England wins nations rugby

This article was last updated on April 30, 2024

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Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney has described England’s Six Nations campaign as “terrific” as they have taken the game to “another level wining three times on the trot.

Sweeney also confirmed that the RFU is on schedule for the Red Roses programme to cover its cost by the 2028-29 season.

“Long term we believe it’s going to more than break even,” said Sweeney.

“We see tremendous growth in the women’s game, you see it in women’s sport in general, and it’s good for rugby overall as a sport so we’ll carry on regardless.”

The Red Roses with victory over France in Bordeaux with Sweeney crediting the impact of head coach John Mitchell.

“We spoke to a number of other candidates, but he was the standout by quite a long way,” said Sweeney.

“It was clear that he’d studied the women’s game. He had a very clear vision of how he wanted to play, and I think you can see that coming through now.”

England scored 44 tries on their way to lifting the title, double that of their nearest rivals France with 22.

Concerns have been raised around the one sided challenge, but Sweeney is not seeing it as a current issue, with the Red Roses making a profit for a second year in a row from their game in front of 50,000 fans.

“They [the crowd at the Ireland game] didn’t seem bored by it, they seemed really excited by it and the other stuff going on, Sophie Ellis-Bexter at half-time, and you see things like our merchandise sales are up,” said Sweeney.

He also highlighted the advantages of different demographics at Twickenham for the women’s games with a 55% female crowd compared to men’s matches, where it’s 85% male.

The only warning for fans of the women’s game was that Sweeney recognised that the difference in price for an England men’s and women’s fixtures is “massive”.

“I think we’ve probably priced [them] too cheaply at the moment, but we want to keep the fans coming in and we want them to enjoy that experience. I’m not saying we’re looking at a price increase, but it is pretty low at the moment,” he added.

Part of the growth of women’s rugby globally has been the new WXV tournament.