- World Rugby unveils Impact Beyond 2025, its ambitious global impact programme to supercharge the rise of women’s rugby beyond 2025.
- The plan will allow World Rugby to harness the power of Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025, maximising its positive impact globally.
- Impact Beyond 2025 is built on three core themes and nine strategic initiatives aimed at making rugby stronger and more resilient.
- Each theme will ensure that women and girls continue to be at the heart of rugby’s advancement, creating more opportunities at every level.
The global impact programme is built around three core themes of profile and participation, careers and gender equity, and capability and expertise within a whole-game approach with the mission of inspiring more women and girls to get into rugby on and off the field of play.
Each theme articulates a series of strategic initiatives that will ensure the positive impact of Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 is felt for generations to come, cementing the foundations for a strong a sustainable women’s game around the world.
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1. Profile and participation – increasing the global love of the game
England 2025 represents a pivotal moment in the evolution of the sport, as the momentum of the women’s game keeps building with attendance records continuing to be smashed around the world.
By increasing the visibility of female athletes and sharing the powerful stories behind our teams and players, we will inspire more women and girls to embrace rugby and make it a lifelong passion.
The biggest driver for change will be Rugby Rising Play, World Rugby’s first bespoke girls’ participation programme focused on expanding the active teenage female player base globally and creating the next generation of players retained in the game. The initiative enables membership unions to implement a tailored rugby programme for girls that also creates a holistic learning environment aligning with rugby’s values.
The benefits of this programme are already starting to be felt following a successful pilot which ran across nine unions in five regions from 2023 through to 2024 and saw 5,300 girls play rugby for the first time.
2. Careers and gender equity – more women in the rugby workforce
A key aim of the plan is to inspire, connect and retain women in the rugby ecosystem. Through a series of career development, work experience and networking opportunities, World Rugby will foster a global network of leaders who are passionate about advancing women’s rugby.
Players worldwide will also have access to groundbreaking personal development resources through the launch of a new Women’s Player Learning Portal in collaboration with the International Rugby Players association. The portal will offer access to support on and off-field development resources to enable them to upskill and maximise their learning opportunities on their rugby journey.
ChildFund Rugby will be hosting Grassroots to Global community forums across the globe. This will address barriers to women coaching rugby at grassroots level through 30+ Grassroots to Global forums, involving more than 900 women in community rugby
3. Capability and expertise – stronger sustainable unions
Finally, the plan will enhance capability and expertise within World Rugby’s member unions, equipping the wider rugby community with the tools and knowledge needed to continue growing the game long after the final whistle in 2025. A key moment will be during RWC 2025 when World Rugby hosts its Women’s Rugby Global Summit that will connect, engage and inspire delegates through collaborative learning and sharing of expertise and insight.
Six regional Impact Beyond summits, delivered across 2024-2026, will help build additional expertise locally, ensuring that the women’s global network is stronger and more connected than ever before. This is not just a plan for a tournament. It is a launchpad for the future of women’s rugby, ensuring that the impact of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 is felt worldwide for generations to come.
World Rugby Chairman, Sir Bill Beaumont said: “Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 England will be an era-defining moment for the game. Not simply because it will be the biggest celebration of women’s rugby ever, but because it will change the game.
Our ambitious Impact Beyond 2025 programme will harness the incredible momentum of the tournament to guide strong and sustainable growth across all areas of the women’s game, a focus that will grow the game as a whole. We look forward to implementing the global Impact Beyond 2025 plan in partnership with our membership to create a tangible, targeted legacy.”
World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby Sally Horrox said: “Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 promises to be an era defining celebration of rugby, as well as a catalyst for participation, economic and fan growth. Women and girls represent the most addressable opportunity to spearhead the growth of rugby and make a positive impact across the wider game and wider society.
“The time to act is now, and we are looking forward to working with unions and regions to implement initiatives that will strengthen the game on and off the field.”
The plan was launched via a series of webinars for unions and regions this week and World Rugby will partner with stakeholders to implement the plan across the globe.
ChildFund Rugby
Following a successful partnership across the past three editions of the tournament, ChildFund has been appointed as the tournament Social Impact Partner for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.
Funds raised through RWC 2025 tickets sales and donations will be used to make a lasting impact and help change the lives of vulnerable girls and boys across the world. Every donation will support the transformative Pass It Back rugby initiative, which empowers young people, promotes gender equality, and builds critical life skills and confidence.
To make a donation, visit www.childfundrugby.org/rwc2025
Impact Beyond 2025 will sit alongside Impact ‘25, the RFU’s transformational domestic legacy programme designed to accelerate the growth of women’s and girls’ rugby throughout England and the home nations. The plan has already seen £12.13 million of Government funding committed to the sport in England and the home unions up to the end of March 2025, creating more opportunities for women and girls to get involved in rugby and help the RFU achieve its ambition of 100,000 female players by 2027.
