The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup has been completed and dusting.
England achieved what many saw as their fate, winning the third title at Twickenham in front of nearly 82,000 fans, a record for the female 15th generation game. It was a memorable day on and off the pitch. In the first place, Canada partially crowdfunded its path to the tournament, so simply winning the final was a victory.
So where does women’s rugby go from here, and what’s next for the Red Rose of Winning?
ESPN’s Tom Hamilton and James Regan are trying to answer some of the pressing questions that are coming to an end of the tournament.
– Hamilton: Britain handles pressure to join the list of immortality
– Meg Jones in the UK: From personal heartbreak to inspiring generations
– Mitchell opens to coach women’s British and Irish lions
Is England the most dominant force in sports?
Hamilton: I’ve seen several dominant runs in the past. Black Fern knows one or two things about getting the job done, as he won six of the last eight women’s Rugby World Cups, but what’s worth noting about this team is the basic numbers. They have one loss from the past 63 matches – it was the 2022 final.
Since then, they have gone on this incredible unbeaten run and now backed up by winning the biggest awards of the sport. Seeing Gloucester-Hartpury establishes a stranglehold in PWR, the men’s game will have to close the rugby championship with the Springboks winning the final two World Cups.
However, at this point, red roses are the most dominant force in the rugby coalition, as they have only pure form and some immediacy bias.
Regan: absolutely. By numbers, they are with some of the best teams of the modern era. Think of Springbok over the past eight years and all black people from 2011 to 2016. The black fern costume, which won the six women’s World Cup, can also be thrown there.
But in terms of the gap between them and the tracking pack, the red roses are the best we’ve seen and the streets ahead. Rival nations are still developing alongside some players, either amateur or semi-professional, but if you’re a red rose, you can beat only what’s right in front of you.
The way they handled their expectations this year was also amazing.
What do you remember?
Hamilton: Crowds, noise, fans. It was their tournament.
Rugby was a lot of fun, but the match was loving, so the play on the pool stage was done safely, but fans packed the stadium wherever they went. I will never forget the noise I greeted England when they left with the US in Sunderland for its opening.
It was a proper moment of crisis. And of course, the moment England finally shredded the demons of 2022 was incredible. I was also appropriately humbled to attend Megan Jones’ Fool of Final press conference from my personal notes. She’s just an incredible person.
Regan: The inspirational story behind the Samoan campaign should live long in memory. Players and staff took time away from their full-time jobs to represent their country. But that wasn’t a problem. They lit up the tournament, opposed singing and dancing after each match, giving us many great moments.
On the pitch, the 31-31 draw between Australia and the US was fantastic. Both sides went to it for 80 minutes, knowing that the final was up.
Both sets of fans exchanged verbal jabs at the stadium and provided a great atmosphere in one of the tournament games.
Where does this leave women’s rugby?
Hamilton: Not only in a great place, but also in interesting ways. It shows the potential of sports and what can be achieved if the country takes tournaments seriously. The buy-in was great and set a benchmark. Nowadays, a wide-scale investment is required for the tide to lift all boats. England is the most funded team in the tournament and it’s no secret that they came up behind it, but the other teams now need to catch up.
That requires commercial buy-ins from the grassroots, more frequent, competitive matches and investment. PWR is the best competition in the world, but that’s not enough. We hope that the British & Ireland Lions Tour will keep the sport at the awareness of those casual fans, but we still don’t know what will happen with the R360. But essentially, now is the time to build.
Take lessons from girls’ football and keep your interest high.
Regan: This moment is good for both England and women’s rugby, but it’s very important that work doesn’t stop. Also, it’s up to the fans to vote on their feet, but staff members should be able to make it as accessible as possible for them. Also, it is the time for the union to decide. Invest in women’s programs and get rewards like red roses and RFUs or get left behind.
This is, as expected, a fork moment in the game, but you’ll need to follow up. Homeland, New Zealand and Australia – countries with existing infrastructure and women’s foundations risk growing gaps between them and England if they don’t invest in national programs and their respective competitions.
What will happen in 2029?
Hamilton: Again it’s difficult to see anything other than the Red Rose victory. Age profiles – ban some great older servants – are suitable for these players to be there or within four years, but they have the infrastructure to maintain another World Cup claim.
You hope that other countries will come with them. Canada has been incredibly thoughtful about federal budgets, but it thrives with increased investment. The black fern is just a horrifying thing that Jolujah Miller and Braxton Sorensen McGee will only improve.
Australia aims to be offered as hosts, France and more, but others will continue to bubble up. There’s no harder to deal with, as we had with Wales and Scotland. Overall, however, we hope that the World Cup will grow even bigger in Australia and interest will continue to grow over the next four years. But for now, I love the red rose.
Regan: There is no doubt that the 2025 tournament was a success as England was successful. It was cake icing that won the tournament, but came after years of construction and victory.
Now there is pressure in Rugby Australia to recognize how important their role will be on the pitch in four years. They need to desperately get the support of the Australian people, and that comes from winning. You also need to have as many testing as possible at home and build a fanbase.
On the pitch, it doesn’t take long to aim for them to go on a continuous basis. Things are soon, so you don’t bet on it.