The Women's Rugby League World Cup is an international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

tournament, contested by the women's national teams of the

International Rugby League The International Rugby League (IRL) is the global governing body for the sport of rugby league football. The IRL organises the Rugby League World Cup, the oldest international rugby World Cup, as well as the Women's Rugby League World Cup, Wom ...

(IRL). The competition has been held since 2000 and was incorporated into the Festival of World Cups in 2008 until 2017 when it became a centrepiece event along with the men's competition. Under the current format, eight teams are separated into two groups of four with the top two in each group qualifying for the semi-finals. Throughout the six editions, the Women's Rugby League World Cup has been won by two teams.

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 ...

has won three times while

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

has also won the title three times, including the most recent one (

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 ...

History

Background

Women's Rugby League had been played in both

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for several years but it was not until 1985 in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

and 1993 in

and

where female only organizations and governing bodies were established and while the

Rugby Football League The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

recognized the British women in 1985 it took another five years for the

Australian Rugby League The Australian Rugby League Commission Limited (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League Limited known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australi ...

to officially recognize the

Australian Women's Rugby League The Australian Women's Rugby League was the governing body of female rugby league in Australia and other parts of Oceania from its establishment in 1993 until December 2013, when its operations were integrated into the National Rugby League, unde ...

. New Zealand Women's Rugby League were officially recognized by the governing body New Zealand Rugby League Inc in 1995. This is partially the reason for no Women's World Cup being held until the year 2000 when these organizations collectively came together to organize it.

Tournaments

The 2000 World Cup was held in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The final was contested between

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

with New Zealand being crowned champions by a score of 26–4. The 2003 World Cup was held in Albany, New Zealand and was contested by teams from

Tokelau Tokelau (; ; known previously as the Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand in the southern Pacific Ocean. It consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, an ...

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

Niue Niue is a self-governing island country in free association with New Zealand. It is situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of Polynesia, and predominantly inhabited by Polynesians. One of the world's largest coral islands, Niue is c ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, New Zealand Māori and

. New Zealand would eventually win the competition, beating New Zealand Maori by a score of 58–0. New Zealand went through the tournament unbeaten with only four points scored against them. The 2008 World Cup was held was held in

, with all matches at Sunshine Coast Stadium apart from the final, which was held at

Lang Park Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rectangular sporting st ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Teams from Australia,

, England, Samoa, Tonga, Pacific Islands,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and Russia participated in the tournament. This was the first tournament in which Great Britain didn't participate, their place being taken by England. It was also the first tournament to feature more than one team from Europe with France and Russia. To date, this is the only tournament that Russia has participated in. New Zealand won the 2008 World Cup defeating Australia 34–0 in the final. Up to this point, New Zealand had won all three world cups that had been held. The 2013 World Cup was held in

with all four venues being in the county of

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

. For the tournament, the number of teams was reduced from eight to just four with Australia, New Zealand, England and France taking part. France performed particularly poorly in the competition, conceding 202 points in their three games and scoring just 4. The final was held at

Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium is a stadium complex in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, and England. Linked by a two-sided stand housing common facilities, it comprises two separate grounds: Headingley Cricket Ground (home of Yorkshire County Cricket Clu ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and was contested by Australia and New Zealand. Australia won by a score of 22–12 to win their first world cup. The 2017 World Cup was held in

, with all matches at Endeavour Field in

Cronulla, New South Wales Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is 26 kilometres south of the Sydney central ...

apart from the final, which was held at

in Brisbane, Queensland. The number of teams was increased from the previous tournament to 6. Despite taking part in the previous two tournaments, France did not feature, making England the sole representative of Europe. For the first time in the tournament's history, Canada would take part thus becoming the first team from North America to feature. Canada performed well, beating Papua New Guinea and reaching the semi-finals, eventually losing 58–6 to Australia. For the first time, the final was held as a double-header with the men's World Cup final with Australia defending their title by beating New Zealand by a score of 23–16. On 18 July 2019, the teams for the 2021 World Cup were announced with the tournament being expanded once again to eight teams. The tournament was played alongside the men's and wheelchair competitions and took place in England. Teams from England, France, Australia, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Canada and Brazil took part. For the first time, teams from four different continents will play in the competition. The inclusion of Brazil means a team from South America will take part in for the first time in any Rugby League World Cup. For the first time, all matches of the tournament would be broadcast live. In May 2023, France withdrew as the host of the 2025 World Cup. As a result, in August, it was announced the tournament would be postponed until 2026. During this announcement,

stated that 2026 will be the last World Cup that is held alongside the men's tournament, and starting in 2028 the women's tournament would be its own event.

Format

In 2000 three teams participated. There had been an intention that New Zealand Maori would participate as a fourth team, however this did not happen. In 2003 nine teams participated, initially in three groups of three. The top two teams in each pool progressed to a second phase, with the six teams divided into two pools. The bottom three teams from the first phase played a round-robin of consolation matches. After the second phase, the top two teams from each second phase pool entered the semi-finals. In 2008, the eight teams was split into two groups of four with the top two of each group progressing through semi-final and final rounds. The 2013 tournament saw a change in the format with the reductions of teams to four meant that there was only one group with the top two qualifying for the final. The following edition saw the return to a two-group format with the six teams being separated in two groups of three with an inter-group game so that they have still played three games as in previous tournaments. The semi-final round will be brought back for this tournament with the bottom team of each group being eliminated at the first stage.

Results

Summary

Australia and New Zealand have been the most successful teams in the tournament's history, winning all 6 of the 6 World Cups that have been staged between them, with Australia coming out on top in the last three tournaments beating New Zealand in each of the 3 finals. In two of the finals (2005, 2008) NZ would even prevent their opponents from scoring, with the 2005 final seeing a devastation of the New Zealand Maori team by 58 points. New Zealand in turn would be crushed 54 - 4 by Australia in the 2022 final. In the first two World Cups, the home nations competed as Great Britain just as they did in the men's equivalent tournament up to the expansion of the competition in 1995. Since then, England have competed in GB's place. The 2005 tournament is the only one that has not been run alongside the men's tournament, all of the others taking place at the same time and using some of the same stadiums. The 2017 final was significant in that it was the first final to be played as a curtain-raiser to the men's final, this final taking place at

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

Media coverage

Notes

References

{{Main world championships Women's rugby league competitions World championships in rugby league

Rugby League World Cup The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by senior men's national teams who each represent member nations of the International Rugby League who run and administer the tournament. The tournament has be ...

Recurring sporting events established in 2000 Rugby League pages needing cleanup Quadrennial sporting events