Schedule and venues announced for 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup

February 4, 2020

With just over 18 months until the tournament commences, World Rugby and New Zealand Rugby have confirmed the tournament dates and venues that will host matches during the country’s staging of the 2021 Rugby World Cup.

Being held in the southern hemisphere for the first time, the women’s event will be held at Waitakere Stadium in Henderson and Whangarei’s Northland Events Centre with the final to be held at Auckland’s Eden Park.

World Rugby announced last year that it would be dropping the gender prefix from its women’s tournaments to ensure that all of its competitions have an equal billing from a brand perspective. The 2021 women’s World Cup will be the first tournament under the new model and will be known simply as Rugby World Cup 2021.

The tournament gets underway with pool matches at Waitakere Stadium and Northland Events Centre on 18th September 2021. The two venues will then host two more days of pool matches as well as the quarter-finals on 3rd October, before Eden Park stages the semi-finals on 9th October and the bronze match and final on 16th October.

Next year’s event will mark the first edition of the women’s tournament to be held in the southern hemisphere.

Today also saw the unveiling of the tournament brand, developed by World Rugby and New Zealand Rugby in close consultation with local cultural advisors. The RWC 2021 brand aims to convey the vitality and connectivity of the ocean’s waters at its heart and features the ‘Ngaru’ - a symbol of the ocean’s waves that surround New Zealand and the many shores that teams will travel from to compete in this ground-breaking tournament.

World Rugby Chairman, Bill Beaumont stated “women’s rugby is the single-biggest opportunity to grow the global game, and we are confident that New Zealand 2021 will be one of the great Rugby World Cups, attracting a new fan and player base for the sport.

“RWC 2021 follows a hugely successful 2017 event in Ireland which broke attendance and broadcast records, having a hugely positive impact on women’s rugby. Last year we successfully launched ‘Try and Stop Us’, a campaign that aims to drive increased participation and engagement among fans, audiences, players and investors in the women’s game.”

Eden Park was last month confirmed as one of the host venues for the Women’s Cricket World Cup, which New Zealand will also stage in 2021.

The draw for the tournament will take place later this year.

Image: World Rugby Chairman, Sir Bill Beaumont; Rugby World Cup 2021 Tournament Director Alison Hughes and General Manager of Women’s Rugby Kate Sadleir; NZ Rugby Chief Executive Mark Robinson; with Black Ferns Kendra Cocksedge; Aleisha-Pearl Nelson; Charmaine McMenamin; Ruahei Demant and Arihiana Marino-Tauhinu at Eden Park today. Courtesy of New Zealand Rugby.

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23rd January 2020 - Eden Park set to host ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021

23rd November 2019 - Rugby World Cup drives enhanced global fan interest for the first time since 2007

14th November 2019 - New Zealand Cricket facing ‘challenging year’ after 2018/19 financial loss

10th September 2019 - New Zealand Rugby names former All Black as new Chief Executive

9th August 2019 - Injury concerns force World Rugby to introduce new tackling laws

19th July 2019 - New Zealand Rugby cancels 700 ‘fraudulent’ All Blacks tickets after Ticketek intervention

20th June 2019 - World Rugby scraps plans for new Nations Championship

23rd April 2019 - New Zealand Rugby advises of significant profit downturn through 2018 financial year

5th April 2019 - World Rugby Sevens in Hong Kong looks to sustainability in 44th year of competition

1st April 2019 - World Rugby looks for backing for new Nations Championship concept from key stakeholders

16th November 2018 - New Zealand secures 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup hosting

21st September 2018 - Organisers report high demand for Rugby World Cup 2019 travel and hospitality packages

13th August 2018 - New Zealand Rugby submits bid to host Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021

2nd September 2016 - Venues announced for HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series 2016/17

3rd November 2015 - Rugby World Cup underlines All Blacks supremacy

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