WOMEN'S AND GIRLS' RUGBY CONTINUES TO GROW ACROSS THE NORTH EAST FOLLOWING WOMEN'S RUGBY WORLD CUP 2025

he Red Roses will return to the North East to play at Sunderland AFC’s Stadium of Light in the 2027 Guinness Women’s Six Nations. They will face Scotland at the Premier League football venue on Saturday 17 April (kick-off 4.45pm)

ISSUED BY RFU

Women’s and girls’ rugby continues to grow across the North East, building on several years of increasing participation and the momentum generated when Sunderland hosted the Red Roses’ opening match of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 last year.

More than 2,300 women and girls were registered players at a community rugby club in the North East during the 2025/26 season, a 9% increase on the previous year, highlighting the continued growth of the game across the region, including Durham and Northumberland.

Girls’ age grade registrations at rugby clubs across the region have increased by 39% since the 2021/22 season.

The figures have been released by the RFU as it announces the Red Roses will return to Sunderland next spring to face Scotland in the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, bringing international women’s rugby back to the region.

The growth reflects several years of investment and collaboration across the North East to introduce more women and girls to rugby through school, college, university, club and community programmes. The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 and investment through its Impact ’25 legacy programme provided further opportunities to build on that momentum. Together, partners across the game remain committed to creating more opportunities, breaking down barriers to participation and ensuring rugby is a sport where everyone can belong.

This supports the ambitions of Every Rose: Our Time strategy, the RFU’s strategy to accelerate the growth of women’s and girls’ rugby.

Stories from across the region

Newcastle Rugby Foundation

Newcastle Rugby Foundation remains committed to helping grow and develop the women’s and girls’ community game across the North East. As a local social inclusion partner for last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the Foundation supported local clubs with activities, delivered a schools’ programme, staged beach rugby festivals and played a role in the Trophy Tour.

Building on this work, the Foundation will continue to create more opportunities for women and girls to play rugby in their communities, while supporting coaches to provide positive, welcoming and high-quality experiences for everyone entering the game.

Newcastle Rugby Foundation CEO, Melanie Magee, said: “It’s fantastic that the Red Roses will be returning to the region next year. There is huge potential to grow the women’s and girls’ community game across the North East, and this provides another brilliant opportunity to shine a light on it.

“Moments like this can inspire the women and girls already playing, encourage those who have not yet picked up a ball to give rugby a try, and help local clubs and coaches continue creating great experiences in their communities.”

Consett Rugby Club

Consett Rugby Club has seen a remarkable rise in girls’ rugby over the last few years. Since starting with just six girls in December 2024, the girls’ section grew to more than 50 girls last season, providing young players with opportunities to develop their skills, build friendships and, most importantly, fall in love with the game.

Last season the club fielded girls’ teams at under 12s and under 14s level, and this year they will also have under 16s playing in a cluster with Blaydon Rugby Club. The growing girls' section is laying a strong foundation for female players to develop their skills and love of the sport, and to go on to play for women's teams.

Consett is not only focused on getting more girls into rugby – they care passionately about creating a welcoming and inclusive environment. The club received a Social Spaces’ grant through the Rugby World Cup 2025 Impact ’25 programme. It has helped bring colour, personality and identity to the club environment, giving the girls’ section a visible presence within the club. Several local businesses also provide support, by ensuring every new player gets free socks, shorts, a training top and T-shirt.

Gerry Smith, a coach at Consett Rugby Club said: “Growing girls’ rugby is so important to the club. And it’s not just about supporting them to play, it’s also about creating the right environment, a place where they can belong, build friendships and grow in confidence."

Washington Rugby Club

Washington Rugby Club is another club in the region that has seen women’s and girls’ growth. The club now holds a weekly women’s touch rugby session that is open to anyone, whatever their experience or skill level. The sessions which were set up two years ago now see around 20 women each week coming along for a fun session that has more of a focus on enjoyment rather than competition.

Alex Brennan, who along with Bryony Cooper, facilitates the sessions, said: “Neither of us had played rugby before, yet we’ve managed to build a fantastic and inclusive community of women who come together on a weekly basis to play touch rugby. About 35 women are involved in total, and it doesn’t matter what their skill set is or if they can’t come all the time. Everyone is welcome!”

More recently, Washington Rugby Club has set up rugby sessions for kids in the local area too. James England, one of the club’s men’s players said: “Our town really didn’t offer any opportunities for kids to play rugby, and we felt we had to do something about it. In April, we started offering sessions and it’s been great to see so many young boys and girls turn up with smiles on their faces, learning the basic skills of rugby and experiencing for themselves what an enjoyable sport it is to play. We encourage families to come down and get involved this year!”

Alex Teasdale, RFU Executive Director of Women’s Game, said: "It’s great to see the continued growth in the women’s and girls’ game across the North East. That progress has been built over a number of years through the commitment of clubs, volunteers and partners across the region, with investment through Impact ’25 and the excitement generated by the Women’s Rugby World Cup helping us to build on that momentum.

“We want to continue building on that progress and create even more opportunities for women and girls to experience everything rugby can offer – confidence, enjoyment, skills, friendships and competition.

“Bringing the Red Roses back to Sunderland next spring gives us another opportunity to build on that momentum and connect the excitement around the international game with the growing women’s and girls’ game across the region.

“With a welcoming and vibrant set of rugby union clubs across the North East, I'd encourage anyone interested in giving rugby a try to find out what opportunities are available near them and get involved.”

You can find introductory Girls’ Activity Day and Inner Warrior events taking place in your area and clubs offering girls or women’s rugby at findrugby.com

Photos: Colin Ebdale; Newcastle Rugby Foundation; DCRFU.