2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup

2021 (2021) Women's Rugby League World Cup  ()
Number of teams	8
Host country	England
Matches played	14
Attendance	30,338 (2,167 per match)
Tournaments  < 2017 2025 >

The 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup will be the sixth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup, and will be one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament is to be held in England from 1 November to 19 November 2022. Originally planned for 2021, it was delayed a year along with the Men's and Wheelchair tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament will feature eight teams, an increase of two from the previous tournament.

For the first time the tournament will have parity with the men's and wheelchair tournaments with all participants being paid the same while all 61 matches across three tournaments will be broadcast live.

Teams

Qualification

The competing teams were selected based on a number of criteria including growth and current infrastructure and were announced on 18 July 2019.

Region	Team	Previous appearances	Previous best result	World ranking	Coach	Captain
Americas	Brazil	0	Debut	11	Paul Grundy	Maria Graf
	Canada	1	Semi-finals (2017)	4	Mike Castle	Gabrielle Hindley
Asia-Pacific	Australia	5	Champions (2013, 2017)	1	Brad Donald	Kezie Apps, Sam Bremner, Ali Brigginshaw
	Cook Islands	2	Pool stage (2003, 2017)	5	Anthony (Rusty) Matua	Kimiora Breayley-Nati
	New Zealand	5	Champions (2000, 2003, 2008)	2	Ricky Henry	Krystal Rota
	Papua New Guinea	1	Pool stage (2017)	6	Ben Jeffries	Elsie Albert
Europe	England	3	Semi-finals (2008, 2017), 3rd of 4 (2013)	3	Craig Richards	Emily Rudge
	France	2	Pool stage (2008, 2013)	7	Vincent Baloup	Alice Varela

Draw

The teams were drawn into two groups of four. The two seeded teams were England (Group A) as hosts and Australia as holders (Group B). The draw was made at Buckingham Palace on 16 January 2020. Teams from pool 1 were drawn by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, pool 2 was drawn by Katherine Grainger and pool 3 by Jason Robinson.

Ahead of the fixture list being announced, the organisers stated that there will be at least four days between a team's games in the interests of player welfare.

The fixtures were announced on 21 July 2020. Following the postponement of the tournament from 2021 to 2022, a revised schedule was published on 21 November 2021. All the games in the tournament will be played as double-headers with other games from either the women's or men's tournaments.

Seeded	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Australia England	New Zealand Papua New Guinea	Canada France	Cook Islands Brazil

Squads

Main article: 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup squads

Each nation announced 24 player squads to compete in the tournament.

Venues

Stadiums

Five venues will be used for the women's tournament. Stadiums are referred to by their official name rather than sponsored name, as is International Rugby League policy

Manchester			Wigan
Old Trafford			DW Stadium
Capacity: 74,994			Capacity: 25,138
Manchester Wigan Leeds York Hull
Hull		Leeds		York
MKM Stadium		Headingley Stadium		York Community Stadium
Capacity: 25,586		Capacity: 21,062		Capacity: 8,500

Team base camp locations

Two locations were used by the eight national team squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament, as follows;

• Leeds: Brazil, Canada, England and Papua New Guinea
• York: Australia, Cook Islands, France and New Zealand

Officiating

Match officials

The list of match officials who will officiate across both the men's and women's tournaments was published on 5 October 2022.

• Grant Atkins (Australia)
• Kasey Badger (Australia)
• Dean Bowmer (England)
• Ben Casty (France)
• James Child (England)
• Darian Furner (Australia)
• Adam Gee (Australia)
• Tom Grant (England)
• Marcus Griffiths (England)
• Robert Hicks (England)
• Neil Horton (England)
• Chris Kendall (England)
• Ashley Klein (Australia)
• Aaron Moore (England)

• Liam Moore (England)
• Paki Parkinson (New Zealand)
• Geoffrey Poumes (France)
• Wyatt Raymond (Australia)
• Liam Rush (England)
• Belinda Sharpe (Australia)
• Michael Smaill (England)
• Jack Smith (England)
• Todd Smith (Australia)
• Gerard Sutton (Australia)
• Rochelle Tamarua (New Zealand)
• Ben Thaler (England)
• Warren Turley (England)
• James Vella (England)

Warm-up matches

Pre-tournament practice matches took place in the weeks before the first round of group stage matches of the World Cup.

20 October 2022 19:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

York Valkyrie	0–38	Papua New Guinea
	Report

York St John University Sports Park, York

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25 October 2022 14:00 BST (UTC+01:00)

Ireland	8–6	Canada
	Report

Orrell St James Rugby League Club, Wigan

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27 October 2022 14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

England Knights	14–26	Cook Islands
	Report

Weetwood Sports Park, Leeds

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27 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)

Brazil	4–16	France
	Report

Post Office Road, Featherstone

Group stage

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	England	3	3	0	0	168	12	+156	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	Papua New Guinea	3	2	0	1	108	54	+54	4
3	Canada	3	1	0	2	38	104	−66	2
4	Brazil	3	0	0	3	20	164	−144	0

Source: rlwc2021

1 November 2022 14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

England	72–4	Brazil
Tries: Beevers  2' Hill  16', 22', 73' Field  28' Hardcastle  37', 49', 67' Stanley  6', 40' Goldthorp  44' Jones  64' Burke  70' Wood  80' Goals: Stanley 8/14 (23', 29', 38' , 45', 65', 68', 74', 80')	Report	Tries: Momberg  59' Goals: Oliveira 0/1

Headingley Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 8,261 Referee: Rochelle Tamarua (New Zealand) Touch judges: Tom Grant (England), Jack Smith (England) Player of the Match: Courtney Winfield-Hill (England)

Team details

England		Position	Brazil
Name	Number		Number	Name
Fran Goldthorp	3	Fullback	18	Natalia Momberg
Caitlin Beevers	2	Wing	22	Edna Santini
Tara-Jane Stanley	1	Centre	3	Leticia Medeiros
Amy Hardcastle	4	Centre	1	Adriana Felix
Leah Burke	5	Wing	2	Tati Fernandes
Georgia Roche	6	Stand off/Five eighth	6	Giovana Moura
Courtney Winfield-Hill (c)	7	Scrum half/Half back	7	Maria Graf
Shona Hoyle	17	Prop forward	8	Franciny Amaral
Tara Jones	9	Hooker	9	Patricia Bodeman
Olivia Wood	18	Prop forward	15	Franciele Barros
Vicky Molyneux	14	Second row	11	Patricia Oliveira
Emily Rudge	12	Second row	12	Amanda Welter
Jodie Cunningham	13	Loose forward/Lock forward	13	Barbra Leal
Zoe Harris	22	Interchange	14	Giovanna Barth
Hollie Dodd	11	Interchange	10	Paula Casemiro
Grace Field	15	Interchange	16	Brena Prioste
Victoria Whitfield	8	Interchange	17	Ana Loschi De Quadros
Lois Forsell		Coach		Paul Grundy

1 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Papua New Guinea	34–12	Canada
Tries: Long  25' Molowia  38', 42' Ravu  47' Banu  63' Gwasamun  76' Butler  78' Goals: Veivers 2/5 (43', 80') Malabag 1/2 (64')	Report	Tries: Woods  31' Pakulis  60' Goals: Frananda 2/2 (31', 62')

Headingley Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 8,261 Referee: Geoffrey Poumes (France) Touch judges: Aaron Moore (England), James Vella (England) Player of the Match: Martha Molowia (Papua New Guinea)

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5 November 2022 12:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

England	54–4	Canada
Tries: Burke  4', 67' Dodd  17', 26' Wilson  20' Goldthorp  33' Roche  35' Stanley  41', 44', 60' Roberts  52' Goals: Stanley 5/11 (21', 27', 36' 42' 61')	Report	Tries: Woods  47'

DW Stadium, Wigan Attendance: 23,179 Referee: Paki Parkinson (New Zealand) Touch judges: James Vella (England), Liam Rush (England) Player of the Match: Vicky Molyneux (England)

5 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Papua New Guinea	70–0	Brazil
Tries: Gwasamun  2', 27', 51', 59' Moxon  11', 54' Butler  16' Albert  42' Reeves  45' Koroi  48' Joe  66' Molowia  69' Malabag  72' Aiton  75' Goals: Malabag 7/14 (28', 44', 46', 49', 61', 70', 73')	Report

MKM Stadium, Hull Attendance: 7,080 Referee: Ben Casty (France) Touch judges: Geoffrey Poumes (France), Dean Bowmer (England) Player of the Match: Belinda Gwasamun (Papua New Guinea)

Team details

Papua New Guinea		Position	Brazil
Name	Number		Number	Name
Martha Molowia	1	Fullback	1	Adriana Felix
Tara Moxon	2	Wing	22	Edna Santini
Shae-Yvonne De La Cruz	3	Centre	3	Leticia Medeiros
Belinda Gwasamun	4	Centre	12	Amanda Welter
Anika Butler	5	Wing	5	Natalia Momberg
Sera Koroi	6	Stand off/Five eighth	6	Giovana Moura
Lilah Malabac	7	Scrum half/Half back	7	Byanca Santa Rita
Elise Albert (c)	8	Prop forward	8	Franciny Amaral
Shirley Joe	9	Hooker	9	Patricia Bodeman
Bertshiba Awoi	10	Prop forward	10	Paula Casemiro
Essay Banu	11	Second row	11	Patricia Oliveira
Carol Humeu	12	Second row	17	Ana Loschi De Quadros
Jessika Reeves	13	Loose forward/Lock forward	16	Brena Prioste
Lia Ravu	14	Interchange	14	Giovanna Barth
Veronica Waula	15	Interchange	15	Franciele Barros
Therese Aiton	16	Interchange	16	Ellen Trindade
Gloria Kaupa	17	Interchange	17	Pamela Silva
		Coach		Paul Grundy

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9 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Canada	22–16	Brazil
Tries: Sandboe  25' Maguire  29' Pakulis  59' Fittes  79' Goals: Frananda 3/4 (31', 60', 80')	Report	Tries: Amaral  7' Santini  44' Bodeman  73' Goals: Graf 2/3 (7', 75')

Headingley Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 5,471 Referee: Michael Smaill (England)

9 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

England	42–4	Papua New Guinea
	Report

Headingley Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 5,471

Group B

All six of the Group B fixtures will be played at the York Community Stadium in York.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia	3	3	0	0	176	8	+168	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	New Zealand	3	2	0	1	88	14	+74	4
3	Cook Islands	3	1	0	2	30	126	−96	2
4	France	3	0	0	3	18	164	−146	0

Source: rlwc2021

2 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

New Zealand	46–0	France
Tries: Bartlett  24' Nicholls  29' Hall  33' Murdoch-Masila  39', 76' Vaha'akolo  42', 56' P. McGregor  50' Parker  79' Goals: Nicholls 1/2 (52') Clark 4/7 (30', 34', 77', 80')	Report

York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,091 Referee: Ben Thaler (England) Touch judges: Neil Horton (England), Liam Rush (England) Player of the Match: Apii Nicholls-Pualau (New Zealand)

2 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Australia	74–0	Cook Islands
Tries: Pelite  3', 25', 70' Johnston  9' Aiken  14', 72' Bremmer  21', 44', 60', 63' Ciesiolka  30' Robinson  33', 57' Fuimaono  54' Goals: Brown 6/9 (10', 16', 23', 31', 65', 70') Wheeler 3/3 (55', 58', 61')	Report

York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,091 Referee: Michael Smaill (England) Touch judges: Warren Turley (England), Wyatt Raymond (Australia) Player of the Match: Sam Bremner (Australia)

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6 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

New Zealand	34–4	Cook Islands
Tries: McGregor  10' Rota  15' Hall  31' Albert-Jones  54' Hufanga  59', 72' Nu'uausala  79' Goals: Albert-Jones 1/4 (54') Clark 3/3 (33', 74', 80')	Report	Tries: Wiki  67'

York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,006 Referee: Michael Smaill (England) Touch judges: James Vella (England), Liam Rush (England) Player of the Match: Raecene McGregor (New Zealand)

6 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Australia	92–0	France
Tries: Ciesiolka  3' Chapman  6', 12', 63' Sergis  9', 17', 37', 42' Aiken  14' Tonegato  21' Harden  27' Pelite  35', 79' Robinson  46', 67', 74' Kernick  55' Goals: Brown 10/13 Wheeler 1/2 Aiken 1/2	Report

York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,006 Referee: Rochelle Tamarua (New Zealand) Touch judges: Neil Horton (England), Aaron Moore (England) Player of the Match: Tarryn Aiken (Australia)

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10 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

France	18–26	Cook Islands
	Report

York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,370

10 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Australia	10–8	New Zealand
Tries: Aiken  20' Robinson  62' Goals: Brigginshaw 1/1 (22') Brown 0/1	Report	Tries: Nicholls-Pualau  30' Stephens-Daly  55' Goals: Clark 0/2

York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,370

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	14 November – York
	Australia	82
					19 November – Manchester
	Papua New Guinea	0
					Australia
	14 November – York
					New Zealand
	England	6
	New Zealand	20

Semi-finals

The semi-finals will be played as a double-header at the York Community Stadium, York on 14 November 2022.

14 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Australia	82 - 0	Papua New Guinea
	Report

York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 7,139

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14 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)

England	6 - 20	New Zealand
	Report

York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 7,139

Final

Main article: 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup Final

The final will be played at Old Trafford, Manchester on 19 November 2022 as a double-header with the final of the men's tournament.

19 November 2022 13:15 GMT (UTC±00:00)

Australia	v	New Zealand
	Report

Old Trafford, Manchester

See also

• 2021 Festival of World Cups
• Legacy of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup

External links

• Official website