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George Gregan: Home World Cup will give England ‘positive energy’
Wallabies legend George Gregan has urged England to embrace the positive energy created by playing in a home Rugby World Cup.
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The Red Roses will be the overwhelming favourites to win a third title when Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 kicks off in Sunderland on August 22.
John Mitchell’s side have won 22 matches in a row, including back-to-back victories to start this year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations, and have lost only one of their previous 53 Tests.
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That loss came in the last World Cup final, against hosts New Zealand two and a half years ago, and Gregan disabused the notion that playing on home soil in August and September could weigh heavily on the players.
Asked about his own experience of representing the host nation in a showpiece tournament, Gregan – who captained Australia to the RWC 2003 final in Sydney – said: “Firstly you’re playing in front of your home fans. Your family and friends are in the stand and they’re with you, which is amazing.
“Sometimes you play away from home, and they are with you in spirit, but they’re not physically there.
“You’re going around the country and if you’re lucky enough to go deeper into the tournament, the support and the belief [builds]. Everyone thinks, ‘Hang on, we might be able to do this’.
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“And so that energy has a really positive impact on the team. Some people say, ‘Oh, does it create pressure?’ No, it actually creates an extra person as part of your squad.
“It gives you a home ground advantage. I think it’s amazing and it just creates an incredible buzz throughout the country and a great energy.
“I’ve heard people who were here for the 2012 Olympics [talk about] that Olympic spirit. It’s very much like that with hosting a World Cup.”
Gregan was speaking at the launch event for RWC Experiences at Twickenham, and said the sight of the famous stadium full for the final on September 27 could have a lasting impact on the game.
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“I think it will be generational,” the 1999 World Cup winner said. “There will be young men and women in here who will be inspired by what they see on the pitch, which will [make] them want to take up the game or further work on the game and enjoy playing the game of rugby.
“If you can see it and you can almost touch it, which if you’re watching here at Twickenham, that’s definitely going to be the case. It’s, ‘Why can’t I be part of this? What would it take?’
“Not everyone’s going to, it’s very hard to get on this pitch but if it inspires the next generation, I think then that’s a really positive outcome. I think that will be the outcome.
“You see how much the game’s evolved and progressed and got better and better from the last World Cup.”
The Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 is coming to England. Click here to buy tickets.
