{"id":182308,"date":"2025-10-06T21:15:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T21:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/182308\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T21:15:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T21:15:07","slug":"rfu-unveils-plan-to-boost-womens-game-and-build-on-world-cup-win-womens-rugby-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/182308\/","title":{"rendered":"RFU unveils plan to boost women\u2019s game and build on World Cup win | Women’s rugby union"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Rugby Football Union has promised to \u201ckeep its foot on the gas\u201d after unveiling an ambitious five-year action plan to build on the momentum of the Red Roses\u2019 Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The strategy, called Every Rose: Our Time, includes the goal of becoming the first England team to win back-to-back Rugby World Cups, and getting 100,000 women and girls playing the game<\/a> across the country by 2030, up from the 60,000 who participate now.<\/p>\n

English rugby\u2019s governing body is also aiming to double its revenues from the women\u2019s game to \u00a360m so it can invest more in the grassroots, and to have 3 million Red Roses fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stakes have never been higher,\u201d Alex Teasdale, the executive director of the women\u2019s game, told an audience of government and sports officials. \u201cThe opportunity has never been greater, but sitting still is not an option because the wheels are now fully in motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether, we\u2019ll be the nation that reaches 100,000 active players \u2013 with 70,000 of them registered and thriving in our brilliant clubs. That becomes back-to-back world champions \u2013 a historic first for England on the world stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat inspires 3 million passionate Red Roses fans who are united in pride and purpose. And that generates over \u00a360m in revenue \u2013 powering a future where meaningful profits are fuelling the growth of the community game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teasdale said that women\u2019s rugby had made huge strides from when she started at the RFU in 2011, when there were just 12,500 registered players, \u201cand in some clubs whilst women weren\u2019t stopped from playing, they certainly weren\u2019t welcomed either\u201d. But she insisted that, despite the progress since, there was still more to be done to boost the game, even during a cost of living crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast weekend we witnessed an extraordinary milestone as 82,000 fans flooded through the gates at Allianz Stadium to see our Red Roses claim the 2025 Rugby World Cup,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd looking ahead to 2030, we want to keep this momentum going.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe operate in an environment where resources are limited, and that can create tough conversations. Ambitious plans, particularly for the women\u2019s game, naturally challenge the status quo. But the reality is clear: the future of rugby depends on the women\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, noted that of the 400,000 fans who attended the Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup<\/a>, 30% of them had never been to a rugby match before. \u201cPerhaps the stat that really excites us is that 90% said they want to come back and do it all over again,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we can\u2019t rest on these laurels. We must keep our foot on the gas.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rugby Football Union has promised to \u201ckeep its foot on the gas\u201d after unveiling an ambitious five-year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-182308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}