Rugby World Cup ‘shootout’
NZ, Australia to battle it out for hosting rights
Of all the countries, it had to come down to these. Australia and New Zealand will face off for the rights to host the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup in a boardroom showdown in Dublin on Wednesday.
It will come down to a 15-minute pitch from both unions then a 42-member vote at the end of a long day of World Rugby Council meetings.
At stake, from the Australian perspective, is an opportunity to harness an explosion in women’s rugby and bring it to bear on a World Cup in three years’ time, using the charms of the sportsmad Newcastle and Hunter region to stage the most professional women’s tournament yet.
‘‘It feels like a straight shootout,’’ Rugby Australia’s new head of women’s rugby, Jilly Collins, joked. ‘‘I think there’s quite a lot of feeling generally that two southern hemisphere nations have put strong bids in and it’s It will nowhere near go down as the Black Ferns’ best, but they’ll sure take it.
On the mud bath at Stade Mayol in Toulon, New Zealand opened their two-test series against France with a scrappy
14-0 win on Saturday.
After an error-ridden, penaltylaced, though still entertaining
0-0 first half, the Black Ferns put on two quick tries in the second half to bag victory over the world No 3 side.
The second and final test of the series is in Grenoble next Sunday morning (NZ time).
great for the game that it will be held down here for the first time regardless.’’
Collins is Rugby Australia’s trump card, a no-nonsense former player who has worked across codes and countries in tournament management and administration. An Englishwoman who now calls Australia home, Collins was the first female citing commissioner in Europe and will join RA chief executive Raelene Castle and chairman Cameron Clyne for Australia’s pitch. She believes an Australian tournament and three years of build-up before it could transform the game at home and also abroad.
New Zealand, as always, will be tough opposition, not least because of the symbolic power of Eden Park as the tournament’s primary venue, and the country’s blanket passion for the 15-player code.
Women’s rugby is gathering momentum around the world, with World Rugby reporting a 60 per cent increase in female players since 2013, and a 150 per cent rise in registered female players in the same period. The numbers represent a quarter of all rugby players internationally being women and girls.
Both New Zealand and Australia are getting fair dinkum about the women’s game, with Rugby Australia launching the Super W competition and agreeing to entry-level pay parity for their professional men women seven’s players.
New Zealand this year introduced semi-professional contracts for a national squad of 30 XVs players, and both are committed to making every home Bledisloe Cup test a doubleheader.
Down under, Rugby Australia is reporting a 30 per cent increase in women XVs players, including pockets of 40 per cent growth in non-traditional markets like South Australia.
‘‘What’s most exciting is everything that can happen around a World Cup and what it can ignite,’’ Collins said.
‘‘At the moment in terms of opportunities for girls playing rugby it’s mainly in sevens but we want to change that with structures and pathways in place so no matter what part of the game you start in, there is somewhere to go.
‘‘What we’re seeing now, and a lot of it helped because of the higher profile of the Wallaroos recently, is more girls are asking to play XVs. Getting XVs World Cup will only help that.’’
Collins said Australia were confident their decision to stage the tournament in Newcastle and the Hunter was the right fit for the scale of a women’s World Cup. and