Gill Burns remembers the sign that greeted her at the rugby club vividly: “No women or dogs allowed.” It was the 1980s and a future great of English rugby was taking her first strides in a sport that she would come to give so much to – but there were plenty of obstacles to be overcome.
In the community game, work commenced two years ago on the Impact ’25 programme, injecting £12.13m of Government funding into the sport to improve the accessibility of women’s and girls’ rugby across the country.
There are still players in Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR), the world-leading English top flight, essentially paying to play; aside from the contracted Red Roses, almost all are balancing elite sport with another career or studies.
As the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup accelerates into view, it is a picture that many hope may be about to change, but there is a deeper legacy of the tournament that may come to be felt more significantly.
Significant funding from the RFU and government is helping to drive growing interest in women’s and girls’ rugby across England.
