2 days ago
Why Red Roses are touring England in bid to conquer world
When England hosted the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup, every fixture bar the semi-finals and finals took place at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford, across two pitches. At the time, the national side were anchored in London and its suburbs. That is far from the case in 2025.
This year's World Cup will begin on Friday night at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. The crowd is set to surpass 40,000, a comparable figure to the 42,579 attendance at Auckland's Eden Park for the final in 2022, and organisers announced that 375,000 tickets have been sold for the tournament thus far at 80 per cent occupancy, more than 2½ times as many as three years ago. A women's record sell-out is expected for the final at Twickenham on September 27. No tickets are available at present, but more may be on sale nearer the time.
Commanding the home of English rugby in London has been a headline achievement for the Red Roses. However, it is their recent revival as a 'touring team' that sets them apart from the men's national side, who almost never leave their headquarters for understandable financial and historical reasons. 'Women's rugby are doing it differently,' Abbie Ward, the England lock, said. Ward's remark was regarding the use of social media in the women's game, but easily translates to where the Red Roses play, and she hopes the team continue to take matches around the country.
Women's sport does not have to ape men's convention, and as impressive as it would be for England to develop their audience and fill much of Twickenham for every match, something would be lost. For this tournament, organisers looked to the example of Euro 2022, where the Lionesses opened up at Old Trafford and played in Brighton & Hove (twice), Southampton and Sheffield before winning the final at Wembley. As well as Sunderland and Twickenham, the 2025 World Cup will be held in York, Salford, Northampton, Bristol, Exeter and Brighton & Hove.
'It's important because it's about the opportunity for people to come and watch,' Ward said. 'When they first pitched the idea that we were going to move [England fixtures] around — for years we were just Esher, Surrey Sports Park, the Stoop, and then we started moving around and it was like, 'Oh, is this a good idea?' I think it's been unbelievable, I think it's been brilliant, I think it has brought a bigger variety of fans to the game.'
In the last two decades of the 20th century, when international women's rugby began, England played at grounds around the country, but in 2003 they gravitated towards London, to venues such as Imber Court, Old Albanians, London Irish, London Welsh, Esher's Molesey Road, Surrey Sports Park and the Twickenham Stoop. Then, in 2018, they held a Six Nations match at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Games around the country have since become part of the team's identity.
Even so, the choice of the Stadium of Light and Sunderland 'Til I Try was novel. Their Tyne & Wear rivals are more associated with rugby: the newly named Newcastle Red Bulls are a top-flight men's side, and St James' Park, the home of Newcastle United FC, hosted matches at the 2015 men's World Cup, the 2019 Champions Cup final between Saracens and Leinster, and rugby league's Magic Weekend.
Rugby is not an alien sport in the Mackem city, but you have to delve deep into the archives. Sunderland RFC was founded in 1873, six years before Sunderland AFC. Roker Park, the former home of the football team, hosted the touring All Blacks in 1924 and Springboks in 1931.
There is a strong northern spine to the Red Roses. Zoe Aldcroft, the captain, and Ellie Kildunne, the world player of the year, are from Yorkshire, where Tatyana Heard grew up, and Ward is from Cumbria. Sarah Hunter, captain at the previous World Cup and now defence coach, is from North Shields. 'The fact that we have the opening game makes me super proud that I am from this region, and the sport that I love, that I've grown up with, that has become part of me, is coming back here,' Hunter said.
A lesser-known link to the region comes from one of England's wings. Recorded in the Sunderland Echo of April 4, 1956, is the arrest, by PC Dow, of a 'street bookie' for loitering with the purpose of betting. The man who became Inspector Gordon Dow is Abby Dow's paternal grandfather. Gordon has a ticket for Friday night, representing a family that experienced the shock death of Paul, Abby's father, in 2021.
'My dad was born in Sunderland, my grandad lived there his whole life,' Dow said. 'We did the long old trips from Berkshire up to Sunderland for our Easters and everything. My grandad, I think he's currently 98, he's coming to the game. He's never been to the new Stadium of Light.
'With it being my dad's side and how my dad can't be there, it's just nice that I can still have a part of him there. [Dad] was at every single one of my games growing up.
'I remember him buying every single book that he could find on how to coach rugby. He then ended up being my coach as a mini. He did everything for me. Although he's not there, it's nice that his dad's there. It's nice that his sister's there. And we'll be able to celebrate that together.'
England v United StatesFriday, 7.30pm. Stadium of Light, SunderlandTV Live on BBC One
