New Zealand hosts World Cup amid growth in women’s rugby
WELLINGTON: New Zealand is host and defending champion but won’t start as favorite in the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which begins Saturday with three consecutive matches at Auckland’s Eden Park stadium.
The New Zealand Black Ferns won the last world tournament in Ireland in 2017 and were the top-ranked women’s team almost continuously from 2003 to 2020. But the Ferns have slipped to No. 2 in world rankings behind England’s Red Roses, who assumed top spot in 2020 and are unbeaten in 23 matches going back to 2019.
France, though ranked No. 4, is also a leading contender, hardened by competition in Europe’s Six Nations tournament and ater winning its last four matches against New Zealand.
The World Cup comes at a pivotal time for women’s rugby, ater concerted efforts to increase the investment of money and resources by World Rugby and national rugby unions. The world tournament should showcase the benefits of that investment in the quality and competitiveness of matches.
The first three matches - France vs. South Africa, England vs. Fiji and Australia vs. New Zealand - are set to be played in front of a crowd of around 40,000 at Eden Park, a record for a women’s World Cup match. World Rugby hopes to seize on the moment.
“Women’s rugby is a cornerstone of World Rugby’s growth plan for the whole game,” World Rugby Director of Women’s Rugby Sally Horrox told the website Rugby.com.au. “If we are to grow a global game for all we will need more girls and women playing, coaching, refereeing, volunteering and leading our sport.”
Horrox said the World Cup in New Zealand the following three editions were crucial to that plan.
“These events anchor us and provide a compass to guide us as we increase our effort and investment so that we fast track growth over the next decade,” Horrox said.
World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said the anticipated record crowd on opening day is “a great sign of confidence this is going to be a great tournament.” The tournament was due to go ahead in 2021 but was delayed because of travel issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A year delayed, you always worry it’s going to be hard to put a tournament on in these circumstances we are in,” Gilpin said. “The teams have been incredibly patient. Their commitment has been fantastic and I think what you are seeing is the New Zealand public geting behind it. I think it bodes well for the entire tournament.”