New Zealand wins bid to host Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021

World Rugby has awarded New Zealand with the hosting rights of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021.

Matches will be played at the 5,000 capacity Waitakere Stadium in Auckland and the Northland Events Centre in Whangarei, with a capacity of up to 20,000 as well as the 25,000 capacity Albany Stadium and Eden Park, which hosted the Rugby World Cup 2011 final.

It will be the first Women’s Rugby World Cup to take place in the southern hemisphere.

World Rugby Chairman, Bill Beaumont, said, “Women’s rugby continues to grow with over 2.4 million women and girls playing rugby at all levels, accounting for more than a quarter of players globally. With Women’s Rugby World Cup attracting record crowds and broadcast audiences in each of the last three tournaments – Ireland 2017, France 2014 and England 2010 – I am in no doubt that the 2021 tournament, the first to be held in the southern hemisphere, will continue this record breaking trend.”

On announcement of the successful bid, New Zealand Rugby Board Member and former Black Fern Farah Palmer said: “We are honoured and excited to be awarded the WRWC2021 and look forward to delivering the first Women’s Rugby World Cup tournament in the Southern Hemisphere. The New Zealand Government strongly supported the bid, with backing from MBIE, Auckland Tourism Events and Economic Development (ATEED) and Whangarei District Council. We are looking forward to working together to deliver a world-class tournament for players, officials, fans, commercial partners and spectators watching around the world.”

New Zealand won their fifth Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2017 after they beat England 41-32 in a pulsating final at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast, Ireland.