World Rugby has named 250 women to its 2026 Women in Rugby Careers Programme, selecting the cohort from more than 1,300 applications submitted by candidates in 114 countries, the governing body announced on Friday. The second edition of the initiative — designed to accelerate career pathways for women across coaching, officiating, team management, governance and commercial roles — will begin in April with a series of seven interactive virtual webinars running through the year.
The selected participants represent 91 countries and a broad cross-section of roles within the sport, World Rugby said in its Dublin release on April 3. The programme promises career and personal skills development, access to global sporting experts and structured peer-to-peer networking aimed at sustaining the rapid growth in women’s involvement across rugby’s professional and grassroots levels. Sally Horrox, World Rugby’s Chief of Women’s Rugby, will open the first webinar and set the programme agenda for 2026.
Organisers framed this year’s intake as both a response to strong global demand and part of a longer-term plan to build leadership pipelines for women in rugby. “The response to this year’s programme has been incredible and truly reflects the ambition and passion that exists across the global women’s rugby community,” Horrox said. World Rugby emphasizes that many applicants are already working within unions, clubs and leagues, while others arrive with experience as former international or elite domestic players.
The announcement follows the pilot 2025 careers programme, which World Rugby said led to the Impact Beyond: Careers publication showcasing women working across all areas of the sport. Mercy Migongo, a match official from Kenya who took part in the 2025 edition, described the programme’s concrete effect on her development. “I am truly applying the knowledge I gained from the programme last year. It has been very impactful in both my personal life and my rugby career,” Migongo said, adding that she is pursuing a level three coaching qualification and a World Rugby Educator level one course this year.
World Rugby’s push comes amid broader momentum for women’s leadership in the game. Since the 2025 World Cup there has been notable growth in female coaching and management representation, and stakeholders say development initiatives such as the Careers Programme are crucial to converting short-term gains into lasting structural change. The webinars and mentorship elements in the 2026 programme are intended to create repeatable pathways for unions seeking experienced women to fill technical and administrative roles.
For Pacific rugby unions — which have reported an upswing in female coaching and administration ahead of major events — the programme offers a potential source of expertise and formal qualifications to underpin that local progress. World Rugby did not publish a breakdown of how many Pacific participants were selected for 2026, but the global spread of 91 countries suggests continued regional inclusion.
World Rugby plans to run the seven virtual sessions throughout 2026, with participants able to tap into resources and networks developed since the programme’s inception. Organisers say future editions will continue to evolve in response to demand and the outcomes tracked from the early cohorts to ensure the initiative translates into elevated representation and measurable career progression for women across the sport.
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