Women’s Rugby World Cup: Inequality vs. Dreams, the Challenge.

The stark contrast after the Women’s Rugby World Cup

After training with Samoa, captaining his team and perfecting his work on the field, Sui Pauaraisa video-called his three children in New Zealand to make sure they were ready for school. For Pauaraisa, the four weeks Samoa has spent in England represent the longest period he has been away from his family.

“I can’t wait to see my children,” Pauaraisa said. “I just want a hug, I just want to kiss them.”

Sui Pauaraisa

The Samoan team will return home on Wednesday and each player will go their separate ways, not knowing when they will meet again. Pauaraisa will return to Auckland before flying to her home in Christchurch. She will be there to pick up her children from school. On Thursday, she will return to her daily job as a clinical administrator.

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The calendar is relentless, but it’s the reality for many players in this World Cup. Some have had to take unpaid leave, others have borrowed and resorted to crowdfunding to get to England. They have left behind their loved ones, all with the aim of representing their country and inspiring future generations.

“That is the sacrifice I have made, in the blue jersey. I want to be someone they can admire,” Pauaraisa said. “I want them to grow up and be strong women, so that they can be a role model for them.”

Sui Pauaraisa

A World Cup of legacy, but also of deeply unequal playing fields, where inspiration intertwines with uncertainty. In a sport where self-interest sometimes prevails, there is a great disparity between teams. The hope is that this World Cup will be the catalyst for change and close the gap. For the protagonists of this competition, who have played an important role during three glorious weeks of rugby, the return to reality looms, and many face an uncertain future in the game, not knowing when their next match will be or if they will be able to make a living from the sport they love. We’ve seen elite professional teams face off against groups of amateur players. The amateurs have won hearts and minds, but this is a World Cup that hopes to trigger long-term change and provide a platform for growth. The disparities are evident everywhere. For example, contracts: England’s 32 players have full-time contracts and receive a match fee of around £1,500. Wales, Ireland, and Scotland also have contracted players, the latter, at least for the moment, with approximately half of their contracts expiring at the end of the World Cup. New Zealand has 45 full-time contracts, while Australia’s players have agreements and their salaries are increased by daily bonuses. The United States players have contracts until September, not all Italian players have contracts, while those from Japan receive a daily allowance. We’re not talking about huge sums of money here, men’s salaries far exceed anything in the women’s game. However, even at these levels, teams like Samoa and Canada had to resort to crowdfunding to get to the World Cup. Canada! They are some of the favorites. They created the initiative “Mission: Win the 2025 Rugby World Cup” to help raise 1 million Canadian dollars (£540,000) for their trip to England.

World Rugby highlights how it funded the travel of the 16 teams to England and covers the costs of their stay in the country. But the question, of course, revolves around what happens when the music stops.

“Raising the profile of women’s rugby in countries around the world and working with them to raise the profile is the first step in being able to increase investment and commercial support and unlock funds from governments, which is our focus in terms of financial sustainability over the next four years,” said Sally Horrox, head of women’s rugby at World Rugby.

Sally Horrox

It will be an impactful experience for many players now that the group stages are over. We saw the emotion of Samoa coach Mataafa Ramsey Tomokino, and captain Pauaraisa after the match against England; the joy they felt for the three points they obtained from the tee. Mataafa Ramsey was visibly moved when recalling the applause and welcome his team received when they got off the bus in Northampton.

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Pauaraisa sat beside him, excited, and gave him a hug at the end of his passionate call for more support to be given to Samoa.

“I had doubts about being able to get here financially, because I have a mortgage to pay… You know, we are not contracted players and I didn’t know how it would work,” said Fa’asua Makisi, Samoa center.

Fa’asua Makisi

“I have seven siblings and I am the oldest sister, so I have to take them to their sports and school activities and I didn’t know if leaving would be manageable for my family. But as always, and as I anticipated, mom said: ‘There’s no way you’re staying. We’ll take care of everything here.’ She just took that weight off my shoulders so I would have the courage to come without worries or stress. I am really grateful for mom”.

Fa’asua Makisi

Back to Reality

After the excitement of playing in a World Cup, for many players it will be back to the daily grind. Sama Vergara, from Brazil, is a tattoo artist. Olivia DeMerchant, from Canada, is a firefighter. Manuqalo Komaitai works with the Irish Guard. Nomsai Mokwai, from South Africa, is an emergency care nurse. Drenna Falaniko, from Samoa, is a roofer. Then comes the legacy question, but also this incredible gap in the lives of the players. The question for those returning home is: What’s next? For those with amateur backgrounds, this could be the highlight of their careers. Even for those who have played professionally, nothing has matched this World Cup.

“I don’t think I’ll ever have such a joyful experience through rugby again,” said Kanako Kobayashi, from Japan.

Kanako Kobayashi

And for those at the twilight of their careers, the focus is on post-rugby and legacy.

“The goal we set for ourselves is to leave a legacy that inspires the youngest players and to raise awareness of rugby in our country, where it is not very well known,” said Laura Delgado, from Spain.

Laura Delgado

Delgado spoke at the beginning of the tournament about having to lie to his parents to pursue his dream in rugby. He obtained a scholarship as an honorary student at the University of Madrid for his master’s degree. But his true motivation, without his parents knowing, was to play for SANSE. She has been touched by the messages of support she has received from home, as they united behind the Leonas. For Samoa, which has won the hearts of so many, they hope the new global calendar will give them space to grow. Mataafa Ramsey will take on a new role as high-performance general manager at the Samoa Rugby Union.

“We have to do things in our region,” he said. “There are some funds coming from Pacific Coast Sport, for example, so we can create a Pacific competition. We need to reflect something like what the Six Nations have. So it’s us, Fiji, Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, who we have in our corner. We need to start doing that, and then maybe it will extend to an Asian country as well. I think if we can do that and get into professional spaces, then it will be much better”.

Mataafa Ramsey

In Brazil, they want to continue highlighting South American rugby. “In South America, as in the men’s game, we have potential in rugby,” said Brazil’s coach, Emiliano Caffera.

“We want to be the first country to pave the way for women’s rugby in South America. Now what we need are more matches, more tournaments, more support. We play two or three matches a year; I want to play nine, ten, twelve matches a year. I hope we are in the next Rugby World Cup”.

Emiliano Caffera

But for those who stay, there is also uncertainty on the horizon. The fact that they are in the playoffs does not mean that some of Scotland’s players can escape the worry of what life will be like after the World Cup. They head into Sunday’s quarter-final match against England unsure if they will have a contract after the tournament.

However, reaching the quarter-finals can, hopefully, mark a positive change at home.

Let’s take South Africa, whose incredible 29-24 victory over Italy secured them a place in the quarter-finals. This is a team that their own union prevented from competing in the 2017 World Cup due to poor results, while the men have won the 2019 and 2023 World Cups.

There are inspiring stories everywhere, but they are united by the desire to change sport for women in South Africa. “It feels like a watershed moment,” said Babalwa Latsha. “We’ve been building towards this for the last three or four years, many sacrifices have been made and many tears have been shed for South African women’s rugby. It’s almost a moment that’s like a beacon, so to speak, where it shines such a bright light that it shines across the entire horizon. It’s a completely new path that has been created.”

And although the United States is out, Ilona Maher will stay to watch the rest of the competition. “I hope all the girls reach new heights,” Maher said. “I hope we’re in the quarter-finals, but we’ll see. I’ll watch all the matches and I’ll stay to watch them. It’s too cool not to go to the World Cup knockout stage. It’s sold out at the Allianz [for the final] and I want to be a part of that”.

As the tournament progresses and we approach the final on September 27th, for the players of eight of the teams, the reality of daily life will return. “If you always have the dream of playing rugby, you first have to do the small things to get to the big ones,” said Kolora Lomani, from Fiji. We have been delighted with mothers, office workers, teachers, tattoo artists, and firefighters for the last three weeks. But they are all World Cup players. “New records have been set for the competition and for us,” said Latsha. “New paths have been established and also a validation of the dreams of many of us in our group, for some even a rebirth of dreams that may have been inactive.”