82,000 to witness women’s rugby final

England’s Red Roses are touted as the favourites after beating France in the semi final

Whatever they do as a team in Saturday’s final, England have been a hit as hosts of the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

With Twickenham’s 82,000-capacity Allianz Stadium sold out for the finale of this year’s competition, a new record will be set for the biggest crowd in women’s rugby history. It means the tournament will finish how it started.

England and Canada will feature in the final.

On the opening day of the tournament back in August, another record was broken as England’s match against the United States drew 42,723 people, surpassing the 2022 final as the best-attended match in Women’s Rugby World Cup history.

In total, 440,000 tickets have been sold for the tournament, more than three times the number at the previous Women’s Rugby World Cup three years ago.

With 470,000 tickets available for the 32 games, it means the tournament ran at nearly 94% capacity.

It has been achieved by competitive pricing, clever scheduling and promoting personalities beyond the Red Roses.

Tickets have started at £10 for adults and £5 for children, while games have been spread so that, by World Rugby’s calculations, 95% of the English population are within two hours travel of a tournament venue.

While the most recent men’s Rugby World Cup staged some pool matches on weekday evenings, every match, after this tournament’s Friday night opener, was played at the weekend making it easier for families and young fans to attend.

Double-header weekends - when fixtures were played in the same city, occasionally even on the same day - were created to bolster numbers at less attractive fixtures.

The quarter-finals were a south-west affair, split between Exeter’s Sandy Park and Bristol’s Ashton Gate. The semi-finals - both staged in Bristol - attracted a combined total of 49,870 people.

Saturday’s crowd will surpass the 58,498 who watched England beat France at the same stadium in the 2023 Six Nations - the previous record for a 15-a-side match - and the 66,000 who watched the women’s rugby sevens at Stade de France during the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

(BBC sport)