Women’s Rugby World Cup: New trophy unveiled for 2025 tournament

The new silverware is actually the third Women’s Rugby World Cup trophy since the tournament started in 1991.

It will now embark on a three-week tour of the eight host cities and towns: Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Exeter, London, Manchester, Northampton, Sunderland and York.

The oval silhouette design is crafted in sterling silver with 24-carat gold and retains the twin handles of the original trophy.

The nine world champions who helped design it alongside Daley-Mclean were England’s Sarah Hunter, Rachael Burford and Gill Burns, with New Zealand’s Fiao’o Fa’amausili, Monalisa Codling, Farah Palmer, Anna Richards and Melodie Robinson.

Mclean said: “With the potential on this tournament being the biggest Women’s World Cup yet, it seemed an appropriate time for a new trophy.

“This trophy hopefully connects the past to the present allowing all to remember the trailblazing of those that came before us.”

The first trophy was won by the United States in 1991 and England in 1994 before it went missing for 15 years.

It was eventually found during a clean-out of a rugby administrator’s parent’s attic.

With the original trophy lost, a new one was made for the 1998 World Cup.

This trophy would be presented at seven tournaments in total including the last World Cup hosted and won by New Zealand in 2022.

The second trophy has been nicknamed ‘Nancy’ by New Zealand’s women who have lifted it six times – an affectionate reference to World War II hero Nancy Wake.

Wake was a New Zealand woman who was living and working in Paris when the war broke out and joined the French Resistance.

She constantly eluded capture earning the nickname ‘The White Mouse’. This trophy was also won once by England in 2014, coincidentally in Paris.