Red Roses Pick Up Where Lionesses Left Off In England Women’s Great Sporting Summer

Crouch. Set. Re-engage. A sporting summertime successful which England’s women person already taken centre stage originates a powerful 2nd enactment connected Friday nighttime arsenic nan Red Roses footwear disconnected nan Women’s Rugby World Cup successful Sunderland. The Lionesses person already shattered galore perceptions successful winning nan Women’s Euros twice. Now nan Red Roses dream to forcibly ram location nan message.

More than 40,000 fans will beryllium astatine nan Stadium of Light to spot England statesman their campaign against nan United States, pinch millions much expected to watch it unrecorded connected BBC One. The consequence is expected to beryllium a rout. In fact, anyone betting £100 connected nan Red Roses to triumph will get conscionable 10p successful winnings if they are successful.

Unsurprisingly nan Red Roses are besides immense favourites for nan tournament, having mislaid only one of their past 58 matches. That conclusion came successful nan 2022 World Cup final against New Zealand, 1 of nan fewer teams isolated from England to person a squad of master players.

But while nan teams conflict it retired for nan World Cup trophy, a abstracted conflict for hearts and minds will besides return spot complete nan adjacent period arsenic organisers effort to capitalise connected nan increasing fame of nan women’s crippled crossed nan globe.

“Our ambition for this tourney goes acold beyond nan pitch,” says Sarah Massey, nan Women’s Rugby World Cup managing director. “We want to usage nan level that this tourney has to empower existent change.”

“We want to beryllium capable to show that women and girls tin beryllium anything, do anything, and beryllium anyplace successful rugby, successful athletics and successful society. And we want to usage this to break down barriers and situation stereotypes. If you can’t spot it, you can’t beryllium it.”

Those are lofty words but organisers insist they are backed up pinch action by its all-women activity team. Fourteen of nan 16 teams’ information advisers are women, 62% of volunteers are women, and nan transportation for nan last – which will beryllium staged successful beforehand of a record-breaking crowd of 82,000 group astatine nan Allianz Stadium successful Twickenham – will beryllium prepared by an all-women grounds team.

These are breathtaking times for women’s rugby, but moreover its astir ardent supporters admit that nan athletics is still astatine slightest a decade down women’s football. The world No 2 classed team, Canada, is still mostly amateur and has had to raise costs from businesses to thief them prepare, while galore players are taking yearly time off from their time jobs to play successful England.

That possibly adds to nan tournament’s charm. Nonetheless, nan spread betwixt nan champion – England, Canada, New Zealand and France – and nan remainder besides remains large, and location will beryllium immense mismatches successful nan group stages. However organisers insist nan description from 12 to 16 teams will thief nan crippled create globally successful nan agelong run.

USA’s Ilona Maher is women’s rugby’s 1 mainstream star. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

“We’ve made nan determination to turn nan game,” says Sally Horrox, nan main of Women’s Rugby World Cup. “But it’s worthy acknowledging that nan unions astir nan world are each connected a very different shape of their development, and that will bespeak successful immoderate of nan scorelines.

“However we are getting to a much competitory crippled pinch really accelerated strides being made by a number of countries astir nan world. So we are assured that we are connected nan correct trajectory.”

Notably nan women’s crippled has already 1 mainstream star: the American Ilona Maher, who has much than 5 cardinal followers connected Instagram and appeared connected Dancing With Stars. But World Rugby is hoping that she could beryllium nan first of galore successful nan US, pinch nan 2028 Olympics to beryllium staged successful Los Angeles and nan Rugby World Cups of 2031 and 2033 besides being held successful nan US.

Meanwhile backmost successful Britain, UK Sport insist that nan Women’s Rugby World Cup is nan commencement of a scope of events – including nan Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup successful 2026, Tour de France Femme successful 2027, and bids for early World Athletics Championships and Women’s World Cup – to push women’s sport.

“We spot this tourney arsenic nan spark to ray a decade of progression of women’s athletics successful nan UK complete nan adjacent 10 years,” says Esther Britten, nan caput of awesome events astatine UK Sport. “We want to showcase women’s athletics astatine its very champion and to animate millions.”

It is simply a connection shared by Horrox connected nan eve of a Women’s World Cup she believes will beryllium a gamechanger for nan sport. “As a tournament, we are ready,” she says.

“We’re fresh to break records successful attendance, viewership and engagement. This is going to beryllium nan biggest world ceremony of women’s rugby that we person ever seen. I’ve nary uncertainty it’s going to beryllium inspirational. It’s going to animate nan adjacent procreation of children, girls and boys and caller fans, and bring them to this sport.”