Impact ’25 is a transformative legacy programme for Rugby World Cup 25, delivered by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in partnership with the UK Government, Sport England and UK Sport, to supercharge the growth of women’s rugby.
The UK government, through UK Sport, is funding the Rugby Unions of Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales to support the hosting costs for the 2025 Rugby World Cup and the International Development strand of Impact ’25.
The fund is designed to enhance and expand female performance pathways across all Home Unions, aiming to improve standards and strengthen the international game’s competitiveness. It also seeks to improve the quality and quantity of female coaches and officials in the elite game.
Each Union has taken an individual approach to using the funding in a way that best suits its domestic setup. The programme also allows all four Unions to collaborate, share best practices, and learn from each other.
In Ireland, the IRFU has used the Impact ’25 funding in different ways across the four provinces to support player development and the progression of female coaches and officials.
Connacht has provided athletic development coaches to players in the province’s programmes, while Munster has focused on player development through nutrition support, individual analysis, and workshopping.
Connacht’s programme also focused on talent-spotting new players, coaches, and referees; Leinster used the funding to invest in high-quality facilities and game review analysis opportunities.
In Wales, the WRU predominantly invested the funding in coaching, including embedding six part-time coaches across their new Player Development Centre network. The requirement is that 40% of coaches at each centre be female.
They have also developed a programme to provide leadership development for women targeting roles in high-performance environments, alongside a mentoring scheme for coaches working in the Wales U18 and U20 setups. Finally, the WRU is looking to support ten female match officials with their refereeing development through mentoring, coaching, and exchanges.
Scottish Rugby focused on the importance of a meaningful daily training environment for its elite players, currently delivered at three Regional Training Centres nationwide. The Impact ’25 funding has been used to fund the salaries of three full-time performance coaches, one at each centre. This means players can access high-quality coaching regardless of where they live, meaning that 100 players nationally now benefit from daily training.
In England, the RFU’s projects centred around opportunities and support for elite female coaches operating at the highest levels of English rugby. Five high-potential female coaches were offered in-depth one-on-one career coaching sessions, with four out of the five going on to new and more senior roles.
In addition, England Rugby also delivered a Leadership Development programme, ‘Elev8’, developing coaches across the RFU’s performance pathways. Finally, the funding has also been used to carry out an academic review into the most effective ways to provide coaches with meaningful secondment opportunities.
Further Reading for Sport for Business members: Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 Dates and Venues Confirmed
SPORT FOR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
Legacy is often the most considered and then the most quickly forgotten element of a major hosting programme. Enabling cooperation with funding to make things happen is a way of laying down deeper roots in ways to do things better and Ireland being an island of Ireland sport is able to take advantage of UK Government funding.
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The Women’s Rugby World Cup kicks off on Friday August 22nd with Ireland’s first game against Japan on Sunday 24th August.
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