Over 42,000 crowded into the Stadium of Light in Sunderland on 22 August to watch England’s Red Roses in the opening game of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.
The tournament hosts savouring the noisy home atmosphere rewarded the crowd – a record for a Women’s World Cup game – with some exciting attacking rugby in a 69-7 win against a United States team determined not to let the occasion overwhelm them.
That Sunderland, a northern city that lives for its football team, not only embraced the tournament but enjoyed the match shows how far women’s rugby has come even in the three years since New Zealand 2022.
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Photos: copyright Simon Durrant/bc magazine