How the Welsh Rugby Union is Powering Women’s Rugby On and Off the Field

Following a period of setbacks, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) is ushering in a new era for its women’s programme — committing to meaningful investment aimed at driving competitive success today while laying the groundwork for long-term growth. In this article, David Granger, Director at content marketing agency Arc & Foundry, explores how the WRU is reshaping the future of women’s rugby in Wales.

The ascendency of women’s sport is evident as the momentum and money build to promote female athletes and teams. 

This year, global revenues in women’s elite sports will reach US$2.35 billion, easily surpassing 2024’s US$1.88 billion. Revenues in women’s elite sports are predicted to rise by 240% in four years – Deloitte valued the market in 2022 at $692.

Sponsorship in women’s sport is also growing 50% faster than men’s major leagues: 86% of sponsors when asked said their investment in women’s sports met or exceeded expectations – one third reporting their activations delivered better than results they had anticipated.

Sponsors are investing, but is this translated to audience size? Are fans buying in at the same rate?

At the end of March, a milestone was reached and a record broken for women’s sport in Wales. We may need to draw a veil over the score as the English rugby union team ran rampant over the Welsh in the Women’s Six Nations, but, if anything the numbers in the stands, and what happened off the field, was – almost – of equal importance as the numbers on the scoreboard. More than 21,000 were present at the Principality stadium to watch the national team take on their English rivals.

The fixture had already set records, with more than 1,000 tickets bought within the first five hours of sales – a sign of the growing spectator support for the women’s game.

It should come as no great surprise that the WRU is active in its promotion of the women’s game. It appointed its first woman CEO when Abi Tierney was given the role in 2023 and given the role at a precarious chapter in Welsh rugby.

Off the pitch, the WRU has faced criticism along with a possible players strike, song bans and doping allegations while Welsh-born prospects switched sports or nations. And to compound that situation, the teams weren’t exactly thriving on the field. The Men’s Six Nations this year was another year to forget with the men’s team awarded the wooden spoon for the second year in succession. The first time ever. 

But. The foundations are being laid to make the sport, as much as the teams, successful. At the Women’s Six Nations match, as well as the full pyrotechnics display and Welsh performance DJs The Stick Men as half-time entertainment, tributes and recognition went to former female players. One of the campaigns the WRU is running is Missing Caps. A working group containing former Wales Women internationals Claire Donovan, Liza Burgess and Philippa Tuttiett was set up in 2021 to find and award caps to former players – women who pioneered the game but didn’t receive them at the time.

At the England game, former international squad members told tales of how travel and accommodation for the national side was funded by the players themselves. Or their parents. 

But the WRU investment in women’s rugby is not simply retrospective recognition.

While there is still some way to go, the WRU is doing the right thing to ensure the women’s game is no add-on but integral to the sport’s future. While results may still be more aspirational, the atmosphere in the dressing room is matching the one at the Principality. As current captain Hannah Jones said before this year’s Six Nations kicked off, their fight is on the pitch: “I’ve full faith in the people we have in place. It’s a clean start. I feel like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I can just play rugby again and not have to deal with all this nonsense behind the scenes.”

That weight was in part down to remuneration. An issue Tierney tackled at the end of last year. According to the BBC, she said: “We have reached a good place with this Wales squad and we are excited about the future. It’s our job to ensure that everything is right off the pitch so that the players and coaches can concentrate on their preparations for what happens on it.

“We have a stated aim to continue to invest in women’s rugby and that means both at the professional level and in the structures and systems which underpin it.”

Clearly that aim is still in their sights. 

David Granger is the director of Arc & Foundry content marketing agency.