Will England Shine On Home Soil? Women’s Rugby World Cup Preview
A total of 16 teams will compete in the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, which will be held across England from the 22nd August to the 27th September.
Champions New Zealand will be hoping to defend their crown last won in 2022 in the Covid-delayed tournament, but England will be hoping to avenge that defeat to the All Blacks women’s team on home soil.
The action kicks off at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland and ends with the Final at Twickenham, so let;s now take a closer look at the 16 teams taking part, by looking at the Pool Stage draw.
Pool Stage Draw & Fixtures
Each team will play the other teams in its Pool once during the Pool stage with the top two teams in the group advancing to the knockout stage.
Pool A
- England
- Australia
- United States
- Samoa
22nd August – England 69-7 United States
23rd August – Australia 73-0 Samoa
30th August – England v Samoa
30th August – United States v Australia
6th September – United States v Samoa
6th September – England v Australia
Pool B
- Canada
- Scotland
- Wales
- Fiji
23rd August – Scotland 38-8 Wales
23rd August – Canada 65-7 Fiji
30th August – Canada v Wales
30th August – Scotland v Fiji
6th September – Canada v Scotland
6th September – Wales v Fiji
Pool C
- New Zealand
- Ireland
- Japan
- Spain
24th August – Ireland 42-14 Japan
24th August – New Zealand 54-8 Spain
31st Auguat – Ireland v Spain
31st August – New Zealand v Japan
7th September – Japan v Spain
7th September – New Zealand v Ireland
Pool D
- France
- Italy
- South Africa
- Brazil
23rd August – France 24-0 Italy
24th August – South Africa 66-6 Brazil
31st Auguat – Italy v South Africa
31st August – France v Brazil
7th September – Italy v Brazil
7th September – France v South Africa
Venues
All Pool stage and knockout fixtures will be played across eight stadia in the UK. They are:
- London – Twickenham Stadium (82,000)
- Sunderland – Stadium of Light (49,000)
- Brighton – Brighton & Hove Albion Stadium (31,876)
- Bristol – Ashton Gate (26,462)
- Exeter – Sandy Park (15,600)
- Northampton – Franklin Gardens (15,249)
- Manchester – Salford Community Stadium (11,404)
- York – York Community Stadium (8,500)
Knockout Stage
The knockout stage draw is already determined with the position of the two teams qualifying from each pool deciding who faces who in the Quarterfinal stage.
Quarter-finals
QF1 – Winner of Pool C v Runner-up of Pool D
QF2 – Winner of Pool B v Runner-up of Pool A
QF3 – Winner of Pool D v Runner-up of Pool C
QF4 – Winner of Pool A v Runner-up of Pool B
Semi-finals
SF1 – Winner of QF1 v Winner of QF2
SF2 – Winner of QF3 v Winner of QF4
Bronze Final
Loser of SF1 v Loser of SF2
Final
Winner of SF1 v Winner of SF2
Outright Betting Odds
At the time of writing, bet365 offered the following odds on each of the competing nations in the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup (these odds may have changed since publication).
- 1.25 favourites – England
- 4.33 – New Zealand
- 7.50 – Canada
- 19.00 – France
- 51.00 – Australia
- 67.00 – Ireland
- 126.00 – Scotland
- 201.00 – Italy, South Africa, United States
- 501.00 – Wales
- 751.00 – Japan
- 1001.00 – Spain, Fiji
- 2001.00 – Samoa
- 2501.00 – Brazil
With the tournament having already got off to an exciting start at the weekend, it promises to be an exciting month of action for Rugby fans across the globe!
