HOW THE WORLD CUP WAS WON

The story of the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup and how England's Red Roses produced a fairytale ending...

- JOE ROBINSON

MOMENTUM. THE word to best describe the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup. From the very first game on the banks of the River Wear in Sunderland, this tournament was always going to be about momentum.

England won this tournament and did so under a level of pressure that women's rugby - not just this team - had never previously experienced.

And this team, led by the imperious Zoe Aldcroft, did so because of momentum. That unstoppable force of belief and ability that allowed 32 young women to capitalise on the opportunity of a lifetime at a record-breaking, life-changing moment which will change the face of women's rugby forever. This is the story of how the biggest-ever Women's World Cup was won...

GROUP STAGES

Competitive fixtures were always going to be hard to come by in the group stages given the obvious gulf between the haves and have-nots in women's rugby. But it didn't mean there was a lack of compelling storylines that captured the imagination. For some nations, simply reaching the World Cup was a victory in itself.

Take Samoa. A group of full-time working women, many of whom took unpaid leave from their day jobs and cobbled together fundraisers to finance their World Cup trip and live their dream. Loosehead prop Denise Aiolupotea left her four kids at home to represent her country while others woke in the middle of the night to phone home ahead of their little one's school day. They may have shipped 225 points in three games but that really didn't matter.