month, could not exploit its two-player advantage until injury time, when prop Ines Antolinez Fernandez burrowed over from a tap penalty. In the excitement, Amalia Argudo took too long to convert and timed out.

Both teams, in the same pool as New Zealand and Spain, targeted their tournament opener at sunny Franklin's Gardens as a key step toward making the quarterfinals. Japan gave away height and weight advantages to higher-ranked Ireland but won their last matchup in 2022 and was buoyed by wins this year over the U.S. and Spain.

Japan had eight visits to the 22, almost as many as Ireland, but wasn't as good at protecting the ball. Ireland's ability to break tackles and produce almost 400 post-contact meters was also decisive. The Irish scored six converted tries.

“This is the first World Cup game for most of us but it didn't feel like it,” Ireland co-captain Eden McMahon told the BBC. “The young girls took it in their stride so to be in that environment is very empowering.”

Ireland began its first World Cup match in eight years like it was trying to make up for lost time.

Tries by wingers Amee-Leigh Costigan and Beibhinn Parsons, hooker Neve Jones and first-time test flanker Fiona Tuite gave Ireland a four-try bonus point by halftime and seemingly the win.

But Japan's try by midfielder Haruka Hirotsu in the first half was added to by flanker Masami Kawamura to start the second and they trailed only 28-14.

Big runs by Kawamura and wing Misaki Matsumura propelled Japan to the Irish posts again and they looked set to score their third try but Ireland center Eve Higgins intercepted and ran 90 meters to the other end for the clincher for Ireland and heartbreak for Japan.

Brazil embraced the historic occasion, many of the team having played sevens in the Olympics. Before the game, the music for their national anthem stopped but they kept singing, loudly and proudly.

However, Brazil had never faced a team as experienced as South Africa, or a player like No. 8 Aseza Hele. Hele was a breakout star at the 2022 World Cup, beating 20 defenders, far more than any other forward. On Sunday, she was a wrecking ball again as she became the first female Springbok to score a World Cup hat trick in just 50 minutes of work.

Winger Ayanda Malinga would have equaled Hele but a brilliant 60-meter solo try in the 81st minute was chalked off due to obstruction.

While South Africa reached halftime 26-3 up, it was made to sweat for every point by a swarming Brazilian defense that eventually made 241 tackles and didn't tire until the end.

Brazil's determination to chance whatever ball it got saw it run from behind its own posts. Backs Edna Santini and Bianca Silva were a handful.

“We gave everything we have,” Brazil captain Eshyllen Coimbra said after her team-leading 24 tackles. “We knew it wasn't going to be an easy game but we believed until the end and we just wanted to play together.”

Unmissable with a spiky mohawk, Raquel Kochhann kicked Brazil’s first points, and a second penalty in the second half. They meet France next weekend.

Counterattacks led to many of South Africa's 10 tries and the best of them was straight after halftime. Fullback Byrhandre Dolf ran out of her 22, Roos shimmied to halfway and chipped, Dolf regathered and unselfishly sent Hele in between the posts.

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

New Zealand's Ayesha Leti-I'iga scores a try during the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 Pool C match between New Zealand and Spain at York Community Stadium in York, England, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

New Zealand's Ayesha Leti-I'iga breaks through and scores a try during the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 Pool C match between New Zealand and Spain at York Community Stadium in York, England, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

South Africa's Jacomina Cilliers is tackled during the group D match at the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup between South Africa and Brazil in Northampton, England, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

South Africa's Aseza Hele, right, is tackled by Brazil's Camilla Carvalho during the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 Pool D match at Franklin's Gardens in Northampton, England, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)/PA via AP)

Ireland's Fiona Tuite runs on her way to score a try, during the group C match between Ireland and Japan of the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup, in Northampton, England, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

Players celebrate as Ireland's Amee Leigh Costigan, down, scored a try during the group C match at the 2025 Women¥s Rugby World Cup between Ireland and Japan in Northampton, England, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

Ireland's Beibhinn Parsons, center, runs to score a try during the group C match between Ireland and Japan of the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup, in Northampton, England, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

Ireland's Edel McMahon, center, is tackled by Japan's Sachiko Kato, left and Japan's Seina Saito during the group C match between Ireland and Japan of the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup, in Northampton, England, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)

Ireland's Eve Higgins, evades a tackle during the group C match between Ireland and Japan of the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup, in Northampton, England, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.

Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, An independent counsel has requested the death sentence over that charge, and the Seoul Central District Court will decide on that in a ruling on Feb. 19.

Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.

In Friday’s case, the Seoul court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him and fabricating the martial law proclamation. He was also sentenced for sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting, which deprived some Cabinet members who were not convened of their rights to deliberate on his decree.

Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a heavy punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also said restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.

Yoon’s defense team said they will appeal the ruling, which they believe was “politicized” and reflected “the unliberal arguments by the independent counsel.” Yoon’s defense team argued the ruling “oversimplified the boundary between the exercise of the president’s constitutional powers and criminal liability.”

Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.

South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.

South Korea has a history of pardoning former presidents who were jailed over diverse crimes in the name of promoting national unity. Those pardoned include strongman Chun Doo-hwan, who received the death penalty at a district court over his 1979 coup, the bloody 1980 crackdowns of pro-democracy protests that killed about 200 people, and other crimes.

Even if Yoon is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial, he may still face other prison sentences in the multiple smaller trials he faces.

Some observers say Yoon is likely retaining a defiant attitude in the ongoing trials to maintain his support base in the belief that he cannot avoid a lengthy sentence but could be pardoned in the future.

On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, Yoon abruptly declared martial law in a televised speech, saying he would eliminate “anti-state forces” and protect “the constitutional democratic order.” Yoon sent troops and police officers to encircle the National Assembly, but many apparently didn’t aggressively cordon off the area, allowing enough lawmakers to get into an assembly hall to vote down Yoon’s decree.

No major violence occurred, but Yoon's decree caused the biggest political crisis in South Korea in decades and rattled its diplomacy and financial markets. For many, his decree, the first of its kind in more than 40 years in South Korea, brought back harrowing memories of past dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s, when military-backed leaders used martial law and emergency measures to deploy soldiers and tanks on the streets to suppress demonstrations.

After Yoon's ouster, his liberal rival Lee Jae Myung became president via a snap election last June. After taking office, Lee appointed three independent counsels to look into allegations involving Yoon, his wife and associates.

Yoon's other trials deal with charges like ordering drone flights over North Korea to deliberately inflame animosities to look for a pretext to declare martial law. Other charges accuse Yoon of manipulating the investigation into a marine’s drowning in 2023 and receiving free opinion surveys from an election broker in return for a political favor.

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)