The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 is now underway, with the opening game breaking the 2022 Final's attendance record. Looking at TV audience data from the England vs. USA game, we can see that 1,555,000 members of the public tuned in on average - with a peak audience of 2,522,000. The gender split of this audience was 54% male vs. 46% female (a more even split than the 2025 Men's or Women's Six Nations series).

But what do Britons think about the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 in general?

In terms of general awareness, over half of the public (53%) and nearly nine in ten rugby fans (88%) are aware of the tournament.

So how do these rugby fans intend to follow the tournament? A quarter say they’ll follow as many matches as they can (24%), but another quarter (25%) say they only intend to watch England. Some 8% plan to start watching during the knockout stages, while another 9% say they will only watch the final. Some 34% aren’t sure how they’ll follow the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

As for their preferred medium, 56% say they intend to watch on live TV, while 29% say they’ll catch up via highlights. A quarter say they’ll follow the tournament via the news (25%), while a fifth (20%) will do so via social media. Some 12% said they planned to follow the 2025 contest via a live broadcast outside of their home (e.g. at a pub or bar).

Younger fans are more likely to watch a live broadcast of the competition out of home (20% vs. 12% of rugby fans in general), and more likely to follow it on social media (35% vs. 20% of rugby fans in general). Over 55s are most likely to follow the tournament on live TV at home (63% vs. 56%).

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YouGov polled 2,006 British adults online on 21-22 August. The survey was carried out through YouGov Surveys: Self-serve. Data is weighted by age, gender, education level, region, and social grade. The margin of error is 2% for the overall sample. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Self-serve.