Clubhouses open early to support the Red Roses
Clubhouses across England opened early as the Red Roses prepared to take on New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup Final
Clubhouses across England opened early as England’s Red Roses prepared to take on New Zealand’s Black Ferns in the Rugby World Cup final at a sold-out Eden Park.
With big screens, bacon baps, bars open and plenty of coffee and tea for the fans, cheers greeted ITV commentator Nick Mullins as he listed some 20 of the clubs partying nationwide.
Keighley RFC in the north tweeted that they would be open from 6am cheering on their former junior player Ellie Kildunne and the rest of the England team before some of their U12s headed down to Twickenham to watch Japan.
England captain Sarah Hunter’s first club Novocastrians opened early to cheer on their Red Roses hero whose portrait graced the clubhouse in a giant mural, one of three supported by O2, and created by England Rugby licensee and renowned street artist collective MurWalls.
Vice-captain Emily Scarratt, and prop Shaunagh Brown’s portraits had also been created in Newcastle and South London, key locations that played a big part in their early rugby careers. Scarratt’s Leicester Forest RFC were desperate to see an England victory. Shaunagh Brown’s mural was looking down from Kennington Oval, Shaunagh saying; “I’m incredibly proud that aspiring young girls and boys, especially those of colour, can look to me in a very real way for inspiration." Meanwhile in Kent, Shaunagh’s former club Medway RFC was packed with members cheering her and her team mates on.
Clubs and pubs early start
Pubs opened early too, among them Twickenham’s rugby pub The Cabbage Patch where fans gathered and rugby journalist Jess Hayden talked about the rise of the Red Roses and women’s rugby with Ugo Monye and Giselle Mather.
Some local clubs hosted other clubs, like Five Ways Old Edwardians who were joined by women from Moseley and other neighbouring teams involved in the Allianz Inner Warrior Series. Many Allianz Inner Warrior camps welcomed new players, inspired to get involved by England Red Roses reaching the world cup final. Over the autumn more than 100 camps took place nationwide.
Oxford Harlequins RFC hosted a Rugby World Cup for female students across Oxfordshire at their Rugby 365 facility. Wychwood School invited many of their local primary, preparatory and secondary schools to a tournament they developed in partnership with the club and more than 230 girls took part, some 150 of not having played rugby before.
Great TV audience
After a record 30 Test match wins, it was heartbreak when that record fell at the Rugby World Cup final, but the inspiration provided by the battling squad was phenomenal and rugby fans who had never watched a women’s international before were up early glued to their TV screens, with 1.8 million people setting their alarms to watch the 6:30 am final kick-off final on ITV.
Despite the loss, which saw a red card reducing the numbers for 63 minutes of the game, head coach Simon Middleton couldn't have been be prouder of his team.
"I am so proud of the players, they gave absolutely everything, not just tonight but for the last 51 days we've been here," he said. “It is tough with 14 players for that long. But New Zealand played a great brand of rugby, they put us under pressure, we put them under pressure, it went right down to the wire and could have gone either way at the end. Those are the twists that happen in a game."
RFU Chief Executive Bill Sweeney who was at Eden Park applauded “a competitive, highly intense sporting event. “
First stand-alone Test at Twickenham
The record-breaking crowd of 42,579 at Eden Park and the quality of rugby on show certainly bodes well for the RFU’s determination to sell out Twickenham for the 2025 women’s final. And the TikTok Six Nations finale against France has already sold 20,000 tickets with the aim of making that at least 30,000.
Eddie Jones said: “A World Cup is tough, with the two best teams in the final, and sometimes you don’t get the rub of the green, but there’s no doubt that our players inspired thousands of young girls to play sport and to play rugby. I hope that lots of fans come and pay homage at Twickenham in April when England play their first stand-alone Test against France.”
If you want to watch your Rugby World Cup heroes in their TikTok Six Nations finale early bird tickets at how much until the end of the month (November) Visit englandrugby.com/tickets
