BBC to show 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup

The broadcaster will show every game of next summer’s tournament, which will be hosted in England

New Zealand will defend their World Cup crown in England next summer (Getty Images)

The BBC has won the race to show every game of next summer’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.

The broadcaster, which also holds the rights to the Women’s Six Nations, will provide live coverage of select fixtures on their linear channels, with the rest of the tournament available via the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website.

Hosts England are favourites as the Red Roses look to become world champions for the first time since 2014 having suffered a narrow World Cup final defeat to New Zealand at Eden Park in 2022.

John Mitchell’s side begin their campaign in the opening fixture at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on August 22, with the soon-to-be renamed Allianz Stadium in Twickenham set to host the final on September 27.

Ten teams have already qualified for the tournament, with the remaining six quaifiers set to be confirmed after WXV in October. The event will also be shown live on the BBC’s platforms.

“We are delighted to be partnering with BBC Sport for Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 and WXV,” Alan Gilpin, chief executive of World Rugby, said.

New Zealand pipped the Red Roses in Auckland at the last World Cup (Getty Images)

“The BBC is a massive champion of women’s rugby and women’s sport more broadly and with their multi-platform, diverse programming approach and regional reach, we look forward to making history together – the biggest, most accessible and record-breaking celebration of women’s rugby ever.”

Scotland and Wales are all but assured of qualification having advanced to WXV2, which will be held in South Africa, while Ireland have already booked their spot at next year’s World Cup.

ITV and Channel 4 had also been interested in showing what could be a transformative event for women’s rugby. ITV showed the last tournament as part of a joint agreement that also included the rights to the men’s World Cup, with this marking the first time that the women’s rights have been sold separately by World Rugby.

A peak audience of 1.9m watched England beat France in the Women’s Six Nations grand slam decider in Bordeaux earlier this year, the largest television audience for a Red Roses match since the 2017 World Cup final.