'It is a commitment from our unions': Horrox reveals women's rugby growth target pledge

World Rugby’s Chief of Women’s Rugby, Sally Horrox, revealed that over 50 member unions have committed to grow women’s and girls participation globally by 50 per cent by the next Women’s Rugby World Cup.

This announcement came upon the release of the governing body’s Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 Impact Report and the Impact Beyond 2025 Global Impact report, which offer a comprehensive picture of how the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup has reshaped women’s rugby both in England and globally.

Horrox announced that 53 of World Rugby’s 134 member unions have pledged to grow global participation in women’s rugby to 3.4 million women and girls by 2029.

“Unions from around the world came together, with over 53 collectively sharing an ambition; a pledge to grow global participation in women’s rugby to 3.4 million women and girls by 2029 – up from 2.2 million pre-tournament,” Horrox said.

“That is not just a target. It is a commitment from our unions. A legacy born from an unforgettable competition and a platform to propel us toward the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2029 and beyond.

“That’s a 50 per cent increase in women and girls’ participation over that time. Those unions have really taken that on.

“We’re working with them to build capacity, but that enduring legacy that we’re turning into action with targets, with real momentum, is incredibly important, because whilst we’re talking about the impact of iconic events today, that growing base of the sport, is critically important for the health of girls and women’s rugby going forward.”

Throughout last year World Rugby have been proactive in giving unions as many resources to accommodate member unions with the long-term goal of increasing women’s rugby participation over the next three and a half years.

One day before the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup final at Allianz Stadium, which was played in front of a world record crowd, the Women’s Rugby Global Summit brought together over 400 leaders from across global sport.

After they heard from the people shaping women’s sport and business globally, 92 per cent of attendees felt inspired to continue the growth of women’s and girls rugby.

Across three Regional Summits in 2025, in which over 50 unions took part, there has been significant increases in confidence to deliver female participation programmes, enhanced knowledge on growing the game and confidence in contributing to the growth of women’s rugby.

In 2025, World Rugby’s flagship participation programme designed to recruit and retain more teenage girls in rugby, Rising Rugby Play, has seen 42 unions receive grants and 35,500 girls playing rugby.

 

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This has included grants supporting developing unions to create new participation opportunities for women and girls globally. This has included over 1500 participants in Nigeria, 1452 participants in Brazil and 1100 participants in Cayman.

World Rugby have begun offering fundraising training for unions, to support them in unlocking new sources of funding and broadening their income streams to become more financially sustainable.

This has included a bespoke fundraising toolkit, online retaining and intensive support. Already over 90 unions have engaged in training.

The governing body has also revealed that its Women’s Health Resources – developed to share knowledge on women’s health topics including the menstrual cycle, pelvic health, breast health and nutrition – saw 100 per cent of participants report that webinars were extremely useful.