New Zealand Rugby releases 10-year plan to grow women’s game

April 14, 2023

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has launched a 10-year plan to drive growth of women’s rugby union in the country that will see it invest more than $21 million this year.

Coming after the Black Ferns defended their Rugby World Cup title on home soil last year, the plan will also see NZR create six new dedicated women’s rugby roles across community, high performance and commercial.

The plan will see unions and organisations across the country will use the ‘New Zealand Women and Girls in Rugby System Strategy’ to assess where they are at on their women and girls’ journey and develop action plans across five key areas: culture, system, participation, performance and transitions.

The 26 provincial unions will develop individual action plans, according to local needs and supported by NZR. According to the strategy, women and girls player numbers could grow year-on-year at an average rate of 2,500 and hit 50,000 in 2033.

The governing body is aiming for its new initiative to capitalise on the interest generated as a result of the Black Ferns’ success to expand the sport even further. The organisation added that the strategy is the result of 1,547 hours of input from 2,221 stakeholders across New Zealand rugby.

NZR Chair, Patsy Reddy commented “we are riding an extraordinary wave of excitement and engagement with women’s rugby in Aotearoa, the likes of which we’ve never seen.

“We truly believe that rugby is a game for all and there’s a huge opportunity ahead of us over the next decade to engage more women and girls. What’s crucial is that it is done in a deliberate, structured, and focused way.”

NZR Chief Executive, Mark Robinson added “our focus as an organisation is on leading and enabling the implementation of the strategy. We’re incredibly proud and excited about the impact this action plan will have on the women’s game this year, but we also respect that everyone is at different points and our commitment is to walk alongside the rugby community in this journey.”

NZR has also agreed an extension of it multi-year technical partnership with sportswear giant adidas, worth an estimated $10 million a year.

adidas’ longstanding partnership with New Zealand Rugby was first signed in 1999 and was most recently extended in 2017.

Images: The Silver Ferns in action at Auckland's Eden Park (top, credit: Photosport NZ/Eden Park) and New Zealand Rugby has agreed an extension of it multi-year partnership with adidas (below, credit: New Zealand Rugby/adidas).

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