2021 Women's Rugby World Cup
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The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the
women's Rugby World Cup The Women's Rugby World Cup is the women's rugby union world championship which is organised by World Rugby. The first Rugby World Cup for women was held in 1991, but it was not until the 1998 tournament that the tournament received official b ...
, as organised by
World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...
. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
and
Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...
, New Zealand. It was originally scheduled to be held in 2021, but was postponed by one year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. It was the first women's Rugby World Cup to be hosted by New Zealand, and by a country in the Southern Hemisphere.
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
were also the defending champions. The tournament introduced changes such as replacement of classification play-offs in the knockout stage with quarter-finals, and a longer scheduling window with at least five days between matches. It was also the first to not be marketed by World Rugby as the "Women's Rugby World Cup", due to a decision to market both the men's and women's tournaments under the "Rugby World Cup" title with no disambiguation beginning in 2021.


Host selection

On 14 November 2018, World Rugby announced that New Zealand would host the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup, beating out a competing bid by Australia—the only other country to officially submit a bid for the tournament. It was the first Women's Rugby World Cup to be hosted by a country in the Southern Hemisphere. In November 2019, World Rugby announced that in an effort to create greater parity between the men's and women's Rugby World Cup, the Women's Rugby World Cup would be marketed as the "Rugby World Cup" with no gender designation beginning with the 2021 tournament. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held from 18 September to 16 October 2021. On 2 March 2021, World Rugby announced that the tournament would be postponed to 2022 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, as "it has become clear in recent discussions with key partners including New Zealand Rugby, the New Zealand government and participating unions, that, given the scale of the event and the COVID-19 related uncertainties, it is just not possible to deliver the environment for all teams to be the best that they can be on the sport's greatest stage."
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
's
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policy at the time also meant that teams would have been subject to strict quarantine arrangements in order to enter the country, whose international borders were closed. The rescheduling also upheld the ongoing practice of holding the women's Rugby World Cup in the year that follows the
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, as the
2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
were also postponed by one year to 2021 due to COVID-19. On 12 May 2021, it was announced that the tournament had been rescheduled to 8 October through 12 November 2022; the window of the tournament was also extended and realigned to allow for at least five days rest between matches, as with the men's Rugby World Cup. All matches were scheduled on weekends. The tournament remained branded as the "2021 Rugby World Cup", but with a "Playing in 2022" subtitle.


Venues

The three venues are in the Auckland and Northland regions of
Te Ika-a-Māui The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
, the North Island. Three opening games were hosted at New Zealand's national stadium
Eden Park Eden Park is a sports venue in Auckland, New Zealand. It is located three kilometres southwest of the Auckland CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and Kingsland. The main stadium has a nominal capacity of 50,000, and is s ...
. Eden Park also hosted the semi-finals, third place play-off and final. Other pool games and the quarter-finals were held at the Northland Events Centre and Waitakere Stadium.


Qualifying

New Zealand, the host nation, had already qualified automatically winning the
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
tournament before being announced as hosts. A further six teams (England, France, United States, Canada, Australia and Wales) qualified automatically as top seven finishers at the 2017 tournament. Scotland was announced as the winner of the repechage tournament on 25 February 2022.


Qualified teams


Match officials

On 26 May 2022,
World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...
announced the team of 18 officials from 11 unions for the World Cup, including an "all-female team of referees." English official
Sara Cox Sara Joanne Cyzer ( born 13 December 1974), better known as Sara Cox, is an English broadcaster and author. A presenter on BBC Radio 2, she has been hosting the station's drivetime show since January 2019. She previously presented BBC Radio 1's ...
served in her fourth World Cup, while South African official Aimee Barrett-Theron and Irish official
Joy Neville Joy Neville (born 24 July 1983) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and rugby union referee. As a player, Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In 2009 Neville captained the first Ir ...
adjudicates in their second World Cups. On 21 September 2022, World Rugby released the list of appointments for the pool phase—New Zealander Maggie Cogger-Orr was selected to oversee the opening match of the tournament. On 8 November 2022, World Rugby announced that Scottish referee
Hollie Davidson Hollie Davidson (born 19 September 1992) is a Scottish professional rugby union referee who is contracted with the Scottish Rugby Union. She was given a Scotland referee cap in February 2025. Playing career Davidson began playing competitiv ...
would adjudicate the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
. Referees (9) * Aimee Barrett-Theron * Maggie Cogger-Orr *
Sara Cox Sara Joanne Cyzer ( born 13 December 1974), better known as Sara Cox, is an English broadcaster and author. A presenter on BBC Radio 2, she has been hosting the station's drivetime show since January 2019. She previously presented BBC Radio 1's ...
*
Hollie Davidson Hollie Davidson (born 19 September 1992) is a Scottish professional rugby union referee who is contracted with the Scottish Rugby Union. She was given a Scotland referee cap in February 2025. Playing career Davidson began playing competitiv ...
*
Aurélie Groizeleau Aurélie Groizeleau (born 27 February 1989) is a French rugby union referee and former player, who has officiated at international level since 2018. As a player, she made five appearances for the France women's national rugby union team and fiv ...
* Lauren Jenner * Amber McLachlan * Clara Munarini *
Joy Neville Joy Neville (born 24 July 1983) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international and rugby union referee. As a player, Neville represented Ireland at both the 2006 and 2010 Women's Rugby World Cups. In 2009 Neville captained the first Ir ...
Assistants (5) * Maria Beatrice Benvenuti * Doriane Domenjo * Tyler Miller * Kat Roche *
Julianne Zussman Julianne Zussman (born January 23, 1987) is a Canadian rugby union referee and a former player. She represented at three World Cups. She was named as fullback on the dream team of the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup. In 2016, she was the recipient ...
Television Match Officials (4) * Chris Assmus * Lee Jeffrey * Ian Tempest *
Ben Whitehouse Ben Whitehouse (born 9 August 1990) is a Welsh people, Welsh rugby union referee. He is currently one of five professional referees at the Welsh Rugby Union, alongside Craig Evans (rugby referee), Craig Evans and Adam Jones (rugby referee), Adam ...


Draw

Seedings for the pools of the 2021 World Cup were based on the teams'
World Rugby Rankings The World Rugby Rankings is a ranking system for national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. There are separate men's and women's rankings. The teams of World Rugby's member nations are ranked based on th ...
. The draw, hosted by sports pundit and former
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
and
British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...
international
Ugo Monye Ugochukwu Chiedozie Monye (born 13 April 1983) is an English former rugby union player who is now a sports pundit. Monye played 14 times for , 241 times for his only club Harlequins and twice for the British & Irish Lions on their 2009 tour ...
and sports journalist and presenter Elma Smit, was conducted on 20 November 2020 in the SkyCity Theatre in
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, and used the World Rankings as of 1 January 2020, before the global outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. This is the first case in which the Women's World Cup was drawn based on World Rankings instead of classification from the previous World Cup. The automatic qualifiers from 2017 were allocated to their respective bands based on their rankings – and the remaining 5 qualifying places were allocated to Bands 3 and 4 based on previous World Cup playing strength: * Band 1, made up of the top 3 automatic qualifiers, (1–3) * Band 2, made up of the next 3 automatic qualifiers, (4–6) * Band 3, made up of the 7th automatic qualifier, Europe 1 and Africa 1 * Band 4, made up of Asia 1, Oceania 1 and Repechage winner This meant the 12 teams, qualified and qualifiers, were seeded thus: The pools were respectively drawn by New Zealand Prime Minister,
Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...
, former
Black Ferns The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns (), represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tour ...
internationals,
Melodie Robinson Melodie Robinson (born 25 May 1973) is a New Zealand sports journalist and presenter, and former international rugby union player for the New Zealand women's national rugby union team. She played 18 tests for the New Zealand women's team, the Bla ...
and Farah Palmer and former
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
international,
Dan Carter Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a New Zealand retired rugby union player. Carter played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in test match rugby, a ...
.


Squads

Each team submitted a squad of 32 players for the tournament.


Pool stage

Each pool was a
single round-robin A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...
of six games, in which each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same pool. Teams were awarded four points for a win, two points for a draw. A team that scored four or more tries earned a bonus point, as did a team that lost by fewer than eight points. The tournament comprised twelve teams divided into three pools of four teams. The top two teams in each pool, as well as the best two third-placed teams progressed to the quarter-finals. Fixtures were announced on 28 January 2021. ; Tie-breaking criteria If two or more teams are tied on match points, the following tiebreakers applied; # The winner of the match between the two teams # Difference between points scored for and points scored against in all pool matches # Difference between tries scored for and tries scored against in all pool matches # Points scored in all pool matches # Most tries scored in all pool matches Pld = Number of games played; W = Number of games won; D = Number of games drawn; L = Number of games lost; TF = Number of tries scored (tries for); PF = Total number of points scored by the team (points for); PA = Total number of points scored against the team (points against); +/− = Points difference, PF−PA; BP = Bonus pool points; Pts = Total number of pool points


Pool A


Pool B


Pool C


Ranking of qualified teams


Knockout stage


Quarter-finals


Semi-finals


Third-place play-off


Final


Statistics

Source:


Points scorers


Try scorers


Broadcasting

Spark Sport Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications and digital services company providing fixed-line telephone services, mobile phone services, broadband, and digital technology services (including cloud, security, digital transfor ...
will be the host broadcaster for the Rugby World Cup, broadcasting all matches live and on demand through its online streaming platform.
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will broadcast a selection of games free-to-air on New Zealand television. * :
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and
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* : TSN and RDS * :
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* :
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and
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* :
Spark Sport Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications and digital services company providing fixed-line telephone services, mobile phone services, broadband, and digital technology services (including cloud, security, digital transfor ...
and
Three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...
* : SuperSport * :
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See also

*
2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup () was the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams. It took place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the country. The opening game ...
(men's) *
2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the eighth and final edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens organised by World Rugby. The 2022 tournament, comprising 24 men's and 16 women's teams as previously, was played over three days in one venue in Sep ...
(separate tournaments for men and women as part of a single event)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
2022 rugby union tournaments for national teams 2022 in women's rugby union
Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...
International women's rugby union competitions hosted by New Zealand
Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...
Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...
Rugby union events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...
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