Bristol Temple Maul not Paddington for Bears!

Bristol Bears and England players Hannah Botterman and Abbie Ward lent their support to the Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 as Bristol Temple Meads station was renamed Bristol Temple Maul this week.

The pair joined players from Dings Crusaders RFC and World Cup ambassadors Maggie?Alphonsi?MBE and Shaunagh?Brown as the Rugby World Cup trophy rolled into the city, which will host four knockout games in eight days at Ashton Gate next September.

As the leading sports and events venue in the South West, Ashton Gate will be the premier knockout venue for the 10th edition of the global tournament, with two quarter-finals and both semi-finals taking place at the home of Bristol City and Bristol Bears.

Abbie Ward said: “To have the World Cup in our home city of Bristol is amazing and we can’t wait. Rugby in the South West has been so strong for a lot of years and we have really seen the growth of girls and women’s rugby. We want to create legacy and get more people involved, come and watch Bears and see what it’s all about, go to your local rugby club pick up a ball and get involved.”

Dings RFC Women’s Manager and player Rebecca Kettleborough said: “We are all super excited to have the quarter-finals and semi-finals here in Bristol on our doorstep. To get the World Cup here in England and for our girls to be able to go and see the players they aspire to be will be amazing.”

Ashton Gate will host the quarter-final between the winner of Pool B vs Runner-up of Pool A (4pm KO) on Saturday, September 13th before staging the quarter-final between the Winner of Pool A vs Runner-up of Pool B on Sunday, September 14th (4pm KO).

That means the Red Roses will definitely play their quarter-final match at Ashton Gate should they progress to the knockout stages as either the Pool A winner or Runner-up.

Both semi-finals will also take place in BS3 with the winner of Quarter-final 1 vs Winner of Quarter-final 2 on Friday, September 19th (7pm KO) before the winner of Quarter-final 3 vs winner of Quarter-final 4 on Saturday, September 20th (KO 3.30pm).

England 2025 will be the biggest and most accessible celebration of women’s rugby ever. with adult tickets starting at ￡15 for the quarter-finals and ￡20 for the semi-finals and child (Under-15) tickets at ￡5 and ￡10 respectively.?

Fans are encouraged to register now via the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 website to enter the presale, taking place from 10am on September 24th until 10am October 8th, 2024.

Fans have until 11am on Tuesday, November 19th?to select the matches and price categories they want to apply for?here, with applicants being notified of the results from Monday, December 2nd.