Growing numbers of female coaches & match officials
The hosting of Rugby World Cup 2025 in England will have a positive impact on the women’s and girls’ game and create a legacy to inspire players, coaches and match officials.
That legacy is already a work in progress and some 200 female coaches and match officials recently gathered in Leicester for the first RWC 2025 Impact event.
The inspiring occasion helped to explore the coaching and refereeing journey in women's rugby and looked at Rugby World Cup 2025 opportunities to attract and develop more match officials and coaches.
The Rugby Football Union is determined to recruit and train 1,000 female coaches and 500 match officials as part of the world tournament and the recent event was a big step on that journey.
Influential line up of speakers
The list of speakers was impressive and included: Sue Anstiss MBE, co-founder of the Women’s Sport Collective and founding trustee of the Women’s Sport Trust, who sits on the RFU’s Inclusion & Diversity Advisory Group; Shaunagh Brown who retired from playing recently with 27 England caps and continues to be influential in women’s sport and equality; Sarah Hunter who with 140 caps is England’s most capped player ever; Carol Isherwood, founder of the Women’s Rugby Football Union in 1983, the first to captain GB and England and the first woman on the IRB Rugby Committee; Vicky Macqueen BEM, former England player with 34 caps and current head of women’s rugby at Leicester Tigers; Tamara Taylor with 115 England caps and part of driving the RFU’s National Coaching Development Programme; and Holly Wood, rugby player turned match official who regularly referees Allianz Premier 15 matches.
An exciting & inspiring event
Sue Day MBE, currently the RFU’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer and a former England captain with 59 caps, was part of the line up at the event and says: “The turnout was amazing and testament to the enthusiasm of our women coaches and match officials.
“It’s essential that this group grows alongside the player numbers and the success of the Red Roses and the coming Rugby World Cup brings huge development opportunities. The fact that Twickenham’s first standalone women’s international in April is already sure to enjoy a women’s Six Nations record attendance also bodes well for our ambition to fill Twickenham for the Rugby World Cup 2025 final there.
“These are exciting times for the women’s game and this was an exciting and inspiring event.”
John Lawn, RFU Game Development Director, says: “What I saw was tremendous energy, enthusiasm and a genuine passion for the game and the people who play it. Overwhelmingly, there was a sense of excitement about the role that women now play in the game and it was fantastic to have some of the most influential women in our sport there to inspire everyone involved.”
