Maggie Alphonsi on Red Roses seizing Lionesses moment as momentum builds to women's Rugby World Cup in York

Next year’s Rugby World Cup across England has the potential to be the women’s 15-aside game’s Lionesses moment, believes one of the leading ambassadors for her sport.

Maggie Alphonsi was a World Cup winner with England in France a decade ago and played in a final in her home country four years earlier.

But if a now professionalised Red Roses team can win the tournament at Twickenham next September it has the potential to elevate women’s rugby union into a new stratosphere of national interest, just as the women’s football team did with their victory in the European Championships at Wembley two years ago.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Alphonsi, who was in York this week to promote the city’s staging of six group games at next summer’s tournament, told The Yorkshire Post: “I truly believe it can be our Lionesses moment.

Keighley-born Ellie Kildunne of England runs with the ball during the Women's International match between England Red Roses and New Zealand Black Ferns at Allianz Twickenham Stadium in September (Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images)Keighley-born Ellie Kildunne of England runs with the ball during the Women's International match between England Red Roses and New Zealand Black Ferns at Allianz Twickenham Stadium in September (Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images)
Keighley-born Ellie Kildunne of England runs with the ball during the Women's International match between England Red Roses and New Zealand Black Ferns at Allianz Twickenham Stadium in September (Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images)

“Ideally we want to try and replicate what the Lionesses did in 2022, grip a nation and then play a final at a big iconic stadium and sell it out like they did at Wembley.

“If England do get to the final and play it at Twickenham, it would be amazing.”

Even to be saying such a bold statement is something Alphonsi could never have envisaged in her playing days.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It is only as recently as 14 years ago that England last staged the women’s Rugby World Cup, one in which Alphonsi – who made 74 appearance for her country – and her team-mates reached a World Cup final down the road from the nation’s famous rugby headquarters.

Maggie Alphonsi during her playing days with England at the 2010 World Cup (Picture: Phil Cole/Getty Images)Maggie Alphonsi during her playing days with England at the 2010 World Cup (Picture: Phil Cole/Getty Images)
Maggie Alphonsi during her playing days with England at the 2010 World Cup (Picture: Phil Cole/Getty Images)

“Back then it was very, very different,” she admitted. “One venue, Twickenham Stoop, for all the games, fewer teams with just eight, the media coverage was very different with barely any or little in comparison today. And then you fast forward to what we’re seeing now and it really is a case of ‘Wow, look how big it’s grown’.

“It’ll be the biggest Rugby World Cup we’ve ever seen, 16 teams, games played up and down the country.

“It’s brilliant and I’m just so pleased I’m able to witness it.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I just wish I was playing – but at least I can still play a part in it.”

Next year’s tournament begins on Friday, August 22, in Sunderland when England take on the United States, with the final scheduled for Twickenham on Saturday, September 27. Eight venues will be used across the country, including York’s Community Stadium which with a capacity of 8,500 is the smallest of the stadiums.

Over the course of three weekends from August 23/24, York will host six games in the group phase, welcoming teams like multiple winners New Zealand and emerging contenders Canada.

As she went on a promotional cruise down the River Ouse to mark the opening of the registration period for ticket sales nine months out from the tournament, could Alphonsi have ever believed the event she graced not too long ago could reach this level?

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think it had that potential back then, just because women’s rugby was still growing and women’s sport as a whole wasn’t getting the level of coverage that it probably deserved,” she replied. “We got to the final of the Rugby World Cup and then two years after that it was the London Olympics and you had stars like Jessica Ennis-Hill bringing attention to female athletes, and the momentum has built – you’ve had the Lionesses do well, the netballers winning gold in the Commonwealth Games.

“So it’s just been bit by bit but even so, nice to see the progression of women’s sport.”

What the women’s game and the tournament next year needs is close competition.

New Zealand might be the historic superpower with six wins from nine previous tournaments but England are the emerging force having moved into professionalism towards the end of the last decade.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A team that includes Scarborough-born former world player of the year Zoe Aldcroft and Six Nations and Sevens star Ellie Kildunne of Keighley, reached the last World Cup final in Auckland two years ago, only to suffer an agonising defeat to the hosts. But below those two and another strong nation in Canada, the game lacks strength in depth as countries catch up by gradually turning professional.

“What we are starting to see now is a real push to make nations as competitive as possible,” said Alphonsi.

“So more teams now have professional or centralised contracts, Ireland now have centralised contracts, and that’s having a huge impact on allowing women to be the best athletes they can be with appropriate support both medical and physical.

“That has definitely paid off, and also you’ve got more tournaments now like the WXV which ensures that more teams have competitive matches, and that’s helped close the gap. That’s why I think this World Cup is going to be the most competitive tournament we’ve seen for a very long time.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“England will be favourites but you can’t discount the likes of Canada who are second in the world and pushed England quite hard, and of course New Zealand who have won it more times than anyone else.

“It’s going to be a competitive tournament with a handful of teams who can win it, that’s what makes it so exciting.”

Rugby World Cup in York

​The 8,500-seater York Community Stadium will host six games at next year’s Rugby World Cup, with 10 of the 16 competing nations visiting North Yorkshire.

Sat Aug 23 - Canada v Fiji;

Sun Aug 24 - New Zealand v Spain;

Sat Aug 30 - USA v Australia;

Sun Aug 31 - SA v Italy;

Sat Sep 6 - USA v Samoa;

Sun Sep 7 - Japan v Spain;

The Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 gets underway at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland on Friday, August 22, and runs until September 27.

General sale ticket applications for all matches became available from Tuesday and are open until Tuesday, November 19, 2024.

News you can trust since 1754
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice