One way or another, the Women’s Rugby World Cup will be done by Saturday evening. The final whistle will mark the end of the beginning of a series of major women’s sports events that are being staged in the UK over the next decade. From June next year the country is hosting the Women’s T20 World Cup, and in July 2027 it will hold the Grand Départ of the Tour de France Femmes. It is also bidding for the World Athletics and Para Athletics Championships in 2029, the Netball World Cup in 2031 or 2033, and, the cherry on top, has an unopposed bid in for the football’s Women’s World Cup in 2035.
Whisper it, but the UK has quietly become the best venue in the world for women’s sporting tournaments. Which feels like a rare and precious thing in 21st‑century Britain: a reason to be cheerful about the state we’re in.
