Women's Rugby World Cup: Can Red Roses build legacy with win?

The immediate hours and days following England's Women's Rugby World Cup triumph have been choreographed closely.

Considering they came into the tournaments as white-hot favourites, there was no excuse for them not to be.

After a Sunday morning news conference at their Lensbury base, with orange juice being sipped tentatively between answers, the squad boarded a specially wrapped team bus to travel to a public celebration party at Battersea Power Station.

Next weekend, the players will disperse to rugby clubs around the country to sprinkle some stardust on RugbyFest, a nationwide "open house" designed to turn new followers of the game into regular players and volunteers.

In four weeks' time, the domestic Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) season kicks off with a front-loaded fixture list of blockbuster games.

Defending champions Gloucester-Hartpury (with Zoe Aldcroft, Natasha Hunt, Maud Muir, Alex Matthews, Tatyana Heard et al) meet Saracens (featuring Zoe Harrison, Jess Breach, Marlie Packer, Rosie Galligan and the rest) live on TNT Sports.

Ellie Kildunne's Harlequins take on Sadia Kabeya's Loughborough Lightning in the first weekly game of BBC Sport's new expanded deal with the league.

For the first time, every single top-flight match will be available to watch live, with those not shown by broadcasters being streamed on YouTube.

Finally in April, England will return to Twickenham's Allianz Stadium for successive matches for the first time, facing Ireland in their Six Nations opener in April.

"We've shown we can sell the tickets and people want to come and watch women's rugby," said Kildunne.

"Why wouldn't you invest into it? It's a sport that's going to keep on growing. This is just the start now. We've set a standard and we're not going to look back."

The ramp to steer new fans, who helped the final deliver a record-breaking peak audience figure of 5.8m on UK television, into the sport full-time is in place.

But, for all the optimism, 'legacy' can be elusive.

It was London 2012's ubiquitous buzzword. It was the Olympics to "inspire a generation".

Yet, a decade after, the numbers showed that all the millions spent, facilities built and sudden handball enthusiasm generated, did not translate into any discernible rise in people taking part in sport.

If anything, they were inspired to stay in, rather than join in.

A decade after England's men's side solitary Rugby World Cup triumph in 2003, it was the same story.

There were fewer players playing grassroots rugby and, for an added bonus, England had stalled and slipped back at the elite level as well.

On that occasion, an opportunity was wasted.

Local clubs had not been geared up for the sudden rush of Jonny Wilkinson wannabes that descended on them after his drop-kick landed World Cup glory.

There was a lack of coaches, equipment and facilities to harness those young dreams.

This time should be different. The Rugby Football Union has pre-loaded the legacy.

Impact 25 - a four-year investment and development programme - began in March 2022.

By its end, it will have distributed more than £14.5m of government funding to areas where it will be most effective in getting women and girls into rugby.

At the latest count, it had supported more than 500 clubs and trained 3,385 female coaches and match officials. Since it started, there has been a 35% increase in age-grade girl players in England.

As that number jumps up, the grassroots game should, in theory, be ready to capitalise., external

For those already at the top of the club game, there could also be changes afoot.

Because, even amid the euphoria of his side's World Cup win, head coach John Mitchell sounded a warning.

"I just love seeing 100 English girls playing in PWR," he said. "I'd love to see more play, then I can have the opportunity to even select more.

"The league is a great competition because we're playing against other world-class players, but we've still got to be mindful that we've got to grow our English players.

"We can dominate the world for a long time, but the world's going to get better because people are starting to recognise how to resource their programmes."

Protectionism may be coming to the PWR.

As in the men's Prem, teams must pick a minimum number of England-qualified players. It is set at 13 for each 23-strong matchday squad.

However, that leaves enough room for other nations to use the PWR's world-leading playing standards to develop their own players.

Eight of Canada's starting XV from the final play in the PWR, including Saracens' Sophie de Goede and Exeter's Alex Tessier. In total, 17 of their World Cup squad play in England.

The equivalent number for the United States is 14.

Even the Black Ferns, traditionally a home-grown squad, are starting to make the trip. Ealing Trailfinders have signed New Zealand internationals Georgia Ponsonby and Alana Borland (nee Bremner) for the start of next season.

While those overseas names bring some sparkle to the league - the effect of Ilona Maher's three-month stint at Bristol Bears was immediate and startling - the ratio may be tweaked to ensure future Red Roses have the space they need to bloom.

For those already at the top, there is a chance to embed themselves and their sport more deeply in mainstream culture. And make some money while doing so.

A report by sports marketing agency Two Circles estimated that Kildunne, as the most recognisable face of the team, could make between £300,000 and £500,000 on the back of her team's World Cup win.

Bookers for chat show sofas and celebrity television will have taken note of a squad who, often by necessity, have grown a sizeable social media presence.

A top-level Red Roses contract is worth approximately £50,000 a year, supplemented by bonuses, such as a reported £15,000 for winning the final. Few will begrudge them the chance to add to that while they are in the spotlight.

In the midst of the World Cup, a remodelled WXV Global Series was unveiled to give women's rugby's top nations more freedom to carve out fixture lists and rivalries that keep interest high.

But, perhaps the most unexpected sign of women's rugby's upward trend however, came nine days earlier in a sleek office campus in California.

To demonstrate the capabilities of the latest iPhone, a line-out was featured in Apple's new promotional film., external

On screen, in person, behind the scenes; the challenge is big, but, so now is women's rugby.

Click here to read article