Lioness Lucy Bronze backs Red Roses to lift silverware at Rugby World Cup

Lioness Lucy Bronze knows exactly how it feels like to lift silverware and now she’s backing the Red Roses to follow suit ahead of the Women’s Rugby World Cup final in a period she describes ‘as the year of women’s sport’.

The England defender was part of the Women’s Euros triumph in July and will now be in the stands for the World Cup final at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

Ahead of the final, Bronze was at Richmond Rugby Club to shine a light on The National Lottery’s support for grassroots sport, with over £6 billion invested over the past 30 years, including £170 million into rugby, which has been game changing for women and girls.

“With us Lionesses, we can connect with being the home nation, holding the tournament, travelling around the country, filling out stadiums here, there and everywhere, which you aren’t used to,” Bronze said.

“And being a part of that and seeing how the whole country has supported them from the very beginning has been amazing.

“We talk about it with the Lionesses, the impact is amazing from what we do but we never get to see it, it is the first time that all of us that we have been able to watch so closely and had such a big connection with the Red Roses.

“We have been able to be fans of a women’s sport in England being successful, we’ve never been on the other side to see the impact.

“It is the first time for us to really feel that which is amazing.”

Over the last 30 years, by investing over £6 billion into grassroots clubs and organisations, The National Lottery has been game-changing for women and girls’ sport

Nearly £50 million of that has been invested in women’s and girls’ rugby since 2009, while £11.8 million has been committed by Sport England to women’s and girls’ rugby between 2022 and 2027.

The aim is not only to increase the eyes on the game, with the World Cup boasting record crowds and viewership.

But it is also to improve participation in the grassroots game, both in playing but also in other facets of the game.

2014 World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi said: “If England win, I’m hoping to see what happened with the Lionesses.

“They won the Euros twice and now you see lots of young girls and boys wearing Chloe Kelly shirts and Lucy Bronze shirts, that shows you the power of what they have created and what I am hoping is if the Red Roses win, we get the same.

“People wearing Ellie Kildunne shirts, Jess Breach shirts, but also there will be more eyes on our sport, more people will come and watch domestic rugby, women and girls’ rugby, but also want to be part of the sport.

“That is our big thing, we need to grow it and not just players, officials, volunteers, people in senior leadership roles, we want to move the game forward.”

Thanks to National Lottery players, over £6 billion of National Lottery funding has been invested into grassroots sport. Nearly £50 million has been invested in women’s and girls’ rugby in England in the last 15 years creating the infrastructure that's now producing world-class female rugby players.