Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 Announces New Team Members

The Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 is readying the field for the tournament’s 10th appearance, which promises to be the grandest celebration of women’s rugby thus far. This global event, proudly hosted by England, is trailblazing by expanding the participating teams from 12 to 16. The growth testifies to the accelerated participation of women in rugby worldwide. The preparation efforts have taken a big leap with the appointments of Annie Panter, Lindsay Pattison, and Sean Summers to the Local Operating Company (LOC) Board.

Introducing The New Board Appointments

Annie Panter

Annie Panter brings to the board a wealth of experience in sports and commercial affairs. She’s a former field hockey international player and Team GB Olympian, marking her own contribution to the UK’s sporting landscape. Reflecting the UK Government’s support for the tournament, she will represent them on the LOC Board.

In addition to her role with UK Sport, Panter is a Managing Director at Two Circles, a sports marketing agency. In this role, she leads several projects, including Two Circles’ rights management work with UEFA women’s football.

Lindsay Pattison

Chief People Officer at WPP, Lindsay Pattison has been appointed to the LOC Board as an Independent Non-Executive Director and will serve as Audit Committee Chair. Her role at WPP oversees culture and human resources strategies for over 100,000 colleagues.

Pattison’s previous roles include Chief Client Officer at WPP since 2018 and Worldwide CEO at media agency Maxus among other leadership roles. Her wide-ranging digital and media expertise will be invaluable in promoting fan engagement across various channels for the Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025.

Sean Summers

Sean Summers, serving as an independent member of the World Rugby Events Company Board, has joined the LOC Board as a World Rugby representative. In addition to his role on the Board, Summers is the Executive VP of Mercado Libre, Latin America’s largest e-commerce, and fintech ecosystem.

A pioneer in his field, Summers has contributed significantly to the exponential growth of Mercado Libre over his 11-year tenure. He has helped cultivate a user base of more than 100 million active customers and managed an annual marketing investment exceeding US$1 billion.

Taking The Women’s Rugby To New Heights

Echoing World Rugby’s new hosting model, the Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 Board will cooperate with international federation’s Events Company Board. This centralized strategy places a strong emphasis on aligning strategic direction for the sport’s flagship events.

Recently, with the backing from the UK Government, World Rugby, and the Rugby Football Union revealed the host cities, venues, and event dates for the grand celebration of women’s rugby at the two years to go milestone. The Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 brand was also unveiled, showing off a new visual identity for future Rugby World Cups.

Running from 22 August to 27 September 2025, this landmark tournament provides an unprecedented opportunity for fans to engage with and support the superstars of the women’s game. The tournament champions fan engagement and inclusivity and marks diversity, equity, and inclusion as prime focuses, with a dedicated strategy to be presented early next year.

Gill Whitehead, Independent Chair, shared excitement about the new appointments: “Annie, Lindsay and Sean are excellent additions to the Women’s Rugby World Cup England 2025 Board, superbly aligned to support our mission to put on the largest and best Women’s Rugby World Cup to date. This event is a milestone moment for women’s rugby, and an unparalleled opportunity to hasten the growth of the sport.”