TWICKENHAM - The penultimate weekly conference reflects on the semi-finals and looks ahead to the RWC 2025 Finals day with insights from Sarah Massey (Women’s RWC 2025 Managing Director) and Yvonne Nolan (Women’s RWC 2025 Competition Director).

Sarah Massey, Women’s RWC 2025 Managing Director

On the semi-finals in Bristol, record-breaking ticket sales and switching attention to London:

“What a weekend of rugby we have just had. We were treated to two fantastic semi-finals in front of over 50,000 fans at Ashton gate… The atmosphere was incredible. Bristol has been such a great host location. The city came to life in their fan zone and the team at Ashton Gate have delivered operational excellence… matched by record breaking broadcast audiences around the world. 

“On the BBC, we saw a 3.1 million peak, with nearly a million also watching on iPlayer and a massive 34% share in France. We saw a peak of 4.4 million on TF1, we know that more and more people are tuning in and reaching every corner of the globe. I'm also proud to share today some historic news on ticketing. We've now sold over 440,000 tickets. That's 100,000 more than our original objective and three times the number that were sold for the last Women's Rugby World Cup. It's an extraordinary milestone that surpasses even our best expectations.”

“Fans coming to Allianz Stadium can expect a real rocking atmosphere. We are encouraging everybody to get in early to watch both matches. Really enjoy the atmosphere. It's going to be a full house, lots of music, lots of entertainment throughout the day, including a special performance by British rock guitarist Sophie Lloyd. It is going to be a true celebration of rugby, both on and off the pitch. For those not lucky enough to have tickets, our official fan zone at Battersea Power station has opened in London. It'll be the place to be on Saturday, and of course fans can follow live on our broadcast channels and broadcast partners around the world.”

On whether any thought was given to making the bronze final a standalone game:

“We wanted to make sure that we could produce this festival, one day of rugby, the chance to play in front of over 80,000. That's why we're encouraging everybody to come down early to be able to see both those matches, see the most four brilliant role models of those players on the pitch, and enjoy the whole day we have. 

“We've planned a whole day of entertainment so it's going to be going to be a longer day maybe than people have experienced before, but we know from some of those double-headers we've had during the pool stages, people are absolutely getting there for the first match, watching all of that, and then staying on for the second match as well.”

On how to build on the success of the tournament: 

“It has been a huge success but that doesn't mean there aren’t learnings and improvements that we want to make and we want to recommend for the next Women's Rugby World Cup, which is obviously coming up in Australia in 2029. There's going to be a whole series of tournament impact reports, reporting on every single different aspect. 

“We're meeting with the team from Australia at the end of this week, and at each point we try and improve what we're doing for the next one, that is for sure. And I think all those learnings will be able to be taken into domestic leagues and competitions as well. Our role in this tournament has been to raise visibility and awareness as much as we can for this event, so that we are leaving from this tournament the women's game in a better place.”

Yvonne Nolan, Women’s RWC 2025 Competition Director

On the rugby on the pitch, including ruck speed and comparisons with 2022:

“Sometimes knock-out rugby can push teams back into their shell, but we didn't see that. What a show the four teams put on for us: the physicality, the insane offloading accuracy and kicking skill under the high ball and the ruck speed was absolutely off the charts. 

“I certainly wasn't surprised to see how high the average ball in play time was at almost 39 minutes. That's nearly two minutes higher than in the tournament so far, a real testament to the conditioning and accuracy of these players. 

“Both England and Canada had a ruck speed of less than two seconds for almost half of their rucks…. That is quicker than the average men's test rugby speed. It's a massive jump in standards, and that's what we're seeing across this whole tournament.

“If we think back to 2021 (played in 2022), about 11% of Canada's rucks were that quick, and only 21% of England's, so a huge jump. 

“If you're a casual fan, and those stats don't really speak to you or mean anything to you, what they really mean is that the games were fast. They were exciting. They were hugely entertaining to watch. The quality is so high, the discipline of the players was also on show. We saw a low penalty count, particularly for Canada, who had an incredibly low four penalties in their semi-final.

“It's a huge opportunity for the game to bring people into the rugby family, whether that's as a player, whether it's a fan, whether it's in media, whether it's commercial partners. We have such a major opportunity now to continue to grow this game.

On what happens in the final in the case of a tie in the Bronze final:

“If we do end up with any ties at full time, there won't be extra time. The winner will be the team with the most tries and then the most penalty goals, the most dropped goals, first try scored, the first penalty or drop goals scored. If we ended up with a 0-0 tie, the bronze would be shared. Highly unlikely, but that's where we would get to.”

On what happens in the final:

“For the final, if the teams cannot be separated at the end of full time, they will bring us into what would be a nail-biting 10-minute sudden death period where the first score wins. Then if we were still tied at the end of that, a kicking contest would follow”

On playing the bronze final and exposing players to risk of injury when they can no longer win the tournament:

“I think if you ask the players, would they prefer to be playing in the final, yes of course they would. But are they excited to be playing in front of 80,000 fans at Allianz stadium, a chance to end on a high and to be a Rugby World Cup medalist? All I can say is I know as a player what I would have chosen. So I think it's going to be an incredible match. I think we've got two incredible teams who will want to go out there and show us what they're capable of.”

On how the tournament has provided building blocks for the future: 

“I think I'd say that for anybody who didn't realize what a special thing we have, what we have in women's rugby they absolutely know now. If we look at our match attendees, for example, a third of the people who came to our venues and bought tickets have never been to a rugby match before. We have a whole new section of audience of potential players, fans, broadcasters, commercial partners who've never been involved before. 

“I think what we have shown is that there is so much growth left in this game, and the journey the game is on can only go in one direction… There's so much that we can do to continue this growth and if we see what the game has done in three years it's mind blowing to think where we can get to with it.”