2017 Women's Rugby World Cup

The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Dublin and Belfast.[1] The pool stages were held at University College Dublin with the semi finals and finals held at Queen's University and Kingspan Stadium in Belfast.[2]

This article is about the rugby union competition. For the rugby league competition, see 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup.

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup

Tournament details
Host nations	Ireland
Dates	9 August 2017 – 26 August 2017
No. of nations	12
Final positions
Champions	New Zealand (5th title)
Runner-up	England
Third place	France
Tournament statistics
Matches played	30
Attendance	45,412 (1,514 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Portia Woodman (65)
Most tries	Portia Woodman (13)
← 2014 2021 →

The tournament took place three rather than four years after the previous Women's Rugby World Cup because World Rugby wanted to move away from clashing with other events.[3] The event will return to a four-year cycle after 2017.[4]

The 2017 tournament set attendance records for a Women's World Cup. The tournament drew 45,412 fans over 30 matches. The final was played in front of a crowd of 17,115, and the pool matches sold out.

This proved to be the final edition of the tournament under the "Women's Rugby World Cup" name. On 21 August 2019, World Rugby announced that all future World Cups, whether for men or women, would be officially titled as the "Rugby World Cup", distinguished only by year and not by sex or gender. As such, the 2021 edition in New Zealand will bear the title of "Rugby World Cup 2021".[5]

Bidding process

On 2 March 2015, it was announced that the Irish Rugby Football Union had submitted a bid to host to Women's Rugby World Cup in August 2017.[6] The Irish bid was the only one made to host the event. On 13 May 2015 it was announced that Ireland would host the event in Dublin and Belfast.[7]

On 4 June 2015 it was announced that Garrett Tubridy had been appointed tournament director for the event.[8]

Qualifying

Main article: 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup qualifying

Ireland, the host nation, had already qualified automatically by finishing in the top seven teams at the 2014 tournament before being announced as hosts. A further six teams (England, Canada, France, New Zealand, USA and Australia) qualified automatically as top seven finishers at the 2014 tournament.[9] Italy and Wales qualified as the top two teams across the 2015 and 2016 Women's Six Nations excluding England, France, and Ireland. The remaining three qualifiers (Hong Kong, Spain and Japan) were determined by the end of 2016.

Qualified teams

Americas	Europe	Oceania	Asia
Canada (AQ)  United States (AQ)	England (Holders)  France (AQ)  Ireland (Hosts)  Italy (AQ)  Spain (WCQ)  Wales (AQ)	Australia (AQ)  New Zealand (AQ)	Hong Kong (WCQ)  Japan (WCQ)

Match officials

At the end of March 2017, World Rugby announced fourteen match officials: nine referees and five assistants.[10]

Referees (9) Amy Perrett Graham Cooper Tim Baker Joy Neville Sean Gallagher Sara Cox Claire Hodnett Aimee Barrett-Theron Alhambra Nievas

Assistants (5) Rose Labreche Beatrice Benvenuti Marie Lematte Helen O'Reilly Ian Tempest

Squads

Main article: 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup squads

Pool stage

The pool draw took place on 9 November 2016 at Belfast.[11]

Each pool was a single round-robin of six games, in which each team played one match against each of the other teams in the same pool. Teams were awarded four points for a win, two points for a draw, one point for a loss by one to seven points, and none for a defeat by more than seven points. A team scoring four or more tries in one match scored a bonus point.

The tournament comprised 12 teams in three pools of four with the pool winners plus the best runner-up progressing to the semi-finals.[12]

All times are local, Western European Summer Time (UTC+1).[13]

Pool A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
New Zealand	3	3	0	0	35	213	17	+196	3	15
Canada	3	2	0	1	19	118	48	+70	1	9
Wales	3	1	0	2	9	51	74	−23	1	5
Hong Kong	3	0	0	3	2	15	258	−243	0	0

Test no. 1206 9 August 2017 14:00	New Zealand	44–12	Wales	Billings Park UCD, Dublin [88/178/4]
		Report[14]

Test no. 1208 9 August 2017 17:15	Canada	98–0	Hong Kong	Billings Park UCD, Dublin
		Report[15]

Test no. 1211 13 August 2017 12:00	New Zealand	121–0	Hong Kong	Billings Park UCD, Dublin
		Report[16]

Test no. 1214 13 August 2017 17:00	Canada	15–0	Wales	Billings Park UCD, Dublin [124/179/9]
		Report[17]

Test no. 1217 17 August 2017 12:00	Canada	5–48	New Zealand	Billings Park UCD, Dublin
		Report[18]

Test no. 1221 17 August 2017 17:15	Wales	39–15	Hong Kong	UCD Bowl, Dublin [180/38/1]
		Report[19]

Pool B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
England	3	3	0	0	27	159	44	+115	3	15
United States	3	2	0	1	15	93	59	+34	3	11
Spain	3	1	0	2	4	27	107	−80	0	4
Italy	3	0	0	3	5	33	102	−69	0	0

Test no. 1205 9 August 2017 14:00	England	56–5	Spain	UCD Bowl, Dublin
		Report[20]

Test no. 1207 9 August 2017 16:30	United States	24–12	Italy	UCD Bowl, Dublin
		Report[21]

Test no. 1212 13 August 2017 14:30	England	56–13	Italy	Billings Park UCD, Dublin
		Report[22]

Test no. 1213 13 August 2017 14:45	United States	43–0	Spain	UCD Bowl, Dublin
		Report[23]

Test no. 1218 17 August 2017 14:30	England	47–26	United States	Billings Park UCD, Dublin
		Report[24]

Test no. 1219 17 August 2017 14:45	Italy	8–22	Spain	UCD Bowl, Dublin
		Report[25]

Pool C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	TF	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
France	3	3	0	0	23	141	19	+122	2	14
Ireland	3	2	0	1	7	48	52	−4	0	8
Australia	3	1	0	2	8	46	82	−36	2	6
Japan	3	0	0	3	7	43	125	−82	0	0

Test no. 1209 9 August 2017 19:00	Ireland	19–17	Australia	UCD Bowl, Dublin
		Report[26]

Test no. 1210 9 August 2017 19:45	France	72–14	Japan	Billings Park UCD, Dublin
		Report[27]

Test no. 1215 13 August 2017 17:15	Ireland	24–14	Japan	UCD Bowl, Dublin
		Report[28]

Test no. 1216 13 August 2017 19:45	France	48–0	Australia	UCD Bowl, Dublin
		Report[29]

Test no. 1220 17 August 2017 17:00	Australia	29–15	Japan	Billings Park UCD, Dublin
		Report[30]

Test no. 1222 17 August 2017 19:45	France	21–5	Ireland	UCD Bowl, Dublin
		Report[31]

Finals

Knockout Rankings

At the completion of the pool stage, teams were ranked first according to their position within their pool (positions 1 to 3 were the pool winners, positions 4 to 6 were the pool runners up, etc.) and then by competition points. The top four teams progressed to the tournament semi-finals, teams ranked 5–8 progressed to the 5th to 8th play-offs, and the teams ranked 9–12 progressed to the 9th to 12th play-offs.[32]

Qualified for semi-finals

Qualified for 5th to 8th playoffs

Qualified for 9th to 12th playoffs

Rank	Team	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	+/−	BP	Pts
1	New Zealand	A1	3	3	0	0	213	17	+196	3	15
2	England	B1	3	3	0	0	159	44	+115	3	15
3	France	C1	3	3	0	0	141	19	+122	2	14
4	United States	B2	3	2	0	1	93	59	+34	3	11
5	Canada	A2	3	2	0	1	118	48	+70	1	9
6	Ireland	C2	3	2	0	1	48	52	−4	0	8
7	Australia	C3	3	1	0	2	46	82	−36	2	6
8	Wales	A3	3	1	0	2	51	74	−23	1	5
9	Spain	B3	3	1	0	2	27	107	−80	0	4
10	Italy	B4	3	0	0	3	33	102	−69	0	0
11	Japan	C4	3	0	0	3	43	125	−82	0	0
12	Hong Kong	A4	3	0	0	3	15	258	−243	0	0

Tie breakers

If teams were tied on pool points they were ranked by rules applied in the following order –
1. The team that won the match between the two teams was ranked first (does not apply to teams in different pools)
2. If the teams were still level, the difference between points scored and points conceded was used to rank the teams
3. Difference between tries scored and tries conceded was used to rank the teams
4. Most points scored
5. Most tries scored
6. Coin toss

Play-offs: 9th to 12th

	Semi-finals				Final
	22 August 2017
	Italy	22
					26 August 2017
	Japan	0
					Italy	20
	22 August 2017
					Spain	15
	Spain	31
	Hong Kong	7
					Third place
					26 August 2017
					Japan	44
					Hong Kong	5

---

Ninth to twelfth semifinals

Test no. 1223 22 August 2017 12:00	Italy	22–0	Japan	Queen's University Belfast
		Report[33]

Test no. 1225 22 August 2017 14:30	Spain	31–7	Hong Kong	Queen's University Belfast
		Report[34]

Eleventh place playoff

Test no. 1229 26 August 2017 12:00	Japan	44–5	Hong Kong	Queen's University Belfast
		Report[35]

Ninth place playoff

Test no. 1231 26 August 2017 14:30	Italy	20–15	Spain	Queen's University Belfast
		Report[36]

Play-offs 5th to 8th

	Semi-finals				Final
	22 August 2017
	Ireland	24
					26 August 2017
	Australia	36
					Australia	12
	22 August 2017
					Canada	43
	Canada	52
	Wales	0
					Third place
					26 August 2017
					Ireland	17
					Wales	27

---

Fifth to eighth semifinals

Test no. 1224 22 August 2017 14:00	Ireland	24–36	Australia	Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
		Report[37]

Test no. 1227 22 August 2017 17:00	Canada	52–0	Wales	Queen's University Belfast
		Report[38]

Seventh place playoff

Test no. 1230 26 August 2017 14:00	Ireland	17–27	Wales	Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
		Report[39]

Fifth place playoff

Test no. 1232 26 August 2017 14:30	Australia	12–43	Canada	Queen's University Belfast
		Report[40]

Finals

The team ranked first after the pool stages played the team ranked fourth and the team ranked second played the team ranked third.

	Semi-finals				Final
	22 August 2017
	New Zealand	45
					26 August 2017
	United States	12
					New Zealand	41
	22 August 2017
					England	32
	England	20
	France	3
					Third place
					26 August 2017
					France	31
					United States	23

---

Semifinals

Test: 1226	22 August 2017	New Zealand	45–12	United States	Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
	16:00 GMT (UTC+00)		Report[41]

Test: 1228	22 August 2017	England	20–3	France	Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
	18:45 GMT (UTC+00)		Report[42]

Third place playoff

Test: 1233	26 August 2017	France	31–23	United States	Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
	16:00 GMT (UTC+00)		Report[43]

Final

Main article: 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup Final

Test: 1234	26 August 2017	England	32–41	New Zealand	Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
	18:45 GMT (UTC+00)	Try: Penalty Try 25' Thompson 32', 55' Noel-Smith 77' Con: Scarratt 33', 78' Pen: Scarratt 15', 51'	Report[44]	Try: Winiata 8', 69' Natua 39', 45', 58' Smith 53' Cocksedge 63' Con: Cocksedge 46', 54', 58'	Attendance: 17,115 Referee: Joy Neville

Final classification

	Nation
	New Zealand
	England
	France
4	United States
5	Canada
6	Australia
7	Wales
8	Ireland
9	Italy
10	Spain
11	Japan
12	Hong Kong

Broadcasting

•  Australia: Foxtel
•  Canada: TSN[45] and RDS[46]
•  France: Eurosport and France Télévisions[47]
•  Ireland: Eir Sport and RTE[48]
•  Spain: RTVE[49]
•  United Kingdom: ITV[50]
•  USA: NBC Sports[51]

See also

• Rugby World Cup
• Rugby World Cup Sevens

References

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External links

• Official Site