Gallagher, a global insurance company, which also sponsors men's premiership rugby in England has come on board as an official partner of women’s rugby and Rugby World Cup 2025.
Gallagher will be an official partner of WXV in 2023 and 2024 – the new, three-tier annual global women’s competition featuring 18 teams.
Gallagher will also be the founding partner of a new women's High Performance Academy, a development and leadership programme established by World Rugby with the aim of increasing the prominence of female coaches and other high performance roles at elite levels of the sport
The programme will develop existing coaching talent and identify new women coaches and other high-performance roles in rugby, with the aim of improving the overall standard of women’s rugby around the world. The initial focus will be in England, Australia and the USA to mirror the host locations for the next three women’s Rugby World Cups.
Gallagher sponsor several men's sports properties including Indycar and US baseball. This is their first commitment in women' sport and World Rugby described the deal as a three year multi-million pound commitment.
The launch was supported by former New Zealand player and three-time Rugby World Cup winner, Kendra Cocksedge and England’s most capped player, Rugby World Cup winner and former captain, Sarah Hunter in Chicago.
World Rugby Chief of Women's Rugby Sally Horrox added: “From the very start, Gallagher has shown a real commitment to supporting the women’s game. The partnership sees them backing three of our most important programmes; WXV, World Rugby's exciting new three-tiered annual tournament, RWC 2025 and what will now be known as the Gallagher High Performance Academy. Gallagher cares deeply about rugby and is committed to increasing the opportunity for women both on and off the field. We look forward to working with them closely on the exciting pathway to 2025 and beyond.”