When asked, however, about the near-empty stadium after his side’s win over the USA, Mitchell responded: “It’s not my job to speak about that.”
Players disenchanted
Telegraph Sport understands players are deeply unenthused about having to take to the field inside cavernous stadiums. “It’s not the numbers we want as players,” said Keira Bevan, the Wales scrum-half, following her side’s 37-5 defeat to the Wallaroos, which was watched by just 291 fans in Cape Town’s 55,000-capacity DHL Stadium.
While a record-breaking 55,000 tickets have already been sold for next year’s women’s showpiece, World Rugby has not shared any figures around ticket sales for WXV. It was later claimed around 4,000 were snapped up for the opening day’s action at BC Place, which featured a triple header and saw Ireland, ranked sixth in the world, stun world champions New Zealand with a 29-27 victory. As the local organising committee of WXV1, which features the world’s top-ranked teams, Rugby Canada is responsible for all ticket sales and marketing.
World Rugby launched WXV last year in a bid to increase playing opportunities between Test nations and ultimately close the performance gap between the top-ranked and lower-ranked nations in the women’s game to make World Cups more competitive.
The body has already signalled the tournament’s current format will be reviewed after next year’s World Cup, with Sally Horrox, the organisation’s director of women’s rugby, acknowledging there is a “need for greater certainty and simplicity” in how the competition is run.
“We are confident the model will evolve and change,” said Horrox. “We’ve got some really strong options on the table that have really strong support from the unions. We’re going to debrief after this edition of WXV and we’ll make some announcements early next year.”
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