On March 22nd, World Rugby announced a historic relationship in which Capgemini will become a Global Partner of Women in Rugby and a Worldwide Partner of the Rugby World Cups 2021 and 2025.
The announcement comes with 200 days till the start of the Rugby World Cup 2021 in New Zealand, where the world’s top 12 international women’s 15s teams will compete from October 8 to November 12.
The five-year agreement extends Capgemini’s existing engagement with World Rugby and demonstrates Capgemini’s commitment to the development of women’s rugby both on and off the field of play.
Capgemini, a global leader in collaborating with companies to develop and manage their businesses through the use of technology, has supported women’s rugby since 2018 as a Global Partner of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Through the expanded partnership, Capgemini will champion the ‘Leadership’ pillar of World Rugby’s ‘Accelerating the Global Development of Women in Rugby 2017-25’ strategic plan through the ‘Capgemini Women in Rugby Leadership Programme,’ which awards 12 inspirational women executive scholarships each year to create a pipeline of female leaders in rugby across the game.
Capgemini will construct the programme using the knowledge of its own internal university.
Capgemini’s support comes after World Rugby announced Mastercard as its first committed sponsor of women’s rugby in June.
The five-year agreement sees the payments technology company become a founding partner of the women in rugby programme, which aims to increase youth involvement and boost the prominence of World Rugby’s women’s events and schedule.
Comments
Aiman Ezzat, Chief Executive Officer of Capgemini commented,
“I am very enthusiastic about this new chapter in Capgemini’s rugby story, and about the impressive growth of women’s rugby.
“As a responsible, global leader of 325,000 employees in more than 50 countries, we are committed to supporting equal opportunities for women, in the workplace and on the sports field.
“As Global Partner of the Women in Rugby program, we will be able to leverage our experience in developing talent to support and progress women’s rugby from the ground up.”
World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin remarked,
“We are delighted to be expanding our relationship with Capgemini through this landmark partnership for the women’s game.
“This partnership will see Capgemini invest not only in our major women’s competitions, but also in driving a core element of our strategic plan as collectively we strive to develop more female leaders throughout the global game.”
