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The Women’s Rugby World Cup will expand from 12 to 16 teams, World Rugby has confirmed. The change will begin for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025. The 2021 edition will be a 12-team tournament.
The 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup will be ninth the ninth in history. The first was in Wales in 1991 and the most recent in Ireland in 2017. Canada hosted the 2006 edition; the only time the tournament has not been played in Europe.
The 2021 Women’s RWC will not be the first tournament to feature 16 teams. The 1998 and 2002 editions both had 16 teams. They were hosted by Holland and Spain respectively.
2021 marks the first Women’s RWC played outside of the Northern Hemisphere. New Zealand will host the tournament from September 18 to October 16. It will be played in the northern cities of Auckland and Whangarei. Both Canada and the USA qualified automatically. Colombia will face Kenya to determine the fourth team to compete in the Repechage.
In addition to Canada and the USA, Australia, England, France, and Wales also all qualified directly. They join hosts New Zealand and qualifiers Fiji, and South Africa as nine of the twelve participants. The three remaining spots will come from Asia, Europe, and Repechage.
