Gallagher Announced As Official Partner of Women’s Rugby, WXV and RWC 2025

World Rugby has today confirmed that Gallagher has signed a multi-year global partnership to be the Official Partner of women’s rugby, WXV, and Rugby World Cup 2025.

Gallagher Chairman, President and CEO J. Patrick Gallagher, Jr said: “We are extremely proud to partner with World Rugby and to provide a pathway for women aspiring to work at elite levels of the sport through Rugby World Cup, WXV and the Gallagher High Performance Academy. Gallagher has deep roots within rugby and a rich history in sports partnerships, sharing the core values of driving high performance through teamwork, integrity, inclusivity, respect and professional excellence.”

World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby Sally Horrox added: “From the very start, Gallagher has shown a real commitment to supporting the women’s game.”

WXV & Gallagher Official Partnership

Gallagher is a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services company, has signed on to be the Official Partner of WXV in 2023 and 2024. The new global women’s XV rugby format is due to get underway in 2023 but there have been surprisingly few commercial agreements announced until now.

The new, three-tier annual global women’s competition will feature 18 teams and World Rugby says it will “revolutionise the women’s international rugby landscape, providing for the first time a meaningful pathway for all unions and a competitive springboard toward an expanded Rugby World Cup in 2025.”

WXV will help sustainably ensure a minimum of 10 international fixtures per year for teams, doubling the current fixture programme, and raising the reach, profile and impact of the global game.

Rugby World Cup 2025

The expanded Rugby World Cup 2025 in England aims to reach and convert new fans. World Rugby says “Gallagher has well-established operations across key markets with a strong presence in rugby including in England, Australia and New Zealand along with a substantial and growing footprint in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions.

Image Credit: World Rugby

The partnership represents Gallagher’s international outlook and commitment to diversity, a major driver of the sponsorship of Rugby World Cup 2025.

Christopher E. Mead, Gallagher’s Chief Marketing Officer said: “We are very excited to be bringing together Gallagher with a world-class organisation that shares our values. This partnership will provide a career track for women and support the growth of women’s rugby around the world. It will also help deepen connections within communities where we live and work, while helping us support local business partners with our expertise and innovative solutions.”

High Performance Academy – Gallagher Founding Partner

The High Performance Academy was also confirmed to be a “fully immersive development and leadership programme established by World Rugby and Gallagher with the stated mission of increasing the prominence of female coaches and other high-performance roles at elite levels of the sport that will have a lasting impact on the women’s game.”

This will include a focus on:

• Talent identification
• Professional support
• Championing the next generation of international-level coaches

At the most recent Rugby World Cup 2021, there was only one female head coach among the 12 participating teams – Japan Women’s Head Coach Lesley McKenzie. England’s Simon Middleton has just ended his reign and a male coack is linked to succeed him – John Mitchell.

World Rugby says it is looking to “raise standards on and off the field, underpinning a more competitive game on the road to Rugby World Cup 2025 and beyond…..The programme has the aim of improving the overall standard of women’s rugby around the world.

The initial focus will be in England, Australia and the USA” as they are the next three hosts of the next three women’s Rugby World Cups. World Rugby says the “ambition is to make the programme truly global.”

World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin added: “This is an endorsement of the compelling and undeniable opportunity that we have in front of us to grow the game as a whole. All the evidence shows that by leading with women and girls we can propel the sport to new levels, unlocking new markets, attracting new audiences and developing impactful partnerships.”

Gallagher’s World Rugby Partnership Ambassadors

Former New Zealand player and three-time Rugby World Cup winner, Kendra Cocksedge and England’s most capped player, Rugby World Cup winner and former captain, Sarah Hunter who retired in this season’s Six Nations were both unveiled as ambassadors for Gallagher’s World Rugby partnership.

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• World Rugby and Mastercard 2023 Youth Unstoppables.