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'An era you don't want to miss': Renee Holmes eyes history at RWC 2025
Black Fern Renee Holmes is no stranger to reaching milestones against England.
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Three years ago, Holmes made her Test debut for the Black Ferns against the Red Roses at Sandy Park, Exeter, on the occasion of her country’s 100th Test match.
A year later, the fullback won her first Women’s Rugby World Cup title in the formidable black jersey which strengthened New Zealand’s World Cup dominance against England, now undefeated on the biggest stage in all six matches they’ve played against the Red Roses and in every RWC final they’ve featured in.
In 2010, the World Cup final took place at Twickenham Stoop, with the Black Ferns sealing the title in a 13-10 win against England in front of 13,253 fans.
When 27 September 2025 rolls around, the stage will be significantly bigger. No longer in the shadow of the home of English rugby, the finalists will rightfully take centre stage at Twickenham Stadium.
A year out from the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, the finalists of the last two editions will meet at the same stadium on 14th September as they prepare for WVX 1 and the upcoming RWC.
After setting World Records of their own for the crowd when they hosted the 2022 Rugby World Cup, later broken at Twickenham during the Women’s Six Nations, the Black Ferns don’t shy away from the challenge of performing in front of large numbers.
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Holmes spoke of the wider impact of England’s recent figures at the newly renamed Allianz Stadium in Twickenham which reached a high of 58,598 in 2023 and have been felt across the other side of the world ahead of their meeting this September.
“We’ve got a Test match here in Twickenham, the crowds that the English women are getting is really changing the game,” she told RugbyPass.
“It’s really cool for us to see back home, it’s actually helped our supporters get on down and support the game, seeing that they’re [England] making big changes on the other side of the world.
“That Twickenham game is going to be so electric and I can’t wait. It gives me goosebumps even just talking about it. I can’t wait for everyone to experience that and the world to see women’s rugby at its best.
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With the RFU hoping for another large crowd when the Black Ferns come to town for the 32nd meeting between the two sides, Holmes believes that the experience will be influential in their World Cup preparations.
“Heading into the last World Cup, that first game, there were a lot of us who hadn’t played in such a big crowd. For me personally, that was massive. I was blown away by the roar of the crowd,” she explained.
“We’ve got a lot of new girls in our team, a lot of young ones coming through, so for them to experience that a year out from the World Cup I think is so critical for us to do really well. Being able to experience that immense pressure a year out from the World Cup will be so important for us.”
Being part of a home World Cup for her first taste of the famed tournament, Holmes garnered the unique perspective of playing under the pressure of being the host nation.
“We ended up flipping the roles around about the word pressure,” the 24-year-old explained.
”A home World Cup, all eyes are on the home nation to do so well, and obviously, the Red Roses are an incredible team so everyone is going to expect them to win. Being able to turn that pressure into privileged pressure is something we really tried working hard on.
“It was a privilege to be running out in front of our home crowd and represent our country in front of our people. For England, that would be something I would happily share with them because it is an experience,” she added, sharing advice to next year’s host nation.
“They definitely know that because of the record-breaking crowds that they’ve had throughout the last couple of years, they’ll know what it’s like to play in front of their home crowd. When you put the title of a World Cup, it does change a little bit of the nerves.
Women’s sport has seen exponential growth in recent years, not least in rugby. Being part of this era of the women’s game is something Holmes doesn’t take for granted, and she spoke with immense pride about what it means to wear the Black Ferns jersey.
“It makes me so proud. That’s one word I will forever carry with me throughout my rugby journey because so many women paved the way for us to get into this professional era,” she reflected during a break in filming at the RWC 2025 video shoot.
“For it [women’s rugby] to start finally flourishing and women’s sport taking off, everyone commenting and wanting to watch women in sport, it makes me so proud.
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“To know that I’m a part of that era where people are watching us, makes me so happy. I’ve got to remember to always be a role model because there are a lot of eyes on us now. To be fair, you can’t actually play this game if you’re not a good person. That’s something that’s really special about our black jersey.
“You can be a phenomenal player, but you won’t survive in a team if you’re not a phenomenal person. That’s something that I think a lot of people are really enjoying women in sport because all these athletes that are out there doing amazing are actually really good people.
“Women’s rugby is so different because we are ourselves, and you can see it on the field the way we express ourselves. We’re out there genuinely having fun and that’s what rugby is to us, it’s why we play.
“I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have fun while they’re playing rugby, why else would you be playing? Women’s sport is absolutely thriving at the moment, this is an era you don’t want to miss out on.”
Women’s rugby shone this summer in the spotlight of the Paris Olympics. New Zealand winning their second Olympic gold medal in consecutive years in women’s rugby sevens was one of many highlights of the sport at the Games.
Holmes spoke with beaming adulation about the achievement of the sevens squad out in France.
“I definitely got a little bit emotional actually watching that final especially because we’re all so close, the Black Ferns and the Black Ferns Sevens.
“You just know what kind of journey each and every one of those players went through to get there so just to see them go out there and play the way they played was just so rewarding, as a friend, as a teammate.
I just know they made our country really proud and it brought a lot of light and positivity to our country. And they got the first medal of the Olympics for us [New Zealand] so that’s very exciting.
“The crowd on day one…that was phenomenal. Women in sport, we’re making big changes and it’s really cool to be a part of that era where we have 60,000+ people watching women play rugby.
“I’ve heard of the volleyball crowd records and such over in the States, but for it to be a women’s rugby game is even more special,” Holmes, who represented New Zealand in four sports before the age of 21, said with pride.
Following the culmination of the tournament, arguably one of the greatest players of all time, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe retired from rugby.
Holmes gave insight into her experience being in the same team as such a legend of the game.
“She was actually my first-ever roomie in the Black Ferns XVs! I was so nervous, that whole week leading into camp, I was thinking ‘please don’t put me with a sevens player’ because I was going to fan girl so much,” she confessed with a laugh.
“I got put with P and it was an incredible experience. To see how high-performance of an athlete she is and everything she does to get her to where she is today was incredible.
“I got to see it first hand and it really inspired me. She’s left the biggest legacy. The whole world knows who Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is. I’ll happily call her the GOAT, she is one of the greatest if not the greatest of all time and to be able to say that I played alongside her is something I’ll cherish forever.”
Despite having six World Cup titles to their name, the Black Ferns continue to strive for new heights.
“I’m not sure in the professional era that any team has gone back to back to back in the women’s World Cup. That’s a really big talking point in our group, being the first team to ever do that. We know it’s going to be tough,” Holmes said of their 2025 ambitions.
“Coming all the way over here to England, we knew how tough it was for all of the countries who had to travel to New Zealand when we hosted the last one, we are ready to embrace everything that will be thrown at us. As long as we just learn from everything that happens along the way it’s going to lead us to that World Cup final.”
The Black Ferns began their year with the Pacific Four Series teaching them valuable lessons.
The Series saw them record wins against the USA and Australia, but it was their first-ever loss against Series champions Canada that Holmes believes provided the most pertinent learnings as they build towards RWC 2025.
“We had new coaches come in last year and we know that we’re on the upward trajectory. PAC 4 is a crucial stepping stone in that. We actually had a result of a loss against Canada which had never happened before, and I think it’s probably been one of the biggest and most awesome learnings,” she divulged.
“The week after that Canada game, the conversations that were being had within the likes of our leadership and management groups, were conversations that needed to be had probably prior to that match. Everyone always says you gain the most from those losses, and I’m excited because I feel like we have.”
Following this weekend’s match against the Red Roses, the Black Ferns will travel to Canada to compete in WXV 1 against Ireland, England, and France.
Last year’s competition saw New Zealand win two out of three matches, suffering losses against France and champions England, but beating Wales, who will compete in WXV 2 this year, 70-7.
The new global tournament provides teams with the increased opportunity to regularly face international teams which has been long yearned for.
“That’s [WXV] all we’ve been asking for I think is just being able to get exposed to the top-tier countries a lot more. It wasn’t good enough waiting four years to play the likes of France, England, Canada once at a World Cup.
“To have World Rugby and all of the other countries starting to realise that’s what we need – it’s going to keep the game alive and growing having those harder matches more often. To have WXV now, getting to play the top teams every year is very critical to our game and helping it grow,” Holmes enthused.
You can buy tickets to watch New Zealand, England, Canada, France, Ireland, and the USA in WXV 1 here.
