When England opens the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, they will set a new record.
The Red Roses will kick off the tournament on Friday, August 22, at the northeast venue, one of eight selected to host matches for the next global gathering in less than two years. This will be the first time the 49,000-capacity football ground has hosted international rugby union.
“Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 will be a generational moment for rugby,” World Rugby chair Sir Bill Beaumont said.
“The biggest, most accessible and most widely viewed, its unstoppable momentum will reach, engage and inspire new audiences in ways that rugby events have not done before.
“The selection of Sunderland for the opening match underscores that mission. We want this to be a sports event that everyone is talking about, that everyone wants to be a part of and one that inspires young people to be a part of.”
Twickenham will host the 2025 final on Saturday, September 27, it was confirmed on Monday along with the location of the World Cup’s opening match.
The event’s organizers are hopeful of surpassing the record attendance of 58,498 that witnessed the Red Roses overcome France in the Women’s Six Nations championship match in May of this year at the home of English rugby union.
The 10th Women’s Rugby World Cup will include 16 teams total—up from 12 in the 2021 competition. Places are already guaranteed for hosts and two-time champion England, defending champion New Zealand, and last year’s semi-finalists France and Canada.
Sarah Hunter, the most-capped women’s player in history and current transition coach for the Red Roses, is one of the many people excited about the World Cup’s ability to expand the sport of women’s soccer.
“It’s been a real privilege to be part of today’s announcement of the opening and closing venues of Rugby World Cup 2025 and to meet so many talented rugby players from the north-east,” Hunter, who hails from nearby North Shields, said.
“The Red Roses’ opening game of the tournament at the Stadium of Light will be an amazing experience for the players and fans and having witnessed the electric atmosphere of almost 60,000 watching the Red Roses at Twickenham earlier this year, I’ve every confidence it will sell out for the final.”
Hunter: World Cup can inspire next generation
Hunter, a former captain of England, thinks that Sunderland’s hosting of games during the 2025 World Cup will motivate the local players of tomorrow.
The 38-year-old, who started playing rugby with Novocastrians, ended her career in May with a 58-7 victory over Scotland at Kingston Park in Newcastle.
“It’s huge,” Hunter told Sky Sports News. “There are so many young girls playing rugby in the north-east of England and bringing mass events can really generate interest and inspire the next generation.
“To bring the Red Roses, with some of the best players in the world, here is brilliant.
“The north-east is a hotbed for sport, it’s passionate for sport, and they’ll give the Red Roses the biggest welcome and get behind them, and kick off the tournament with a bang.”
During her playing career, Hunter represented England in four World Cups, including the one held here in 2010 and the Red Roses’ victory in France four years later.
With women’s rugby continuing to expand, organizers hope to make the 2025 tournament the most attended in the competition’s history, and Hunter is entirely on board with that goal.
