Red Roses’ next task – to defy legacy flops of the past

The exact timing and days that followed England’s victory in the Rugby World Cup were carefully choreographed.

There was no justification for them not being the tournament’s white-hot favorites because they entered as such.

The squad boarded a specially decorated team bus to a public celebration party at Battersea Power Station following a Sunday morning news conference at their Lensbury base, where orange juice was sipped hesitantly between answers.

The players will travel to various rugby clubs across the nation next weekend to collect some stardust for RugbyFest, a national “open house” designed to entice newcomers to the game to become regular players and volunteers.

A front-loaded fixture list of blockbuster games will serve as the start of the domestic Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) season in four weeks.

On TNT Sports, Gloucester-Hartpury, defending champions, square off against Saracens (featuring Zoe Harrison, Jess Breach, Marlie Packer, Rosie Galligan, Natasha Hunt, Maud Muir, Alex Matthews, Tatyana Heard, and others), live.

In the first weekly game of BBC Sport’s new expanded partnership with the league, Ellie Kildunne’s Harlequins take on Sadia Kabeya’s Loughborough Lightning.

Every top-flight game will be streamed live for the first time, with non-streaming matches also available to watch on YouTube.

In their Six Nations opener against Ireland at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium in April, England will play Ireland for the first time there.

“We’ve shown that we can sell the tickets,” Kildunne said.

Despite all the optimism, the “legacy” can be difficult to come by.

It was the omnipresent buzzword for London in 2012. To “inspire a generation,” the Olympics were held.

However, a decade later, the statistics revealed that all the money spent, the construction projects completed, and the sudden rise in handball enthusiasm that resulted in no discernible increase in sport participation.

They were rather resuscitated than encouraged to stay in.

It was the same story ten years after England’s men’s side won the only Rugby World Cup championship in 2003.

There were fewer grassroots rugby players, and England had stagnated and lost some of its elite players as a result.

Local clubs were unprepared for the sudden rush of Jonny Wilkinson aficionados who had sprung up after his drop-kick won the World Cup.

Lack of resources, resources, and resources to fulfill those young dreams.

This should be different. The legacy has already been preloaded by the Rugby Football Union.

In March 2022, the four-year investment and development program Impact 25 started.

By the end of the project, it will have distributed more than £14.5 million of government funding to the regions where it will be most effective for introducing rugby to girls and women.

It had trained 3, 385 female coaches and match officials and supported more than 850 clubs as of the most recent count. There has been a 35% increase in age-grade girl players in England since its beginning.

The grassroots game should theoretically be prepared to capitalize as that number rises.

There might be changes in the club game for those who are already at the top of their game.

Because head coach John Mitchell issued a warning despite his side’s grating World Cup victory.

He said, “I just adore to see 100 English girls playing in PWR.” I’d like to see more play, and I might even be able to select more.

The league is a great match because of the world-class players we play against, but we still need to remember to develop our English.

The PWR might be experiencing protectionist behavior.

Teams must choose a minimum number of England-qualified players, similar to the men’s Prem. For each 23-man matchday squad, it is set at 13.

That leaves room for expansion for other countries to develop their own players using the PWR’s world-leading playing standards.

Sophie de Goede of Saracens and Alex Tessier of Exeter made up the eight starting XV of Canada in the PWR. 17 members of their World Cup squad travel to England overall.

14 is the American equivalent of that number.

Even the Black Ferns, a favored home-grown team, are beginning to travel. Georgia Ponsonby and Alana Borland (nee Bremner) have been signed by the Ealing Trailfinders for the start of the season.

The ratio may be modified to ensure future Red Roses have the space they need to bloom, despite the fact that those names from abroad add some sparkle to the league – Ilona Maher’s three-month stint at Bristol Bears was immediate and startling.

There is a chance for those who are already at the top to more fully integrate themselves and their sport into mainstream culture. and earn money doing it.

According to a report from the sports marketing firm Two Circles, Kildunne, who is the team’s most recognizable face, could earn between £300,000 and £500,000 from her team winning the World Cup.

Fans of celebrity television and chat show sofas will have noticed a squad that has, frequently by necessity, grown a sizable social media presence.

A top-tier Red Roses contract has a contract worth about £50, 000, plus bonuses, such as £20, 000 for winning the final, for a top-tier Red Roses team. They won’t have the opportunity to add that while they are in the limelight, which is unfortunate.

A revamped WXV Global Series was unveiled to give women’s rugby’s top nations more freedom to create fixture lists and fierce rivalries that keep interest high while the World Cup is in progress.

However, nine days prior to the start of women’s rugby’s upward trend, it occurred on a sleek office campus in California, which was perhaps the most unexpected.

A line-out was depicted in Apple’s new promotional video to show off the capabilities of the most recent iPhone.