That the Red Roses 'celebration' at Battersea power station just looks a bit crap

From here.

Official figures

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/womens-rugby-world-cup-final-figures#:~:text=BBC%20Sport%20has%20made%20broadcasting,Rugby%20World%20Cup%202025%20final.

Just because people watch on TV doesn't mean they care enough to turn up to see an open-top bus celebration through the streets of London.

I thought the balcony appearance was hilarious as most of them were clearly still drunk or incredibly hungover! I spoke to one of the players mums last week and she said they were all planning a huge party Saturday night whatever the result . It all did seem a bit forced and unplanned but tbh I was so amazed at the BBC putting women's sport on terrestrial TV as well as the 'party' that it didn't matter! Had a look at the Daily Mail this morning and they didn't even mention it until you clicked through to the sports pages and then clicked onto Rugby!

In comparison to what? Why are you comparing it to anything? It was an event its own right, which 5.8 million cared about. You seem very bitter about that.

Where did you get 5.8 million from

I saw a rather embarrassing article excitedly reporting In total, 4.6 million viewers tuned in to the live coverage over the weekend. and the final pulled in 600000 in player and 2.3 mil on bbc

Yes I’ll acknowledge that it was a minority in comparison.

You said ‘no one cares’. I was addressing that. Are you going to acknowledge that at least 5.8 million people cared?

There was 90,000 each night at Wembley for Oasis. Perhaps we should shut the roads in honour of their sell-out tour?

A bus route through London would have been mortifying for these players. Most people would have wondered what the heck it was all about; others would try and hail it

Well then you should know better. No one goes to trafalgar square unless they have to or they don’t know better

That’s what happens when near amateurs play professionals. England are the best funded team and have been for a long time. It’s no coincidence they won.
Having said that, I thought it was a fantastic tournament - the atmosphere in the stadia was brilliant and there was a lot of support for the “minor” teams.

Dave Ward is the head coach at Bristol Bears where Abi plays. He had a long career at Quins playing no. 2 & 7. They both moved from Quins to take up their roles. Probably a more knowledgeable interviewee than most

81,885 people attended the final yesterday. 5.8 million people watched on TV. You can pretend no one cares if it makes you happy, but it’s not true.

Even men's rugby isn't nearly as big as men's football. I watched most of the England games in the World Cup and they were fantastic, but in general people were a lot more interested and enthusiastic about the Lionesses.

@SmudgeButt the "farming" is known around our local youth league.. basically some of the farming villages seem to produce teams that look several years older, extremely broad etc compared to the teams from old mining or mill villages. Genetics i presume.

I’m always surprised when national team celebrations are just a day after an event. If you don’t live in (usually) London it takes time to organise going down and there is school or work tomorrow. Makes more sense for winners of local league or cup as fans generally live close by.

I wasn't going to go in any case as I live too far away and they were not the team I was supporting.

But I was really annoyed at the commentators for the game yesterday. Making comments about "oh she's strong because she was raised on a dairy farm!" Like as if she'd been bench pressing cows all her life I guess. Never heard someone talk like that about a guy's fitness for a sport.

And all the comments about how hard it must be for the "girls" being away from their families and their children. Topped by interviewing one of the husbands at the end - I turned off in disgust. I can't recall ever seeing a WAG being interviewed about how hard life is at home without their bloke.

Rant over. For now.

They are. Stop with the false equivalence.

So jo one should mention anything but football because you've decided they are minority sports? OK...

Yes. Those people are in the minority. We can’t stop the traffic for parades to appease those who took an interest in a minority sport.

It’s not misogyny. I’m stating a fact. I wish minority sports would stop being given equivalence. That’s what bewilders me. The nation as a whole doesn’t watch.

It has been a massive deal to those already interested in the game but so so much more could have been done to entice people in.

I was at Twickenham yesterday and the atmosphere was phenomenal. Men, women and kids all completely behind their team. I’ve never seen fans at Twickenham so passionate - and I’ve seen England men play the All Blacks and Six Nations matches there.

The TV coverage has been pretty poor - much more could have been done by the media. Just look at today’s front pages - half the papers didn’t cover it at all whereas all the tabloids were all over the Lionesses.

And I wish people like you would stop with the appalling misogyny. You clearly care enough to post. No appalling thuggery in the women’s game at least

Speak for yourself.