World Cup likely to be paused
England’s Red Roses have been drawn into Pool C of the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup alongside France, South Africa and Fiji but it is likely to be postponed until next year.
The tournament in New Zealand will be the first Women’s Rugby World Cup to be staged in the southern hemisphere, with England competing at their ninth World Cup having reached the final in all but one and winning twice. They were beaten 41-32 by this year’s hosts in the final of the 2017 World Cup in Ireland, a game that was watched by 2.6m people on ITV.
The 2021 World Cup was due to take place between September 18 and October 16 but World Rugby has recommended it be postponed, with a final decision due this weekend.
With longer rest periods between matches and expanded squad sizes, the tournament is hoping to break records for attendances at a Women’s Rugby World Cup with the 44,000 Eden Park hosting some pool matches, the semi-finals, the bronze final and the main final.
Before the postponement was announced, Red Roses head coach Simon Middleton said of the fixtures: “There are various landmarks in the build-up to a World Cup and the match scheduling is another one of those.
“It’s a great first day of fixtures and for us, opening against Fiji as they make their World Cup debut at Eden Park will be a fantastic occasion.
“Australia against New Zealand is a classic game at any time for southern hemisphere rugby, so as an opening day fixture will be extra special I’m sure for both the New Zealand and Australian public.
■ THE RFU Council has ratified the appointments made by the RFU Board to appoint Tom Ilube to CBE to become successor to chair Andy Cosslett and Polly Williams to take over as independent nonexecutive director from Helen Weir.
Both appointments will undertake through induction and handover before formally taking on their new roles from August 1. The appointments are to be put for final ratification by the members clubs at the RFU’S AGM in June. The recruitment process for these two positions was led by Dominic Proctor, senior independent director of the RFU and chair of the Board Nominations Committee.
Ilube said: “My rugby career started on the pitches of Teddington School and London Welsh Rugby Club back in the early 70s. Although my professional career has taken me in different directions, thanks to my son who was part of the Wasps Academy before moving on to represent his university, I have had the pleasure of being involved in the community game for the past 15 years.
“I’m a passionate fan of both England Rugby and the community game and am honoured to be joining the RFU at such a pivotal time for the game. Our immediate priority after such a challenging year in lockdown will be to ensure we do everything we can to maintain and grow participation across all levels of the game.”
Williams said: “I’m excited to be joining the RFU ahead of a World Cup year for the Red Roses in New Zealand and with the challenges of getting the game back up and running fully next season. We have a lot to do and to look forward to.”