Women’s rugby has been growing in popularity for some time, helped by increased media coverage. In England, it has not captured the public’s imagination anything like as much as women’s football has. Of course, football is the national game, but the incredible feats of Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses have also gone a long way to raising the profile of the sport.
However, the 2025 edition of the Women’s Rugby World Cup could be about to have a huge impact on how women’s rugby is viewed in this country. England will host the tournament and if they can deliver a win on home soil, it would undoubtedly give the sport a huge boost and encourage more young girls to take an interest in playing and watching rugby. But can the Red Roses deliver the goods in the same way the Lionesses have done?
History of the Women’s World Cup
The Women’s Rugby World Cup was first played in 1991 when Wales hosted. We saw a surprising winner back then, with the USA beating England in the final at Cardiff Arms Park. France and New Zealand were the beaten semi finalists.
The US made it back to the final in both 1994 and 1998 but lost both games, first to England and then to New Zealand. 12 teams took part in the first two tournaments before expansion to 16 in 1998, when Netherlands was the host. Four years later, 16 teams went to Spain but then it dropped back to being a 12-team finals between 2006 and 2021. This year’s event goes back up to 16, and with the game becoming more popular, we expect it to stay at 16 for the foreseeable future.
Although they took a while to get going in the tournament, New Zealand are very much the dominant team overall. They have won the most World Cups, taking glory in six of the past seven. Only England’s triumph in 2014 stopped total Kiwi dominance, and with their two wins, the Red Roses are the second-most successful side.
Other than the three winners already mentioned, only Canada have made it as far as the final, doing so in 2014. Much like in the men’s game, it has been a case of close but no cigar for France, with the women making the semis in eight of the nine previous editions without ever appearing in a final.
2025 World Cup
So, with the past dealt with, let’s look to the present, and the latest edition of the Women’s Rugby World Cup. The tournament begins on the 22nd of August, as the hosts welcome the USA to the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. Over a month later, the Red Roses will hope to be involved in the final, which is scheduled for the 27th of September. The rather more traditional rugby venue of the Allianz Stadium, AKA Twickenham, will host the final.
As said, this is a 16-team tournament, and so the structure is thankfully very simple and standard. There will be four pools, A, B, C and, yes, D, with four teams in each. These nations will play each other once, with the top two from each group progressing to the quarters. The World Cup uses the bracket system, so those with plenty of spare time on their hands can try and plot England’s most likely route to glory.
England’s Group
England are in Pool A, as is traditional for tournament hosts. As well as the US, they will play Samoa and Australia. Their clash with the former is at Franklin’s Gardens, the home of Northampton. That is their second fixture and will take place on the 30th of August.
Their final group game is on the 6th of September. They will play the Aussies at Brighton’s (the football club) Amex Stadium. We won’t dive too deep into the what-ifs and various permutations of who they will play further down the line.
However, they will fully expect to top the group, which means they will face the runner-up from Pool B in the quarters. That game will take place at Ashton Gate, Bristol, but ascertaining who they might face is not straightforward. Group B features Canada, Scotland, Wales and Fiji. The Canadians should top the group and we fancy Fiji will struggle to avoid finishing bottom, but deciding which of the two British nations will make the quarters is tricky. At this year’s Six Nations, Scotland edged it 24-21 against Wales – but that was in Edinburgh.
England won’t be too bothered either way though, having won 12-67 in Wales in the Six Nations and 59-7 at home against Scotland. Moving on to Group C, New Zealand are the clear favourites, with Ireland, Japan and Spain set to battle it out for second place. Last of all, we have Group D, featuring France, Italy, South Africa and rugby powerhouse(!) Brazil. Brazil, by the by, are priced at odds of 2,500/1 to win the tournament!
Can the Red Roses Blossom?
There is every chance that the host nation will do the business and win their third Rugby World Cup. They have dominated the Six Nations, completing Grand Slams in each of the past four campaigns. Indeed, in 2025 their points difference was +185 over the five games! That said, they were pushed all the way by France, only winning the decisive clash 43-42, despite having home advantage for the game.
France are one of four nations that the bookies think are in with a decent shout of winning the trophy, with the other 12 teams priced at odds of 66/1 or more. In contrast, the French are 12/1, Canada 13/2, NZ 11/4 and England are big favourites at just 4/9.
Much as we said we wouldn’t make too many predictions about who would play who, when, it seems highly likely that England will face France in the semis. That clash will take place in Bristol, before a likely final against New Zealand or Canada. This assumes matches go the way of the favourites, but the top four teams are so far ahead of the rest that a real upset seems very unlikely.
England boast a dominant overall head-to-head record against France and Canada, and have won 13 of 33 against the Kiwis (losing 19 times, with one tie). However, looking at the more recent picture, England have won four of their last five against the Kiwis. Moreover, they are miles ahead at the top of the world rankings. So, all in all, we have to be hopeful that rugby, like football, is coming home!