When the England’s women’s football side (the Lionesses) won the Women’s European Championships back in July 2022, it didn’t just bring home a long-overdue sporting achievement to the country, it helped inspire millions of women, in particular the younger generations. Moreover, it built a solid case for a more even playing field, not just in the sporting world, but for women’s rights in general.
Fast-forward to now and we’re now seeing the same positive growth within women’s rugby during the current Women’s Six Nations Championship, and this is despite England suffering a loss in the Women’s World Cup final of November last year. Here we take a closer look at the situation and consider how much things are changing for the better.
Rising Numbers of Spectators
While it’s still not necessarily a fair comparison with the following that the fixtures in the men’s rugby World Cup and similar competitions get – what with their huge global TV rights and sponsorships – one of the biggest positives for the women’s game is that spectator numbers have gone up massively in recent years.
This is perhaps best illustrated by the sell-out fixtures that have been seen in the current women’s Six Nations. On April 15th a record crowd of nearly 10,000 is expected to watch Wales versus England and as this article from the BBC shows, Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham has praised how the game is reaching more people:
“[the team] has caught the public’s imagination…to know we have got another record crowd for England’s visit to the Arms Park is a credit to how the players, coaches and staff have all performed…the Welsh rugby public appreciate the journey this team is on…to break that record for our second home game for England demonstrates how this team has inspired the nation.”
Increased grassroots investment
This is also possibly a reflection of how sporting bodies are putting more money into women’s rugby and how ultimately beneficial this is in the long run. Sport England for instance has in the last five years spent around £70m and has grown the number of adult women playing rugby from 25,000 to 40,000 in England, plus the ‘Rugby Football Union (RFU) has ambitious targets as part of its Every Rose strategy to grow the numbers to 100,000 by 2027’.
More aspirational stars
The increased awareness and involvement in rugby from women around the country has also shone more of a spotlight on the inspirational stars of the game that young women can aspire to be like. A quick search online will show plenty of lists of players breaking into the mainstream, plus the sponsorship of the Six Nations by TikTok has massively helped market and showcase the talent in the game.
There’s of course still a long way to go here but there’s no denying that giant strides have been made thanks to women’s footballers and now rugby union players. The hope is that this belief spreads into other sports and helps break the societal imbalances women face.