Women’s Rugby World Cup: Five takeaways as Ellie Kildunne must have ‘shackles’ removed and a key lesson for World Rugby after record-breaking tournament
Womens World Cup five takaways
The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup has come to a close, with England defeating Canada in the final to claim their first title since 2014.
Here are our five takeaways from the tournament.
The top line
The build-up to the World Cup was like nothing we’d seen before in the women’s game. Social media was awash with inspirational former players, influencers and fans, all itching to get to the heart of the action. In the real world, organisers were preparing for an influx of people, many of whom had never been to a women’s game before, all on the same journey to discover this up-and-coming sport.
Before each match, a mixture of men, women, boys and girls were all excited to be involved in the event in one way or another. It wasn’t just about what was happening on the field; it was about the festivities that came with it.
The atmosphere was light-hearted, the games around the stadium were fun, but the on-field results – while they mattered – weren’t the be-all and end-all.
As the tournament progressed, the attention returned to the field as the matches began to get competitive. Despite a one-sided pool stage, many felt that the semi-finals could have elicited any results.
England came through theirs against France, semi-comfortably. New Zealand, however, fell to an almighty Canadian effort, as the girls in red caught the hearts of the rugby world.
The final, in front of a record 81,885 Twickenham crowd, gripped the world as the most-watched women’s rugby match of all-time, with a reported peak audience of 5.8 million viewers tuning in across TV and streaming through the BBC.
With the eyes of the rugby world on them, it was the Red Roses, in front of their home fans, who would take the spoils, winning 33-13.
Attendances
Women’s rugby has taken a major uplift in recent years, with many clubs, particularly in England, now sporting a women’s side. So it was no surprise that when tickets were announced for the finals of the World Cup, thousands were clamouring to get a hold of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The final had a record attendance, not surprising considering the recent growth in the game, but the interesting fact is that the actual interest well exceeded the potential interest in the competition. Television and streaming numbers aside, over 440,000 tickets were sold for the month-long tournament, beating the original target of 350,000 by almost 100,000.
As hosts, the England matches were understandably the most highly attended, with their opening round match against the USA attracting a remarkable 42,723 spectators to Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, proving that there’s an audience up north as well as a committed number of fans willing to travel.
The key takeaway, however, was the growth in attendance compared to other tournaments. This year’s tournament had an average of 15,856 spectators at every game, in 2021 it was 5,385, in 2017 it was 1,514, in 2014 it was 1,333, in 2010 it was just 1,000.
This means that in the space of five tournaments, or 15 years, the interest levels have risen by a multiple of 15, whether due to increased awareness of the sport, personal involvement, or fans simply joining a friend.
Big matches
After such a positive tournament, no one wants to ask the hard questions, but without challenging the status quo, the game will stagnate.
There’s certainly growth in the women’s game, but the competition itself had to rely far too heavily on the atmosphere aspect, rather than the game itself. The skill levels of the top players were phenomenal, but the gap between the top players and the rest was just so vast that at times, it eliminated the joy of competition.
It’s the same as the early days of men’s international rugby, when semi-professional sides like Namibia and Romania were being defeated by over 100 points by their heavily funded opponents. This is where the women’s game needs to improve; it needs funding within the smaller nations to make it a competitive event.
As great as it is for a team to win comprehensively, no one wants to see a purely amateur side, like Samoa, thumped by almost 90 points by a professional side like England – particularly after they’ve had to crowdfund their way over to the country. It’s a special occasion to make the World Cup, but they deserve more than to be used as a rest game.
World Rugby need to look at the growth of the women’s game and put pressure on the individual unions to invest in the sport. To keep the interest of spectators, they need gladiatorial clashes; they don’t want one-sided massacres.
Attitudes
We’ve all heard the outdated and simply unhinged insults chucked at women who choose to play sport. They don’t need to be repeated on here, but this tournament success will make those voices sound a little quieter for many.
Around the world, women and girls, as well as boys and men, will now pick up a rugby ball for the first time in a whirlwind movement that can only be compared to the men’s victory in 2003. The 2003 victory created an entire ecosystem of new players who tried out the game for the first time; this will be no different.
In 15 years, girls who were inspired by the Red Roses’ victory in 2025 will be pulling on their boots to play for their national side. Their skill levels will be higher than even those we see today. The talent pool will be bigger, the conditioning better, and the training more precise, as the women of tomorrow prepare to become the next big sporting superstars.
But this can only happen with the right support. Around the world, rugby clubs need volunteers to step up and run girls’ youth teams, ladies’ teams, and make the game accessible and fun to those who have been inspired this summer. This is not a time to sit back and celebrate; this is a time to move forward and invite those who are curious into the rugby mix.
Invite them to join with friends, or come along and watch. The World Cup has shown us that the sport does not need to be taken too seriously; it needs to have fun and inclusivity at the heart of it.
The faces of women’s rugby
For a sport to grow, it needs faces to build around. Jonah Lomu was arguably the main reason that men’s rugby gained the popularity it needed to go professional. If you look at Tennis, Federer v Nadal was the key draw for years. Basketball, Michael Jordan carried the NBA brand on his back for over a decade. Women’s rugby needs a rivalry, or a Lomu, or a Caitlin Clark from the WNBA.
But after this showcase, maybe women’s rugby already has its own set of stars to work with.
Ellie Kildunne, Sophie de Goede, and Ilona Maher are all names that are currently at the pinnacle of the sport. People tune in, not just to watch the teams, but to watch these players. They all have their own unique styles and flair, something that is often coached out of the greatest talents in high-level professional sport, but it’s something that makes the sport infinitely more watchable.
For those football fans reading this, think back to the playing styles of the Brazilian players in the 2002 World Cup – Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo… the list goes on. The point is, each one of these players were instantly recognisable from their playing style, whereas now in professional football, it’s difficult to spot the difference from one player to another.
Women’s rugby has not been overcoached yet. It’s still in its infancy. It’s time to throw away any remaining shackles and let these players be who they are, on and off the field.
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