Women's Rugby World Cup 2022

2022 - 10 - 6

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Why England are favourites to win Women's Rugby World Cup 2022 (The Guardian)

Red Roses average 18.6 points in the final quarter, are fitter, stronger and have greater depth. How can anyone stop them?

Both feature on day two of the competition on Sunday when the action moves to Whangarei: Wales take on Scotland and Italy play the USA, while contenders Canada play Japan. Deploying a dual tactic of softening their line speed and allowing England to play behind the gainline, Ireland relied on a strong drift defence to try to deny any attacking momentum, which did force some early mistakes. Though these sound like tiny margins, England’s ability to quickly get the ball into the hands of their powerful ball carriers eventually forces a defensive line to lose its shape. The first is a fearsome lineout that destroys teams if it is allowed to get up and running. Aside from restricting the opportunities they get to throw in close to the line through immaculate discipline, there are scant ways to defend this. France, New Zealand and Canada are the other contenders but England have honed a ruthless and almost unstoppable gameplan, generating astonishing try-scoring statistics from certain areas and at key times of matches.

Women's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand - Teams Guide for ... (Sky Sports)

France's Jessy Tremouliere, England's Emily Scaratt, and New Zealand's Ruahei Demant will likely prove key players at the World Cup.

They have beaten the other top nations France (10 consecutive wins), New Zealand (two comprehensive wins) and Canada within the run, as well as pretty much everyone else, and by dominant scorelines too. Prospects: Previous winners back in 1991, the USA have historically been one of the top sides at the World Cup, making two further finals (1994, 1998) and a semi-final in 2017. Wins have been hard to come by, and heavy defeats to England and France are expected. Les Bleus have never made a final in their history, but have fallen at the semi-final stage a remarkable six times, including at the last four tournaments in a row. Prospects: Appearing in just the fourth World Cup in their history, Italy are currently ranked fifth in the world such has been their results and performances of recent times. - Sun Oct 9, Japan vs Canada (3.15am, Northland Events Centre, Whangarei) Prospects: Having missed out in 2014 and 2017, Scotland have qualified for their first World Cup since 2010, edging Ireland to a play-off vs Colombia in Dubai, which they duly won. They will be seeking to top Pool B, and with that get a kind quarter-final draw to make another semi-final. Yet, since the last Rugby World Cup final in 2017, New Zealand have been beaten four times by France and twice by England, losing four on the trot - twice vs France, twice vs England - last November. - Sun Oct 9, Wales vs Scotland (5.45am, Northland Events Centre, Whangarei) Prospects: Wales enter into this World Cup with professional contracts in their ranks for the very first time. They don't possess the quality or power of the top sides.

BROADCAST GUIDE | The WOMEN'S RUGBY WORLD CUP arrives ... (TV Blackbox)

Every match from the tournament will be streaming ad-free, live and on-demand on Stan Sport. Australia A will be looking for consecutive wins against a quality ...

Arsenal will play host to group leaders Bodo/Glimt in Europa League action at the Emirates Stadium. Japan scored a historic win against Australia on the Gold Coast this year and are out to claim more scalps. Australia will take confidence from their last game against New Zealand, a competitive 22-14 loss.

Red Roses hot favourite to win 2002 Women's Rugby World Cup ... (Asia Pacific Report)

While much of New Zealand's parochial media is unashamedly giving wide coverage to the Black Ferns and little space to the other 11 teams in the tournament, it ...

“And I genuinely don’t think we’ve realised the potential of this England team yet. Any team coached by Wayne Smith and Mike Cron is going to be quite good, I reckon.” No doubt those memories will be enhanced should Fiji pull a David versus Goliath result when they take on the English juggernaut. England lost the last World Cup final to New Zealand 41-32 in Belfast in 2017 and are sure to be out for a measure of revenge against the Black Ferns should the two sides make the final, if not clashing in the previous knockout rounds of the tournament. How good are the Red Roses? The tournament kicks off with a triple header at Eden Park on Saturday with France playing South Africa in pool C, then England playing Fiji — who will undoubtedly be the dark horses of the pool with many of the women coming from the victorious Fijiana Drua team that won the Women’s Super W Rugby title this year 32-26 over New South Wales.

Women's Rugby World Cup predictions: Our experts' verdicts on ... (Telegraph.co.uk)

Plus, ahead of Saturday's big kick-off Telegraph Sport gives you the lowdown on all the teams doing battle in New Zealand.

World Cup debutants Fiji will be a force to be reckoned with in New Zealand. A team that has always been the bridesmaids to England, and never the bride. They beat minnows Colombia in Dubai earlier this year to seal the last spot at the tournament and will take an experienced side to New Zealand, led by captain Rachel Malcolm. They have enjoyed something of a resurgence with wins this year against Australia and Fiji, before claiming a confidence-boosting 29-10 victory over Ireland in August. They have always punched above their weight at World Cups – having never finished lower than sixth – but can they bridge the historic gulf that has existed between them and New Zealand? The winner of Wales v Scotland should have a decent chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals, however – but losing bonus points against the southern-hemisphere sides will be key. Wales head into the World Cup with support for its women’s programme at an all time high. They just do not have the depth and their pool is tricky – both New Zealand and Australia await. It will be the biggest World Cup yet with a world record crowd expected at Eden Park for the final. Ranked ninth and 10th heading into the tournament, they are scrapping for a quarter-final berth. They are in such ridiculous form and have a killer instinct that no other team will match. They have never really followed up on their memorable 2014 World Cup, when they were beaten by England in the final.

Factbox: Women's Rugby World Cup (Reuters)

* The tournament will open with a triple header at the 50,000-seater Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday. Matches will also take place at Waitakere Stadium (3,000) ...

The pool winners will be seeds 1 to 3, the second placed teams 4 to 6, the third place teams 7 and 8. Bonus points will be awarded for scoring four or more tries in a game and/or for losing by fewer than eight points. * The tournament will open with a triple header at the 50,000-seater Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

Women's Rugby World Cup Odds: New Zealand Second Favourites ... (Gambling.com)

The best women's teams from around the world have gathered in Auckland and will kick the tournament off at Eden Park on Saturday, in front of what's hoped to be ...

Reports this week are hopeful of a crowd of around 35,000 at Eden Park, which would make it the largest ever for a women’s Rugby World Cup match. What followed was the biggest period of upheaval in the Black Ferns’ history. The Black Ferns dominated the Wallaroos with slicker handling and gameplan execution, so expect to see a few tries run in for this one. [betting apps](/nz/sports-betting/apps), the only time they got close to the Black Ferns was in the first test in Tauranga, which was played in a torrential downpour and was also the first of a radically overhauled side that Smith put out. This is the first-time professional teams will compete for the top prize in the women’s game – although it’s important to note that only a few of them are actually pro. The best women’s teams from around the world have gathered in Auckland and will kick the tournament off at Eden Park on Saturday, in front of what’s hoped to be a record crowd for women’s rugby.