By The Telegraph (World News) | Created at 2024-10-17 17:35:39 | Updated at 2024-10-17 19:31:39
1 hour ago
Welcome to Telegraph Sport’s coverage of the Women’s Rugby World Cup draw.
Tonight’s draw kick-starts an exciting run-up to the tournament, which England will host next summer in venues across the country – including Twickenham, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light and Brighton and Hove Albion Stadium.
The Red Roses are firm favourites heading into the competition. As the host nation, they received automatic qualification – however with a rating of 97.56 points, they head into the draw as the highest-rated team of all-time in both the men’s and women’s rankings.
At the last World Cup in 2022, they were defeated by New Zealand, the host nation, in a dramatic final in front of a then record-breaking crowd for a women’s fixture of 42,579 at Eden Park.
This tournament is expected to be even bigger – more than 60,000 tickets were bought in the presale alone across the opening match, the bronze-medal game and the final.
England have always finished top of their pool and are the only team to have reached the semi-finals in every tournament to date. However, the Red Roses have struggled with that final step, having won the World Cup only twice in 1994 and 2014.
A decade on from their last victory, John Mitchell’s team will be hoping to knock defending champions New Zealand off their perch.
Tonight’s draw will see the 16 teams drawn into four pools of four in readiness for next summer’s group stage.
