Ireland have been drawn in the same pool as reigning World Cup champions New Zealand in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup in England.
Scott Bemand’s side – ranked sixth in the world – beat the Black Ferns 29-27 in their opening game of the WXV1 tournament in Canada last month. Japan and Spain are the other teams in Pool C.
“Really exciting,” said Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan – who is currently sidelined with an ACL injury – about the draw. “The group is quite familiar from the last couple of years of what we’ve played. We went on tour in Japan a couple of years ago. We played Spain last year in WXV. And New Zealand, obviously we’ve just beaten so we can take confidence from that. A good group, an exciting group, different styles of play.
“New Zealand, buzzing to play them. I know they’ll definitely be up for a rematch as well.
“It’s only 10 months away now. It’s going to fly. This PWR (Premiership Women’s Rugby) season is going to be quite short and sharp and then we’re straight into Six Nations and then building up for a World Cup, so it’s really exciting. An absolutely amazing experience and journey for our players, especially the younger players.”
Ireland are the only team to have beaten New Zealand in the pool stage of a Women’s Rugby World Cup. In 2014, they defeated the Black Ferns 17-14 to qualify for the semi-finals.
Ireland have also beaten their two other opponents in Pool C in the past two years. Ireland delivered a 15-13 victory against Spain to win the WXV3 title in Dubai last year.
It will be the first time that Ireland will play Spain in the pool stage of the World Cup.
The last time they played Japan was a two-test Tour in August 2022 when Ireland won the first contest 57-22 and lost the second 29-10.
“Really exciting,” said Ireland co-captain Sam Monaghan – who is currently sidelined with an ACL injury – about the draw. “The group is quite familiar from the last couple of years of what we’ve played. We went on tour in Japan a couple of years ago. We played Spain last year in WXV. And New Zealand, obviously we’ve just beaten, so we can take confidence from that. A good group, an exciting group, different styles of play.
“New Zealand, buzzing to play them. I know they’ll definitely be up for a rematch as well.
“It’s only ten months away now. It’s going to fly. This PWR (Premiership Women’s Rugby) season is going to be quite short and sharp and then we’re straight into Six Nations and then building up for a World Cup, so it’s really exciting. An absolutely amazing experience and journey for our players, especially the younger players.”
Host nation England are in Pool A and were drawn with the highest-ranked seeds in Band Two and Band Three, with Australia and the USA, respectively, as well as Samoa.
Canada are in Pool B with Scotland, Wales and Fiji while Pool D is made up of France, Italy, South Africa and Brazil.
The match schedule will be released on Tuesday, October 22.
Ireland automatically qualified for next year’s World Cup thanks to their third-place finish in the 2024 Women’s Six Nations.
They finished the year with an excellent second place in the recent WXV1 competition after wins over the Black Ferns and the USA.
Their win over Australia in Belfast last month also helped elevate Ireland to sixth place in the world rankings, which was why Ireland were in the second band of seeds for the World Cup.
It will be Ireland’s first appearance at a Women’s World Cup since 2017 when they hosted the tournament in Dublin and Belfast. Ireland’s eighth-place finish meant they failed to automatically qualify for the following World Cup.
In the final qualifier in September 2021, Ireland were beaten by Scotland to miss out on qualification for the tournament in New Zealand in 2022.
Next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup – which features an expanded format of 16 teams compared to 12 two years ago – will be the 10th edition of the global tournament and will take place across eight cities in England from August 22 to September 27 when the final will take place at Twickenham.
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 draw
Pool A: England, Australia, USA, Samoa
Pool B: Canada, Scotland, Wales, Fiji
Pool C: New Zealand, Ireland, Japan, Spain
Pool D: France, Italy, South Africa, Brazil