Hosts England have been drawn with Australia, USA and Samoa for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
World No 1 side England will stage the tournament for the second time, with 16 nations participating in next year’s event – four more than the last Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Scotland and Wales have been drawn together in Group B, which also features Canada and Fiji, while Ireland will face defending champions New Zealand, plus Japan and Spain in Group C.
The 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup takes place from August 22 to September 27.
England will be favourites for the tournament as they have been unbeaten since their dramatic defeat to New Zealand in the World Cup final in 2022, which was delayed by 12 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Red Roses won the recent WXV1 tournament with victory over Canada in their last match.
England won the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 1994 and 2014, but have finished runners-up to New Zealand in the last two editions.
Ireland will get the chance to face New Zealand again, having beaten the defending world champions in their opening WXV1 match in Vancouver last month.
France are top seeds in Pool D, where they will take on Italy, South Africa and World Cup debutants Brazil.
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 draw in full
- Pool A: England, Australia, USA, Samoa.
- Pool B: Canada, Scotland, Wales, Fiji.
- Pool C: New Zealand, Ireland, Japan, Spain.
- Pool D: France, Italy, South Africa, Brazil.
The knockout stages then see the tournament progress to quarter-finals, semi-finals, a third-place play-off and then the final.
The winners of England’s Pool A will face the runners-up from Scotland and Wales’ Pool B in the quarters, while the winners of France’s Pool D will face the runners-up from New Zealand and Ireland’s Pool C. The Pool B winners will face the Pool A runners-up, with the winners of Pool C facing the the Pool D runners-up.
The semi-final split will then see the victors of the quarter-final clash involving the winners of Pool A (potentially England) face the winners of the quarter involving the winners of Pool D (potentially France). That means that should New Zealand Canada top their pools and progress, England would avoid them until the final – providing the Red Roses win their pool.
Quarter-finals:
1: Winner Pool A vs Runner-up Pool B
2: Winner Pool D vs Runner-up Pool C
3: Winner Pool C vs Runner-up Pool D
4: Winner Pool B vs Runner-up Pool A
Semi-finals:
1: Winner of quarter-final 1 vs Winner of quarter-final 2
2: Winner of quarter-final 3 vs Winner of quarter-final 4
Packer: England draw will pose us questions
England captain Marlie Packer is confident her side will be ready to answer all the questions thrown at them when they bid to win the tournament on home soil.
“It [the pool draw] is going to pose us questions, but I think that is really good for us,” Packer said.
“We don’t want to get into the knockout stages and not having being posed questions and made sure that we are in the best possible spot come those knockout stages.
England have won the Women’s Rugby World Cup twice but lost to New Zealand last time out
“Every team that plays us wants to beat us, because we do have that dominance. That is what has been so great about these WXVs, is that we have had the opportunity to play the best teams in the world regularly for the last couple of years.
“We got posed questions by all the teams we played in lots of different areas, and it is all positive for us, because winning is a habit and we are very good at it as the Red Roses.”
Ireland did not qualify for the last World Cup, but the recent wins over Australia in Belfast and then New Zealand have raised expectations.
“The group is quite familiar in terms of teams we have played in the last few years,” Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan said.
“I am buzzing to play them [New Zealand] and I am sure they will be up for the rematch.”
Ireland could be dark horses at the Women’s Rugby World Cup next year
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 schedule
England will play in the opening game on August 22 at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, with their remaining two pool matches being hosted at Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton and Brighton’s Amex Stadium.
The quarter-finals will be shared between Sandy Park and Ashton Gate, with the semi-finals at Ashton Gate a week before the final.
The final itself will take place at Twickenham on September 27.
World Rugby will confirm the full 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup match schedule next week.