Exactly one year before hosts England kick off the opening match of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England, World Rugby has announced an exclusive partnership with the BBC for UK broadcast rights.

The cross-platform deal reflects the tournament’s ambition to increase the relevance, reach and impact of the biggest women’s rugby event of all time and its stars.

BBC Sport will broadcast live coverage of the tournament across linear channels, with every match also available live on BBC iPlayer and the Sport website and app. This will provide unprecedented coverage of the eight-city, nationwide festival of women’s rugby and will expose rugby’s biggest stars to more people in the UK than ever before.

Live audio commentary will be broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports Extra. Fans can listen to 5 Live coverage on BBC Sounds, DAB radio and the BBC Sport website.

The exclusive coverage deal means there will also be content on BBC Scotland, BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland.

Host England is currently number one in the world rankings and has already qualified for the qualification. The “Red Roses fever” threatens to sweep over the host country.

Nine other teams have already qualified, with the remaining six places securing them a ticket to the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, which will be held at WXV later this year.

As part of a groundbreaking agreement for women’s rugby, the BBC and World Rugby can also confirm that WXV will also be available on BBC iPlayer, the UK’s sports website and app, creating a slate of content leading up to next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Alan Gilpin, CEO of World Rugby, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with BBC Sport for the Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 and WXV.

“The BBC is a huge supporter of women’s rugby and women’s sport in general. With its cross-platform, diverse programming approach and regional reach, we look forward to working together to make history – the biggest, most accessible and record-breaking celebration of women’s rugby ever.”

Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport, added: “Next summer will be a big moment for women’s sport and following coverage from WXV and the Women’s 6 Nations Championship on the BBC, we are proud to bring audiences exclusive coverage of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup in England.

“Major sporting events have a unique ability to bring people together, and this is especially true when international competitions take place on home soil. And we can’t wait.”

The Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 begins on August 22nd. Host nation England will open the competition at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. The 10th edition of the tournament will be played at eight venues across the country, with the final taking place on September 27th, 2025 at the legendary Twickenham Stadium in London.

World Rugby today announced the kick-off times for the opening match and the final two matches of the tournament. Tickets go on sale at 10:00 BST (GMT+1) on 24 September and close at 10:00 BST on 8 October.