Wikipedia

2025 Women's Rugby World Cup

This article is about rugby union. For the cancelled rugby league world cups, see 2025 Rugby League World Cup.

The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup will be the tenth edition of the women's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams, organised by World Rugby. It is scheduled to take place in England between 22 August and 27 September 2025. The opening game will take place at the Stadium of Light with the final scheduled to be held at Twickenham Stadium.[1][2]

2025 Women's Rugby World Cup
Tournament details
Host nation England
Dates22 August – 27 September 2025
No. of nations16
← 2021
2029 →

It will be the second women's Rugby Union World Cup to be hosted by England, after the 2010 edition. It will be the fifth hosted in the British Isles.

The tournament will be expanded to 16 teams, from the 12 which participated in 2021.[3]

New Zealand enter the tournament as defending champions following their victory against England in the 2021 Rugby World Cup Final.[4]

Host selection

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On 13 August 2020 World Rugby announced that the hosting rights to the next two world cups, men's and women's, would be selected during the same process.[5] These were the 2027 and 2031 men's tournaments and the 2025 and 2029 women's tournaments. The RFU confirmed their intent to bid for the 2025 tournament in October 2021.[6]

World Rugby awarded England preferred candidate status for the 2025 tournament in November 2021.[7] England were confirmed as hosts on 13 May 2022.[8]

Venues

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In August 2023, eight venues were confirmed for the 2025 Rugby World Cup.[9][10]

London Sunderland
Brighton and Hove Bristol
Twickenham Stadium Stadium of Light Ashton Gate
Capacity: 82,000 Capacity: 49,000 Capacity: 31,876 Capacity: 27,000
       
Exeter Northampton Manchester York
Sandy Park Franklin's Gardens York Community Stadium
Capacity: 15,600 Capacity: 15,249 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 8,500
       

In December 2023 it was announced that hosts England would open the tournament at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, and that the final would be held at Twickenham in London.[11]

In June 2024 World Rugby confirmed that the quarter-finals would be shared between Sandy Park and Ashton Gate, while Ashton Gate would host both semi-finals.[12]

Teams

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Qualifying

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Main article: 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup qualifying

Sixteen teams will compete. Four teams automatically qualified by reaching the 2021 Rugby World Cup semi-finals; New Zealand, England, France & Canada. Six of the remaining twelve spots will be decided though the 2024 Six Nations, 2024 Pacific Four Series and regional competitions in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America, while the 2024 WXV will determine the final six places.[13][14]

In Europe, Ireland reached their eighth World Cup after taking the region's qualifying place by defeating Scotland in the final round of the 2024 Women's Six Nations Championship.[15] In Africa, South Africa qualified for their fifth world cup after beating Madagascar in the final round of the 2024 Rugby Africa Women's Cup.[16] The United States made their tenth world cup after New Zealand defeated Australia in the final game of the 2024 Pacific Four Series.[17] In Asia, Japan qualified for their seventh World Cup after beating Kazakhstan in the second game of the 2024 Asia Rugby Women's Championship.[18] Fiji qualified as Oceania 1 after winning the 2024 Oceania Rugby Women's Championship.[19][20] Brazil qualified for their debut World Cup after beating Colombia in the South American qualifying.[21]

Brazil becomes the first South American team to take part in the Women's Rugby World Cup to do so.

In WXV 2, Australia, Italy, Scotland and Wales qualified for the World Cup. Samoa and Spain qualified as the top two teams in WXV 3 who had not already qualified via regional competitions.

All six teams from the Women's Six Nations Championship comprise of England, Scotland, Wales, France, Ireland, and Italy, compete for the first time since the 2002 Women's Rugby World Cup.

Qualified teams
Region Team Qualification
method 		Previous
apps 		Previous best result World Rugby
Ranking[N 1]
Africa   South Africa Africa 1 4 Tenth place (2010, 2014)
Asia   Japan Asia 1 5 Eighth place (1994)
Europe   England Hosts + Top 4 at 2021 RWC 9 Champions (1994, 2014)
  France Top 4 at 2021 RWC 9 Third place (seven times)
  Ireland Europe 1 7 Fourth place (2014)
  Italy 2024 WXV 2 (3rd) 5 Quarter final (2021)
  Scotland 2024 WXV 2 (2nd) 6 Fifth place (1994)
  Wales 2024 WXV 2 (5th) 8 Fourth place (1994)
  Spain 2024 WXV 3 (1st) 6 Sixth place (1991)
North America   Canada Top 4 at 2021 RWC 9 Runners-up (2014)
  United States P4 1 9 Champions (1991)
Oceania   Australia 2024 WXV 2 (1st) 7 Third place (2010)
  Fiji Oceania 1 1 Pool stage (2021)
  New Zealand Top 4 at 2021 RWC 8 Champions (six times)
  Samoa 2024 WXV 3 (2nd) 3 Ninth place (2002)
South America   Brazil Americas 1 0 Debut

Notes:

  1. ^ Post warm-up matches

Draw

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The pool draw took place on 17 October 2024 in London, it was shown live on The One Show in the United Kingdom, and on RugbyPassTV worldwide. Gabby Logan, Maggie Alphonsi, and Roman Kemp, a presenter from The One Show, hosted the draw.[22][23]

A seeding system will be used for the draw with all 16 allocated a seed based on their World Rugby Women's World Rankings on 14 October 2024. The top four teams in the world Rankings will be placed into band 1 and prepopulated into the first position in each pool. The remaining 12 teams will be drawn into bands 2,3 and 4 based on their rankings and drawn one by one. The bands are:[23]

  • Band 1: Seeds 1 to 4
  • Band 2: Seeds 5 to 8
  • Band 3: Seeds 9 to 12
  • Band 4: Seeds 13 to 16

This meant the 16 qualified teams, qualified were seeded thus (world ranking as of 14 October 2024):[24]

Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4

Pool stage

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Competing countries will be divided into four pools of four teams (pools A to D). Teams in each pool will play one another in a round-robin format, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage.

Pool A Pool B Pool C Pool D
  England
  Australia
  United States
  Samoa 		  Canada
  Scotland
  Wales
  Fiji 		  New Zealand
  Ireland
  Japan
  Spain 		  France
  Italy
  South Africa
  Brazil

Pool A

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Main article: 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup Pool A
Pos Team
 Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1   Australia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2   England (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3   Samoa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4   United States 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: World Rugby
Rules for classification: Pool stage tiebreakers
(H) Host
22 August 2024 England   vs TBC Stadium of Light, Sunderland

Pool B

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Main article: 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup Pool B
Pos Team
 Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1   Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2   Fiji 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3   Scotland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4   Wales 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: World Rugby
Rules for classification: Pool stage tiebreakers

Pool C

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Main article: 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup Pool C
Pos Team
 Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1   Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2   Japan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3   New Zealand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4   Spain 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: World Rugby
Rules for classification: Pool stage tiebreakers

Pool D

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Main article: 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup Pool D
Pos Team
 Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts Qualification
1   Brazil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to knockout stage
2   France 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3   Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4   South Africa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Source: World Rugby
Rules for classification: Pool stage tiebreakers

Knockout stage

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Main article: 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup knockout stage

The knockout stage will consist of three single-elimination rounds culminating in a final and a third-place playoff. In the case of a tie in regulation time, two 10-minute periods of extra time will be played to determine a winner. If the scores are tied at the end of extra time, an additional 10-minute "sudden death" period would be played, with the first team to score any points being the winner. If the score still remains tied, a kicking competition will ensue.

Quarter-Finals will be split between Exeter's Sandy Park, and Bristol's Ashton Gate, while the latter will host both Semi-Finals. It was decided to have a double-header Bronze Final and World Cup Final at Twickenham for the final day as was the case in the previous World Cup.

Quarter-finals

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12/13/14 September 2025
TBD BST (UTC+1)
Winner Pool A-Runner-Up Pool B
12/13/14 September 2025
TBD BST (UTC+1)
Winner Pool D-Runner-Up Pool C
12/13/14 September 2025
TBD BST (UTC+1)
Winner Pool C-Runner-Up Pool D
12/13/14 September 2025
TBD BST (UTC+1)
Winner Pool B-Runner-Up Pool A

Semi-finals

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19/20/21 September 2025
TBD BST (UTC+1)
Winner QF 1-Winner QF 2
Ashton Gate, Bristol
19/20/21 September 2025
TBD BST (UTC+1)
Winner QF 3-Winner QF 4
Ashton Gate, Bristol

Bronze final

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27 September 2025
TBD BST (UTC+1)
Loser SF 1-Loser SF 2
Twickenham Stadium, London

Final

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Main article: 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final
27 September 2025
TBD BST (UTC+1)
Winner SF 1-Winner SF 2
Twickenham Stadium, London

Broadcasting rights

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Territory Rights holder Ref.
  United Kingdom BBC[n 1] [25][26]

Notes:

  1. ^ Select games shown on linear channels, all games to be shown on BBC iPlayer.

References

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  1. ^ "England to host women's Rugby World Cup in 2025". South Wales Guardian. 12 May 2022. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Women's Rugby World Cup England 2025 confirms opening and closing venues". Sunderland City Council. Archived from the original on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Rugby World Cup 2025 set to break new ground as tournament expands to 16 teams ｜ Rugby World Cup 2021". Rugby World Cup. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  4. ^ "As it happened: New Zealand v England - Final | Rugby World Cup 2021". Rugby World Cup. Archived from the original on 12 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  5. ^ "World Rugby announces joint men's and women's Rugby World Cup host selection process | World Rugby". World Rugby. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  6. ^ "RFU hopes to bid for women's 2025 World Cup". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  7. ^ "World Rugby adopts partnership approach to Rugby World Cup host selection and confirms exclusive Preferred Candidate and Targeted Dialogue unions | World Rugby". World Rugby. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  8. ^ "England to host 2025 women's World Cup". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  9. ^ "Rugby World Cup 2025: Eight host venues named for tournament in England". BBC Sport. 21 August 2023. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  10. ^ "World Rugby and RFU confirm host cities and venues with two years to go until Rugby World Cup 2025". World Rugby. 21 August 2023. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Women's Rugby World Cup England 2025 confirms opening and closing venues". Twickenham Stadium. 11 December 2023. Archived from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  12. ^ "2025 Women's Rugby World Cup: Ashton Gate to host semi-finals". BBC Sport. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  13. ^ "New qualification pathway confirmed for Rugby World Cup 2025 | Rugby World Cup". Rugby World Cup. 27 January 2022. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  14. ^ "All you need to know about the Women's Rugby World Cup England 2025 qualification pathway | Rugby World Cup". Rugby World Cup. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  15. ^ O'Callaghan, Aoife (27 April 2024). "Ireland Secure Their Spot For 2025 World Cup After Memorable Belfast Victory". Balls.ie. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  16. ^ Thomas, Martyn (13 May 2024). "South Africa secure return to 'big stage' of Women's Rugby World Cup". Rugby Pass. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  17. ^ Dean, Taylor (25 May 2024). "USA Women's Eagles secure Rugby World Cup 2025 qualification". USA Rugby. Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Japan beat Kazakhstan to secure place at England 2025". World Rugby. 27 May 2024. Archived from the original on 27 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Fijiana XV Secures Direct Qualification to Rugby World Cup 2025". Oceania Rugby. 2 June 2024. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  20. ^ "History-making Fiji and Hong Kong China move up World Rugby Women's Rankings". World Rugby. 3 June 2024. Archived from the original on 3 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  21. ^ "History Making Brazil Qualify for First Rugby World Cup". Americas Rugby News. 30 June 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  22. ^ "First Women's Rugby World Cup England 2025 tickets to go on sale in September". Rugby World Cup 2025 England. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  23. ^ a b "World Rugby confirms draw and match schedule release dates for Women's Rugby World Cup England 2025". Rugby World Cup. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  24. ^ "Rankings confirmed for Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 Draw". Rugby World Cup 2025. 14 October 2024. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  25. ^ "BBC Sport to show 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup". BBC. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  26. ^ "Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 draw shown live on BBC's The One Show on 17 October". BBC Sport. 9 October 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
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