Women’s Rugby World Cup by Numbers – The Statistics in 2025

Was it ever in doubt? The Red Roses have secured their spot in the semi finals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. So as we countdown to the final, we take a look at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 statistics.

Women’s Rugby World Cup – Quick Fire Numbers

If you’re only here for the quick summary, here’s what you need to know. Want the detail? Grab a cuppa and read on:

• The tournament has already set attendance records with 42,723 people watching the opening fixture at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.
• Over 500 players are included in travelling squads for the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
• The most followed rugby player at the tournament is the incredible Ilona Maher, who (as of the start of the tournament) has a following of over 5 million.
• Over 6 million people have tuned into women’s rugby over the course of the tournament so far.

Attendance Records Broken in the Women’s Rugby World Cup

Records were rewritten on the opening night of the tournament, when England’s Red Roses beat the USA at Sunderland’s Stadium of light. 42,723 people popped through the turnstiles to watch the action live in Sunderland as England got their campaign off to a winning start with an emphatic 69-7 win.

Records are likely to be broken once again with a sold out final to take place at Twickenham on 27th September.

Here are the most attended 5 games so far in this Women’s Rugby World Cup according to the statistics:

Women’s Rugby World Cup Viewing Figures 2025

The 2025 tournament is off to a flyer when it comes to TV audiences.

England’s opener against the USA pulled in an average of 2.57 million viewers on the BBC, peaking at nearly 2.9 million. That’s almost double the number that tuned in for the equivalent game last time round. Not bad for a curtain-raiser.

Across the first weekend, a combined 4.6 million people tuned in on the BBC. Even Ireland’s pool match against Japan drew more than half a million, proof that it’s not just the big names pulling a crowd.

By the end of the pool stages, UK viewing figures had climbed to 7.1 million in total. Women’s rugby is clearly moving from the fringes into the living rooms of the masses.

Over in France, broadcaster TF1 clocked up 3.2 million viewers for the France v Italy pool match. For a group-stage fixture, that’s the sort of number you’d expect for a Saturday night drama. Put it all together and the early matches have already racked up over 6 million combined viewers in the UK and France alone. And with the knockout stages still to come, those numbers are only heading one way – up.

Women’s Rugby World Cup Players and their Instagram Popularity

Over 500 players are named in squads for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025. But who are the most well known already? And will it change as the tournament progresses?

To analyse this, we pulled some statistics.

We looked at the Instagram follower count of all players (as of the end of the opening weekend of the tournament) named in squads and here are the top 30:

Here’s what we know:

1. Ilona Maher: One-woman social media army

Ilona Maher isn’t just leading the USA on the pitch. She’s practically carrying the entire rugby internet on her shoulders. With 5.2 million followers, she’s got more reach than the rest of the top 30 combined. You could almost say the USA’s social presence is Ilona.

2. England’s strength in numbers

England might not have a single player in Maher’s stratosphere, but they’ve got half of the top 30. It’s a bit like their forward pack: relentless, everywhere you look, and impossible to ignore.

3. A global flavour

From Brazil’s Thalia Costa to Fiji’s Sesenieli Donu, it’s not just the usual suspects. These breakout stars are proof that women’s rugby influence is going properly global. Even if your squad doesn’t win the Cup, your winger might still win Instagram.

4. “Heavy Hitters” vs. “Steady Eddies”

While some teams have a superstar (hello USA, hello New Zealand), others like England and France shine through consistency. Loads of their players hover around that 15–20k mark — not jaw-dropping, but enough to make them serious “micro-influencers” in the rugby world.

5. The influencer league table

Out of the top 30, five players have cracked the 100k mark, which puts them into “proper influencer” territory.

That’s how the top players perform. But Rugby is a team game. So we took a look at the stats and combined follower counts by team. Unsurprisingly, with Ilona Maher on the books, the USA is out streets ahead:

Team	Instagram Followers	Avg Instagram Followers	Most Followed Player
USA	5,407,098	168,972	Ilona Maher
England	665,610	20,800	Ellie Kildunne
New Zealand	534,222	16,694	Portia Woodman-Wickliffe
France	204,273	6,384	Pauline Bourdon Sansus
Scotland	139,984	4,374	Rhona Lloyd
Ireland	138,714	4,337	Beibhinn Parsons
Wales	124,359	3,887	Jasmine Joyce
Brazil	117,160	3,660	Thalia Costa
Australia	113,902	3,549	Charlotte Caslick
Canada	100,415	3,244	Sophie de Goede
South Africa	98,637	3,088	Nadine Roos
Italy	72,404	2,262	Michela Sillari
Fiji	63,256	1,976	Sesenieli Donu
Spain	61,636	1,926	Anne Fernández de Corres
Japan	31,181	975	Seina Saito
Samoa	20,720	648	Sui Pauaraisa

The Instagram World Cup: Squad Standings

1st – USA (5.4m followers)
Ilona Maher RFC, basically. One player with a fanbase the size of actual Wales. The rest of the squad should probably just let her run their social accounts.

2nd – England (665k followers)
No megastar, but they’ve got strength in depth. Half the team could fill out Twickenham with their combined followings — not bad for a side that prefers mauls to memes.

3rd – New Zealand (534k followers)
Powered by Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Stacey Waaka, the Black Ferns are snapping at England’s heels. A tidy backline both on and off the pitch.

4th – France (204k followers)
Stylish on the field and on the ‘Gram. Not enough to break into the top three, but Pauline Bourdon Sansus gives them flair points.

5th – Scotland (140k followers)
Rhona Lloyd carries the flag here, proving that even a smaller rugby nation can punch above its weight in the influencer game.

6th–10th – The chasing pack (100k–139k)
Ireland, Wales, Brazil, Australia, Canada. All bringing in six-figure totals, usually thanks to one or two breakout stars. Consider them the mid-table grafters.

11th and below – Finding their feet
South Africa, Italy, Fiji, Spain, Japan, Samoa. Not massive numbers (yet), but they’re one viral TikTok away from climbing the table. Watch this space.

The Popularity of Women’s Rugby: Will the World Cup Leave a Legacy?

In August last year, there were just 2,900 searches in Google UK (according to data from kwfinder.com) for the term “womens rugby.”

Fast forward a year to August 2024 and this rose astronomically to a huge 90,500. That’s surge of over 3000%!

Now of course, lots of those searches could be people looking for the World Cup coverage, results and news. But has the tournament had an impact on those looking for local teams, i.e. people who might be thinking of supporting or even joining their local club?

Searches for “womens rugby near me” have more than doubled comparing August 2025 to August 2024 and with the tournament not even complete yet, we reckon we can expect to see more impact to come.

David Winter, Marketing Manager at BetVictor Casino sums up our findings, commenting: “This is, without doubt, the biggest Women’s Rugby World Cup we’ve ever seen in a year that has been astronomical for women’s sport in England in particular. Let’s hope this tournament leaves the legacy that the Euros did for football. We hope to see more women a girls donning rugby shirts and getting involved.”