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Brighton to Sunderland: Rugby World Cup 2025 to cover the length of England
RFU to host home showpiece in rugby heartlands as well as areas not normally associated with the sport in bid to spread the women's game
Brighton and Sunderland are among eight cities that will host the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England.
The 2025 edition, which is expected to be the most watched World Cup in the history of the female game, will begin on August 22, 2025. In a measure of the Rugby Football Union’s ambition to spread the game around the country, York, Manchester, Bristol, Exeter and Northampton will all host matches, with the final taking place at Twickenham on September 27.
Four of the venues are already home to English rugby teams, including Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate, Northampton Saints’ Franklin’s Gardens, Exeter Chiefs’ Sandy Park and Sale Sharks at the Salford Community Stadium (commonly known as AJ Bell Stadium).
Brighton and Hove Stadium (Amex Stadium), which drew near-sellout attendances when football’s Lionesses played there during their victorious European Championship campaign last year, is the only Premier League ground selected for the competition. Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and York’s Community Stadium, home to rugby league side York Knights, also ensure the north of the country will be heavily represented.
Former Red Rose Sue Day, the RFU’s chief operating officer and chief finance officer, claimed the geographical spread of venues would help rugby reach new audiences.
“In taking Rugby World Cup 2025 to venues the length and breadth of England, we want to give fans who may not have watched rugby before the chance to be inspired by world-class sporting action,” she said. “It’s access to tournaments like these that can light a spark in people, and we hope it will encourage a new generation of people to give rugby a try for themselves.”
England, Canada, France and New Zealand have already qualified for the World Cup after finishing in the top four in last year’s showpiece, with the remaining positions to be filled through World Rugby’s new women’s international 15s tournament, WXV, and regional competitions in 2024.
Stuart Andrew, the UK sports minister said the World Cup would further solidify the UK’s position as a global home of major sporting events, adding: “We support the RFU’s and World Rugby’s ambitious plans to host matches right across England and make the tournament the most well-attended in the history of the sport – setting a benchmark for future World Cups.
“It promises to be a memorable occasion as we showcase the best of women’s rugby union to a worldwide audience, and continue to break barriers for women’s sport.”
RFU looks to football for ambitious hosting plans
By Fiona Tomas
These are strategic choices that further underline the RFU’s ambitions to make the 2025 World Cup the most successful tournament ever in women’s rugby. The Football Association has earned widespread praise for the way it has transformed spectator attendances in women’s football, and in this golden age of women’s sport, this is rugby’s chance to show it can pull in the punters too.
It is no surprise that Brighton, which hosted Japan’s shock 34-32 victory over South Africa at the 2015 men’s Rugby World Cup, features on the list. The stadium became synonymous with women’s sport last summer after drawing a combined crowd of 57,841 when it hosted two of the Lionesses’ Euros matches, as well as setting the highest quarter-final attendance at the tournament.
But Brighton, like Sunderland, is hardly a traditional rugby hotbed. It has no representation in men’s Premiership rugby and – here’s the awkward bit – Sussex is not one of the areas where the Red Roses have played in recent years. England play three home Six Nations fixtures in 2025 and, should scheduling permit, it would not be the worst idea to pay the Premier League ground a visit.
New Zealand Rugby were heavily criticised for limiting last year’s women’s World Cup to a tiny pocket of the country’s north island. There were only 12 teams in the tournament – this will be increased to 16 for the 2025 edition – but unless you lived near Auckland, those in the rest of the country had no idea a World Cup was happening at all. By taking the competition to rugby’s heartlands, the RFU has no intention of repeating such mistakes.