Sometimes it is about more than just a shiny trophy. Yes, the Red Roses are now the champions of the world and deservedly so. Yes, they have claimed the elusive glittering prize for the first time since 2014. But in all sorts of ways the past month will go down in history for something even more important: the coming of age of women’s rugby union as a mass spectator attraction in a summer of female sporting empowerment like no other.
Everyone will have their own abiding memories of the past month, just as they did when the Lionesses captured their nation’s hearts in July. For every small child aching to be Chloe Kelly or Lucy Bronze there will now be others dreaming of being as brilliant as Ellie Kildunne or Meg Jones. Winning helps, of course it does, but so does relatability, connection and shared enjoyment. The Red Roses put smiles on a lot of faces not least because they radiated so much joy themselves.
In the process they altered how rugby more widely is perceived and, just as importantly, how it perceives itself. In the past Twickenham on big rugby days has been a whiter shade of male. Not any more. From now on it will be significantly harder to lob the usual tired old jibes at rugby union: that it’s a “posh boys sport” or “a game for hooligans played by gentlemen”. Now, self evidently, it is for absolutely everyone of any size or shape. Rugby belongs equally to men and women.
All of which reflects brilliantly on those who have sought to level up the traditionally uneven playing field. Not only the heroines of 2025 and their coaches and back-room staff but all those who came before. One of many excellent initiatives associated with this tournament has been the visual installation of 267 roses, one for every female player to have represented England, on display at the London Eye. The progress made since England first won a World Cup in 1994 has been genuinely heartwarming.
To all their sepia-tinted memories can now be added fresh images that will last a lifetime. Kildunne weaving past defenders to score yet another worldie; the colossal impact of England’s scrum and maul, the super-strength that ultimately blew Canada away. And, even more strikingly, a world record crowd of almost 82,000 for a standalone women’s fixture. As England’s flying winger Abby Dow reiterated after the final: “This is women’s rugby and it is here to stay.”
It is not only in England where the positive ripple effect of the past month has been forcibly felt. South Africa’s coach, Swys de Bruin, so proud of his team he was moved to tears every day by their spirit and commitment, believes “a giant has awakened in South African women’s rugby”. Scotland have just announced that their top 28 players will now be on full contracts.
Hopefully plenty more unions will follow suit. Because the only downside of the Red Roses’ dominance is that barely a handful of opponents can currently live with them. Thirty-three successive Test victories are all very well but, as England’s influential No 8 Alex Matthews acknowledges, more challengers are required. “I also want other nations to get the support and for every game to be competitive. We’ve had a vision for this World Cup but I’m not sure other nations necessarily have that.”
And, once the golden ticker tape has been swept up and the pink cowgirl hats are back on their pegs, the realisation will dawn that other significant mountains need scaling. Canada had to appeal for crowdfunding to support this year’s campaign, a situation described as “absolutely ridiculous” by the former England prop Rocky Clark. “What we want is for all nations to be professional, for the games to be close, for there to be jeopardy,” stresses Clark. “It’s great England smashing everybody but I want games that people talk about for weeks after.”
The impressive Canadian head coach, Kévin Rouet, also made clear afterwards that, for ambitious top-level women’s players outside England, the sums still do not remotely add up. “It’s not a professional league when you get paid £400 a month. Any time [our] girls decide to stop rugby they’re going to make their life easier and better. It’s going in the right direction but we still need to keep growing the women’s game.”
There are echoes in all this of certain Olympic women’s sports, huge every four years only to recede into the shadows in between. “Eighty-two thousand at Twickenham is brilliant but what are the numbers going to be like in the Six Nations?” asks Catherine Spencer, England’s captain the last time they hosted a World Cup, in 2010. “After 2010 the opportunity wasn’t really taken and things went backwards for a little while. I really hope that doesn’t happen.”
Again, though, things feel slightly different this time. When even Russell Crowe, the ultimate Gladiator, takes to social media to say how much he enjoyed the final the women’s game is clearly hitting the spot. Great sport is great sport regardless of gender. And, whisper it, this England team have the potential to become even better. Already they have at least eight potential world XV inclusions and a good number should still be around for the next World Cup, in Australia in 2029.
Who knows, they might even have a female coach by then? John Mitchell, undefeated in his coaching tenure, has done an outstandingly professional job but the former England great Maggie Alphonsi believes that, eventually, more women need to be appointed to leadership roles. “What’s great is that women’s rugby is now visible but I want to see more female leaders in senior roles. And more female coaches. I think there were only two female head coaches at this World Cup … and in Premiership Women’s Rugby there are now none. That’s an issue.”
One for another day, perhaps. What currently outweighs even England’s golden glow are the new hearts and minds this World Cup has helped to woo. “Rugby has the influence to change anyone’s life,” insists Dow. “It is quite stereotyped, especially with boys, that it can be a middle-class sport, but it really isn’t. I want to see rugby move up to the north, I want to see it flourish across the country, because look at what football has done in the women’s game.” Well done, England, and here’s to the Kildunnes and Joneses of tomorrow.
This article is part of the Guardian’s print supplement celebrating England’s World Cup win, available with Monday’s newspaper.
