World Rugby and host broadcaster HBS have been working hard to develop the make-up of broadcast teams for the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, which comes on the back of a summer of success for women’s sport in host country, England.

Says Amanda Godson, director of broadcast and production at World Rugby: “Thankfully women’s sport is taking bigger steps forward.”

The final is set to be a sell-out, smashing records for women’s rugby attendance, and Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 is riding on the buzz from this summer’s other major women’s tournament, the 2025 UEFA Women’s Euro, says Godson. “We are very lucky to have followed the UEFA Women’s Euro and the England team doing so well. We are riding a fabulous wave of women’s sport in England and the impact that has had in the host country, and the attention that we have been receiving has been great.

“I feel we are very lucky that they’ve contributed to creating this space for us. They’ve handed over the reins to us, and we have been able to continue to excite the nation and the rest of the world.”

Increasing diversity

While behind the cameras the directors working on Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 are all male, World Rugby and HBS are working hard to bring more women through the ranks in order to be able to take on some of those roles in the future.

Explains Gareth Jones, HBS’ director of production and HB project director for the tournament: “Diversity is something we do look at when planning our work on a tournament, and we don’t want the all-male directing team to continue to be the case going forward. We have got our eye on the female directors on the market that could take the step up.”

However, he adds that the rest of the production team does have a strong female presence: “Within our key staff team, there are female coordinating producers that work hand-in-hand with the directors, all four of our production managers are women and the majority of the broadcast venue managers are women. We’ve definitely tried to make that a priority when staffing.”

Godson adds: “Our commentary team is over 50% female and our production and broadcast team at World Rugby is more female than male. Working alongside of me I have Sarah Campbell, broadcast operations and venue manager, Sarah Lunn, our broadcast services manager, and broadcast services coordinator, Claire McEwan.

“These women aren’t working on this because we are doing a women’s sport event,” notes Godson. “It is because they were the right people for the role. It just happens that we’ve got awesome women working for us on this Women’s Rugby World Cup.”

Godson adds: “And last, but not least, out title sequence, inspired by the 16 competing nations, they celebrate the power of art and sport, uniting creative and athletic excellence on the global stage.”

World Rugby collaborated with AE Live Ignite on the creative development, commissioning 16 female artists – each representing a participating nation – to create bespoke artwork that celebrate both the spirit of the game and the unique identity of their home team, with one unifying requirement: every design had to feature an oval shape at its centre.

Each of the 16 unique artworks was then animated into a fluid, inspiring title sequence that takes viewers on a journey through the nations, culminating in the host nation’s piece.

Creation and cooperation

In terms of content creation and cooperation, Jones says that the women athletes are very open to working with the host broadcaster in order to enhance coverage of the tournament.

He explains: “100% they’re very animated. We have been eager to make sure that continues as well by engaging with them in the best possible way. The ENG crews have female producers and camera operators in there that know and love the sport, so expanding that to current and former players who are content creators will only help their progression. We want to help them really be comfortable in creating engaging content and creating authentic content as well.”

Adds Godson on her experiences in working with the major stars of female rugby: “I’d worked on a lot of other women’s sport before Women’s Rugby World Cup New Zealand 2021, but that was my first Women’s Rugby World Cup. I was amazed, the sheer enthusiasm and excitement and openness of the players to work with us was fantastic.

“The women just come alive in front of the camera, and it’s so special when you see it because it is an opportunity for them as well. We are providing a platform for them to show who they are and their character. It just comes flowing naturally,” Godson concludes.

The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, organised by World Rugby, started on 22 August and the final between Canada and England will be played on 27 September.