On Saturday England women took on France in the TikTok 6 nations grand slam decider, A world record crowd for a women’s game witnessed something very special. I am not hear to talk about the game though

Many people have talked about the diversity of the crowd but there was something even more important: Within that younger, and more female crowd was also a demographic that have been around the game for many years. The old boys who have been the fabric of the game for generation after generation. The ones who have been priced out of the modern, corporate Twickenham of the men’s game. They were in the on the trains and in the cafes on the way to the game, they were in the pubs having a late breakfast, they were not the majority, but they are an example of one of the many defining moments in this event.

For the women’s game to truly succeed, it can uniquely attract new viewers as well as providing a new and very different experience for these more traditional fans of the game. They are rugby fans; they are not the ones who now fill the stadiums for men’s games, to whom the rugby is now a secondary experience.  Those traditional fans that were there on Saturday, possibly seeing a women’s game maybe for the first time, will have nothing but positive experience to share. In a way the rugby was the peripheral but not in a beer swilling, lads, lads, lads way. This was more than a game it was a celebration of where the women’s game has gone and where it is going.

I met up with countless people I have known in my rugby journey over the years, I drank too much, repeated the same stories and probably bored many people to tears, but it was a moment in which I felt the women’s game deserved; It was a thank you to the giants of the game from the past, those people who have banged the drum, the scrumqueens, the journalists who have pushed to promote it, and all of those pioneers who set the standards .

How do I measure success now? When 2025 comes around I hope I can’t get a ticket for the Twickenham final.