Women’s World Cup has the hallmarks of game-changer for rugby union

Talking to World Rugby’s Sally Horrox is to sense energy and momentum as England prepare to host the tournament

“Where sisterhood meets rivalry,” is the snappy tag line ahead of the 2025 Rugby World Cup being staged in England next August and September. Take a look at the newly released tournament match schedule, with a blockbuster opening of England facing the US and 16 teams spread around eight cities, and it already feels more ambitious and potentially gamechanging than any of its predecessors.

Listen up, too, to the informed opinion of Sally Horrox, World Rugby’s director of the women’s game. “I think it’s an opportunity to reposition rugby,” she suggests. “Not just women’s rugby. Rugby. We need to make sure the impact of this tournament is felt around the world.” There is a priceless opportunity, certainly, for female rugby union players to leave their male counterparts in the shade.

Unless, of course, you believe the past tense should already be applicable. Women’s and girls’ rugby is the fastest-growing sector of the sport globally, as underlined at this summer’s Olympics. Antoine Dupont apart, the breakout star of the Games was the USA’s Ilona Maher, who now has 4m Instagram followers and has become a flag bearer for strong, sporty women everywhere.

Small wonder the upbeat Horrox is also still basking in the warm glow of the day that the millionaire philanthropist Michele Kang announced she would give the bronze-medal winning Team USA women’s rugby team $4m for use over the next four years to help grow the sport in the US in the lead-up to the 2028 Games. “That moment when she pulled all the players together and said, ‘This sport is capturing the global imagination’,” recalls Horrox. “And told them they were just as important as the men and needed greater support and investment. It was a snapshot of the impact the game is making.”

Earlier this month the double men’s World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi, supportively clad in a Springbok women’s rugby jersey and a pink-patterned bucket hat, could also be found preaching a similarly inclusive message. “Rugby is still a smaller sport and we need to compete against bigger sports,” he emphasised. “The more people who play the game the better it is.” World Rugby’s new “Rugby Rising Play” initiative aims to introduce a non-contact form of the game to girls in 40 countries within the next nine months, increasing both participation and the sport’s profile.

Talking to Horrox is also to sense an infectious fresh energy and momentum powering the whole mission. After previous stints working in netball, football and tennis she knows exactly how to promote a sport and is instructive on the way male and female players should all be thinking in order to elevate rugby in the public consciousness.

For her it is all about bringing the sport’s on-field characters to a wider audience, with the World Cup offering a perfect springboard. “It’s about getting to know the players … not just how they perform on the pitch but the energy the tournament will create between the players and the fans. Our work has to be around that connection. We’re describing it as a generational moment but it’s also an opportunity for it to be a real inflection point. We can grab the attention of a nation but then cascade that impact around the world to effect long-term sustained change.”

Specifically that involves unearthing more individuals capable of following the lead of Maher and New Zealand’s charismatic Ruby Tui. As long ago as 2022 World Rugby was aware of Maher’s ability to spread the gospel. “She stood on the stage at our global summit as a player voice and talked about body image, self-esteem and what rugby had done for her. I do think we need to be celebrating these women and raise awareness of their quality and excellence. We need to raise their profiles. I actually think that applies across men’s rugby as well. We’re identifying individuals who want to be the player voice but not everybody does.”

It does no harm that there are now some improving national teams out there. England clearly remain frontrunners but Canada gave them a proper game on the final weekend of the recent WXV tournament and Ireland also toppled New Zealand. While the low number of spectators in the stands at many matches felt less uplifting, Horrox points out the games were broadcast to more than 150 countries worldwide. “It’s not just about whether Canada can attract 5-10,000 to a stadium. It’s whether people can see this sport, no matter where you are in the world.”

There is a parallel push to grow the number of women in the “rugby workforce”, while the Rugby Football Union also wants to have 100,000 female players by 2027 (assisted by just over £12m of government funding) despite this week’s independent report suggesting more must be done to encourage girls’ rugby in schools. Maybe, in the not-too-distant future, there will also be a female chair of World Rugby itself, as opposed to the traditional male bunfight.

Either way, Horrox no longer sees a distinction between the promotion of women’s rugby and the sport as a whole. “You could argue that when our job is done and we’re working in a truly thriving global game we won’t need to distinguish between men’s and women’s rugby. We’ll just have growing emerging markets around the world and the women’s and girls’ game will be integrated and thriving across all of them.

“My job is to grow rugby and make it more relevant, accessible, entertaining and exciting. I just happen to be doing that by growing the female fanbase. It is the fastest-growing segment of our game and therefore we’re prioritising it. It means shifting women’s rugby from being a niche sport and bringing it into the mainstream. We see such an opportunity and that, for me, is why this job is so exciting. It’s a movement not a moment.”

Short-term fix

As detailed in last week’s Breakdown, not everyone is a fan of the “20-minute red card” sanction that, along with scrum and lineout countdown clocks, will now be trialled in the forthcoming Autumn Nations Series. Having already featured in the Rugby Championship, the 20-minute red card will be triggered by an act of foul play that is not deemed deliberate or intentional, with the dismissed player being replaced by a teammate after 20 minutes to restore their team to 15 players. Ireland, however, have joined France in publicly expressing their opposition to the permanent adoption of the trial, suggesting it could potentially undermine the drive for a safer game and that “player welfare and safety are paramount to the core values of the game.” The La Rochelle head coach, Ronan O’Gara, has also described it as “nonsense”, putting himself firmly on the other side of the argument to the southern hemisphere who believe numerically uneven games do little to promote the sport. It seems to leave rugby still trapped between a rock and a hard place: keen to be seen to be supporting player welfare while tacitly acknowledging that the margins involved in terms of tackle height in helter-skelter big games can be almost impossibly slim.

Memory lane

France beat England for the first time in five years in 2002 on their way to a Six Nations grand slam. Clive Woodward’s side were pipped to the title after a ferocious battle at the Stade de France, with France’s mobile back row and powerful midfield ensuring that the focus of England’s attacks was not Jonny Wilkinson, who was given no time on the ball. France had also done their homework on the referee, André Watson, and appreciated that he used his whistle as a last, rather than a first, resort. “The French were streetwise,” said the flanker Neil Back. “They got away with a lot,” added Austin Healey.

And finally …

Sometimes the best rugby drama is staged away from the pitch. Anyone familiar with Grav, the memorable play about the former Welsh international Ray Gravell, will definitely want to head to London Welsh RFC this Thursday to see Carwyn, based on the multi-layered life of the legendary British & Irish Lions coach (and former Guardian columnist) Carwyn James. Written by Owen Thomas and starring Simon Nehan as Carwyn, the play is also being performed in Cefneithin on 2 November on what would have been the visionary coach’s 95thbirthday. Earlier that same day a blue plaque will be unveiled on the wall of his former village home and there will be a minute’s applause before that afternoon’s game between Cefneithin and Amman United.

Still want more?

The rugby brain injury lawsuit is stuck in legal limbo. Andy Bull asks: where would we be if no one had taken action in the first place?

Australia are seeking to spring a surprise in the four Tests across the UK and Ireland as Lions tour looms large. Angus Fontaine has more.

The RFU has been warned it is facing an existential crisis and has been urged to make radical changes in schools rugby to avoid becoming a “declining ­minority sport”.

Robert Kitson gets his chat on with Ireland’s new talisman Caelan Doris, the country boy from Lacken who is now a world-class No 8.

Robert has also written on how Borthwick is struggling to cast off the shadow of uncertainty after England’s coaching exits.

The 20-minute red card will be employed during next month’s autumn internationals – the first time they will be used in the northern hemisphere. Gerard Meagher has the story.

Our obituary for Ronnie Dawson, the Irish hooker who captained the British & Irish Lions rugby team on their 1959 tour.

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