Pools confirmed for Women’s World Cup

NEWS: The four pools for the Women’s World Cup in 2025 in England have been confirmed.

Prior to the draw, the 16 qualified teams were placed into four bands based on the World Rugby Women’s Rankings as of October 14 with the top four teams in Band 1 (England, Canada, New Zealand and France) prepopulated into the first position of each pool.

Hosts and current No.1 team in the World Rugby Women’s Rankings, England, have been drawn against Australia, USA, and Samoa in Pool A.

Pool B sees the world’s No.2 Canada set to face Scotland, Wales and Fiji.

Reigning champions New Zealand are joined by Ireland, Japan and Spain in Pool C.

World Cup 2021 bronze medalists France are drawn in Pool D alongside Italy, South Africa and Brazil.

Springbok Women performance coach Swys de Bruin said the draw was yet another step closer to the actual tournament to be played across eight cities from 22 August to 27 September 2025, and brings another rush of energy to the group, already boosted by some commendable performances in the recent WXV 2 tournament in Cape Town.

“The puzzle is getting closer and closer to completion and the only thing remaining is the announcement next Tuesday of the playing schedule and team venues,” said De Bruyn.

“That means that we can start to focus and prepare with a clear picture in mind and that is always an exciting part of any campaign.”

Teams will play each of their pool opponents over three weekends with the two best teams on competition points in each pool qualifying for the quarterfinals and the knockout phase.

Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 Managing Director, Sarah Massey, said: “With anticipation building amongst fans and teams for next year’s showpiece event, today marks an important step forward to what will be an unmissable tournament.

“Next week will see the tournament celebrate another exciting milestone, as we unveil the match schedule, allowing fans, host locations and teams to start preparing their Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 experience in earnest.

World Cup 2025 pools:

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