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Harlequins Women set fourth attendance World Record in Twickenham
By Imogen Ainsworth
Harlequins set a new World Record for a crowd at a women’s club rugby match during their Big Game 16 matchup with Leicester Tigers at Allianz Stadium.
Ross Chisholm’s side took their place at the top of the Premiership Women’s Rugby table to see out 2024 with 40 points after clinching eight wins from 10.
World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year, England’s Ellie Kildunne, scored twice in the 42-17 victory, but it was Welsh star Kayleigh Powell who was awarded Player of the Match after a stunning display in Twickenham which included her 28th-minute try.
Tigers struck first through Megan Jones, but two second-half scores from Emily Henrich and the USA’s Keia Mae Sagapolu Sanele weren’t enough for the eighth-place team to close the gap.
As the two most successful scrums in the league went face-to-face, Tigers prevailed, but their performance was marred elsewhere by yellow cards to Jones and Canada’s Julia Omokhuale and they continued to struggle with their lineout.
In addition to their table-topping win, Harlequins set the record for the largest crowd at a women’s club rugby game for the fourth consecutive year as 18,055 fans watched on at Allianz Stadium.
The latest figure is an increase of over 1,800 fans from the record they set in 2023 at Big Game 15 against league winners Gloucester-Hartpury, which stood at 16,238.
Harlequins Women first played a Premiership fixture as part of the doubleheader in 2021, when they beat Wasps 29-5.
Big Game 14 saw another record crowd of 15,420 flock to Twickenham, but Harlequins fell 25 – 54 to Exeter Chiefs.
Chisholm said: “We are immensely proud to break yet another World Record at Big Game 16. We are entering what will be a huge year for the women’s game and this is a fantastic way to kick that off.
“This has been a whole-club effort and on behalf of everyone at Harlequins I would like to thank the supporters who came out today to be part of this World Record. We look forward to seeing you when we take on Saracens later next month at The Stoop.”
Following their eight-try win, Harlequins will face local rivals Trailfinders in round 12 on 4 January at Trailfinders Sports Club.
Leicester Tigers are back at home on the same day and will play Sale Sharks at Mattioli Woods Welford Road as they look to secure a second victory over the bottom-of-the-table side.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup final will take place at Twickenham Stadium on 27 September 2025, and hosts England go into the World Cup year ranked number one in the world.
John Mitchell’s Red Roses will play at both Welford Road (versus Scotland) and Twickenham Stadium (versus France), as well as York Community Stadium (versus Italy) in their home matches of the 2025 Guinness Women’s Six Nations.
York will also play host to RWC 2025 pool stage matches, the first being Canada vs Fiji on 23 August 2025.
With 16 teams competing at eight venues across England, RWC 2025 will be the biggest women’s RWC to date, and over 220,000 tickets have already been sold.
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