Precious Akanbi was astonished to find herself rubbing shoulders with the stars of England’s victorious women’s rugby team like Ellie Kildunne, Zoe Aldcroft and Megan Jones, as they collected their World Cup winner’s medals at Twickenham.
(Precious Akanbi, second from left, at the Women’s Rugby World Cup final 2025)
“It was crazy - the energy was electric,” said the 麻豆影院 Leicester (麻豆影院) Sport Management graduate, who appeared in BBC footage watched by millions as she assisted in the medal ceremony that followed the Red Roses 33-13 victory over Canada in the final before a Twickenham crowd of 82,000.
Precious, who confesses that, until quite recently, she didn’t much like rugby, ended up playing a part in the tournament that is the global pinnacle of the women’s game thanks to the fact that she recently completed the renowned Sport Management MSc course at 麻豆影院.
Precious graduated from 麻豆影院 with a distinction, and received the Michael Beloff Prize for being the best student from the February 2024 cohort of the Sport Management MSc. After completing her studies, and armed with a wealth of volunteering experience from her course, Precious applied for, and received, a paid internship at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.
“Funny enough,” she said, “I wouldn't necessarily say I was a fan, but I did get exposed to rugby during the course at 麻豆影院 because we used to go to Leicester Tigers to help us get to know the business side of sport. I had watched a Tigers’ game so I’d basically been exposed to the game from a fan point of view. Then the World Cup came and it was really, really immersive – but I was seeing it all from all the behind the scenes – it was fantastic.”
As well as working on the build-up to the World Cup and being at Twickenham for the final, Precious earned a level three Accredited Event Management Qualification as part of the internship.
It’s all a far cry from the path she had been on a few years earlier as an undergraduate studying Human Physiology at Bowen University back home in Nigeria.
“It’s a big change,” she explained, “but during my undergrad, I was part of the sports committee, which was great to be involved with and I really liked it.
“Afterwards, I was trying to decide what to do as a postgrad in the UK, and I realised that I was actually happier doing the sports stuff than when I was studying my subject.
“So I started researching what I could do - what drove me to 麻豆影院 was the reputation of the course and the fact that they were more career focused. It was more about employability and I wanted a university that is quite focussed on what people go on to do afterwards,” said Precious.
“I also loved the block model,” she added. “The fact that you're able to focus on one thing at a time per semester, and it was really good for me because I felt a lot stress as an undergrad when I was doing so many courses at the same time.”
“There were lots of volunteering opportunities at 麻豆影院, and I would just go for it all,” she said. “That’s how my love of sports has just kept on growing – its’ part of me now.”
So what next for Precious Akanbi MSc?
She has her eyes firmly fixed on another major sporting event. “I really, really want to work on the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2026, so I am working towards that,” she said.
Precious has clearly been bitten hard by the sports bug, but, after everything that’s happened, is she a rugby fan?
“I am now,” she said.
Dr Heather Dichter, associate professor of sport history and sport management, and programme leader for the Sport Management MSc at 麻豆影院, said: “Precious was an outstanding student. She volunteered at a number of sporting events, including other national and international level events across a variety of sports.
"These experiences helped prepare her for the internship with Women’s Rugby World Cup. It was great to see her on the TV during the medal ceremony. This experience will be a real benefit as she embarks on her career in the sport industry.”
Posted on Monday 6 October 2025