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England’s Red Roses have launched an innovative “wearable report” to highlight rugby’s gender awareness gap.
Designed by full-back Ellie Kildunne, the range of garments uses data from a Women’s Sports Trust report that show that, while audiences for women’s rugby continue to swell, visibility of the sport remains a problem.
While a dominant England have secured six straight Women’s Six Nations titles, 63% of rugby union fans are unable to name a single member of John Mitchell’s squad.
Developed in partnership by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and O2, the five-piece collection incorporates key findings from the report with the aim of growing the fanbase and increasing matchday attendances.
England take on France at Kingsholm on Saturday in the first of two warm-up games ahead of WXV, before a clash with world champions New Zealand at the renamed Allianz Stadium in Twickenham next weekend.
“I want to be in a position where I’ve helped grow the game both on the pitch through being a great player, but also off the pitch through my creativity,” Kildunne, the Women’s Six Nations player of the championship, explained having launched creative platform 5022 earlier this year.
“It’s really cool that both the RFU and O2 have seen the vision and taken the leap into doing something differently. It’s exciting to be part of something that is new and fresh and reflects what women’s rugby is becoming.
“That’s the space that women’s rugby is going into. It’s creating its own audience, it’s very accessible. With the visibility rising through projects like this, we are only going to grow the game in ways it has not been before.”
A peak audience of 1.9m tuned in for England’s grand slam decider against France on the BBC on the final weekend of the Women’s Six Nations with overall audiences up by a third from last year.
36,000 tickets have been sold for the clash with the Black Ferns next week in the first fixture at the rechristened Allianz Stadium.
“This would never have happened at the start of my career,” experienced scrum-half Natasha ‘Mo’ Hunt said of the project. “People didn’t necessarily care back then, but people now really do care what we are doing. They want to change the equality gap and shed a light on what is happening. It is a real pleasure to be part of it.”
To see the Red Roses in action, fans can purchase a ticket here to watch their upcoming match against New Zealand (the Black Ferns) on Saturday 14th September at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
