England’s clash with New Zealand can send women’s rugby into stratosphere
There are some big games of rugby this month but Saturday’s World Cup final between the Black Ferns and England is now right up there. Interest has skyrocketed to such an extent over the past 24 hours that a world-record attendance is now assured at Eden Park for a sold-out contest with the potential to launch women’s rugby into another commercial stratosphere.
Organisers say there has been huge demand for the last remaining seats, with thousands of New Zealanders clamouring to watch the defending world champions against the Red Roses in an intriguing clash of styles and outlooks. As a result the sold-out stadium will be full to its 40,000 capacity, beating the previous world record of 34,235 for a women’s fixture set at the same venue on the opening day last month.
Those lucky enough to attend will be even more fortunate if the final yields half the entertainment generated by the semi-finals on Saturday, one of the greatest days in women’s Rugby World Cup history. Actually, let’s rewind that sentence and erase the word “women’s”. If ever there was definitive proof that female team sport can be even more watchable than the male equivalent, this was it.
Perhaps Thomas Ramos, scorer of 20 points in France’s men’s Test win over Australia, would have nailed the last-gasp penalty from virtually bang in front that poor Caroline Drouin dragged wide to allow the Black Ferns to advance to the final. Otherwise the two matches contained every element needed for momentous sporting drama, with the players and coaches of France, New Zealand, Canada and England collectively deserving of significant credit.
From the perspective of a branch of the game still in commercially uncharted territory, it was also potential gold dust. Not for nothing did England’s captain Sarah Hunter launch an impassioned plea for further investment across the board after Canada’s amateurs had threatened to pull off a remarkable underdog win against the now professional Red Roses. “I hope all the nations that don’t invest as much as England say: ‘That’s where we need to go next because that’s what the women’s game globally needs,’” urged Hunter. “Hopefully this World Cup is the start of that.”
It is certainly hard to argue, for example, that New Zealand’s Ruby Tui or England’s Abby Dow are lesser crowd pleasers than, say, Sevu Reece or Damian Penaud. Having scored one of the second-half tries that edged the Black Ferns past France’s mostly outstanding defence, it was also the charismatic Tui who best summed up the possibilities of this week’s looming final from a women’s rugby marketing perspective.
“Women’s rugby is knocking on the door and I’d say to everybody: ‘You don’t want to miss out on this,’” said the New Zealand winger, an Olympic sevens gold medallist in 2020. “Whatever happens in the final I just hope people walk away going: ‘Wow, I should have been watching women’s rugby for a long time.’ We know we have it in us and we know what we have to do. It’s just a case of who’s going to turn up. You can train the house down but it’s the big pressure moments that matter.”