THE Rugby World Cup final will set a record attendance for a women’s game next month with a crowd of more than 80,000 spectators expected at a sold-out Twickenham.
Officials also announced that more than 375,000 tickets have been sold across all 32 matches at eight venues throughout the tournament.
Selling out Twickenham for the final on September 27 had long been an ambition of tournament organisers that they have now achieved before the event kicks off.
“The final we are very confident will be the most attended women’s rugby match in history, easily surpassing the 66,000 crowd that we saw in Paris 2024,“ Women’s RWC 2025 chair Gill Whitehead told reporters.
Whitehead recalled the last time England hosted the event in 2010 when the final was staged at the nearby Twickenham Stoop to a crowd of 13,000.
“I started playing women’s rugby 30 years ago and the prospect of girls running out of the tunnel, playing to the three tiers of the Allianz packed to the rafters is something perhaps I never hoped or thought I would see,“ she added.
England’s Red Roses have lost only once in their past 58 matches with that defeat coming against New Zealand in the Covid-delayed 2022 World Cup final.
They have lost five of the last six World Cup finals to New Zealand with 2014 representing their most recent global 15-a-side title.
Tournament managing director Sarah Massey said the tournament would be “unmissable” for fans of the sport despite New Zealand and England dominating recent finals.
“We’re ready to break records in attendances, viewership and engagement,“ said Massey.
“This is going to be the biggest global celebration of women’s rugby that we have ever seen.”
Organisers confirmed they have sold three times the number of tickets compared to the last Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Matches will also be held in Brighton, Bristol, Exeter, Northampton, Salford and York throughout the tournament. – AFP