“This opportunity is a movement, not a moment'

World Rugby's Sally Horrox paints a vibrant backdrop as England prepares to host the 2025 Women's World Cup

- Robert Kitson

Where sisterhood meets rivalry," is the snappy tag line for the 2025 Rugby World Cup being staged in England next August and September. Take a look at the newly released tournament match schedule, with a blockbuster opening of England facing USA and 16 teams spread around eight cities, and it already feels more ambitious and potentially gamechanging than any of its predecessors.

Listen up, too, to the informed opinion of Sally Horrox, chief of the women's game at World Rugby. "I think it's an opportunity to reposition rugby," she says. "Not just women's rugby. Rugby. We need to make sure the impact of this tournament is felt around the world." There is a priceless opportunity, certainly, for female rugby union players to leave their male counterparts in the shade.