Excitement grows after Red Roses’ ‘tough’ Women’s Rugby World Cup draw

All in all, it’s a cracking draw with some intriguing and Eurocentric match-ups. England will open the tournament next August in Sunderland and with the full fixture list announced on Tuesday, organisers must have a strategic think about who the Red Roses’ opponents should be. 

As the tournament’s dark horses, Australia, who are headed up by Englishwoman Jo Yapp, would seem an attractive shout. The US would also be a respectable choice, but the fear is that England, who recently put 50 points on the Eagles at WXV, would walk all over them. A lop-sided scoreline wouldn’t be a great look and risks damaging interest levels early on. 

In Pool B, we have a Six Nations-esque clash between Scotland and Wales, which should attract a sizeable crowd at worst and has Ashton Gate written all over it. Nothing like a bit of home nations rivalry to get the juices going.

Pool C sees a fascinating rematch between New Zealand and Ireland, who stunned the world champions at WXV1 recently. These teams have only ever met three times in their history and Ireland have won two of those encounters (they have a better win-loss ratio against the Black Ferns than England…) 

Pool D will see Italy and France compete in what is always a bit of an arm-wrestle – on their day, the Azzurre could topple a France side who have been on the wane of late – and it’s only right we give a shout out to minnows Brazil. The South American nation are the lowest ranked team in the tournament, sitting in 42nd.

Source: telegraph.co.uk