Big news this month in the world of women’s Rugby – The Black Ferns of New Zealand vs. The Red Roses of England in the 2022 World Cup final!
This Saturday will be another hugely significant milestone for women’s sport in this country and if they win, has the potential to boost women’s rugby into the stratosphere, the way the lionesses did for football earlier this year in the Fifa world cup.
The past 24 hours have seen such a huge surge in interest from fans, making a world record attendance at Eden Park all but certain for the upcoming match. This should propel women’s rugby into a new level of commercial success never before seen.
The last few seats at the stadium have been in high demand, according to the event’s organisers, with hundreds of New Zealanders eager to watch their world cup squad, the reigning world champions take on the Red Roses in a fascinating clash of styles. As a result of such high interest, the stadium will be filled to capacity (40,000), surpassing the previous crowd of 34,235 that attended the same venue last month for another women’s match.
It’s an exciting day as well for Babestation’s resident Kiwi and cams babe, Beth Bennett, check out her specially shot rugby pics here.
If the final is even half as entertaining as Saturday’s semi-finals, one of the best days in Women’s Rugby World Cup history, those lucky enough to attend will be in for a real treat. People are so captivated by the sport that they want to go back and change the term “women’s” in the statement. The guardian stated:
“If ever there was definitive proof that female team sport can be more watchable than the male equivalent, this was it.”
After Canada’s amateur team had a chance to surprise everyone by defeating the professional Red Roses, England’s captain Sarah Hunter launched an appeal for more funding across the board. Hunter urged other countries to follow England’s lead and declare:
“I hope all the nations that don’t invest as much as England say: ‘That’s where we need to go next because that’s what the women’s game globally needs. Hopefully this World Cup is the start of that.”
New Zealand winger and Olympic sevens gold medallist, Ruby Tui, summarised, from the perspective of marketing, the potential of this week’s final:
“Women’s rugby is knocking on the door and I’d say to everybody: ‘You don’t want to miss out on this.’ Whatever happens in the final I just hope people walk away going: ‘Wow, I should have been watching women’s rugby for a long time.’ We know we have it in us and we know what we have to do. It’s just a case of who’s going to turn up. You can train the house down but it’s the big pressure moments that matter.”
Having gone 30 Tests without losing and putting a lot of effort into improving their skills to protect a lead in the last period, England should be ready this time, at least on paper. The question will be if the runners from the home team can out-do Canada. Red Roses head coach Simon Middleton had this to say about his team:
“I would love the Red Roses to be called the best team across sport”
“It’ll be an unbelievable tournament anyway … but winning here would accelerate it like the women winning the Euros has accelerated football. There are a lot of players starting to creak but it’s about how you make sure your physical preparation is as good as it can be. Then it’s about what you’ve got inside. We’ll see.”
The final starts at 6.30am UK time, don’t miss it!
Check out the Babestation women’s national pride in these hot picture galleries.