World Rugby recommends 2021 Women's World Cup be delayed for a year

The Women’s Rugby World Cup, scheduled to be hosted by New Zealand, has been postponed until 2022 because of the “insurmountable challenges” created by the Coronavirus pandemic.

World Rugby made the decision to delay the tournament, which had been scheduled to run from 18th September to 16th October, due to uncertainty over travel restrictions and quarantine requirements.

The New Zealand Government remains committed to hosting the tournament next year, Sports Minister, Grant Robertson stating this morning “we all wanted the tournament to go ahead as planned this year, but we also accept that the current Covid-19 constrained circumstances are not ideal for high performance athletes in a tournament situation.

“Ultimately this is a decision for World Rugby to make. If they do postpone we are fully committed to hosting the event next year. The government is supporting NZ Rugby’s hosting of the tournament with financial contributions through the Major Events Development Fund and Sport New Zealand. That support will remain in place for 2022.”

Organisers will issue further updates following meetings between the Rugby World Cup board and World Rugby’s executive committee next week.

Expectations for this year’s event had been high but, with Auckland going back into lockdown in recent days, concerns over player welfare had been growing.

In a statement, World Rugby advised “it has become clear in recent discussions with key partners including New Zealand Rugby, the New Zealand government and participating unions, that, given the scale of the event and the Covid-19-related uncertainties, it is just not possible to deliver the environment for all teams to be the best that they can be on the sport’s greatest stage.”

With teams preparing to quarantine before and after the tournament, there was also the prospect of players spending an inordinate amount of time away from home.

Rugby Australia advised in a statement that it “accepted World Rugby's recommendation” to postpone the tournament.

The statement went on to say “while unfortunate, the on-going challenges associated with COVID-19 and the rapidly changing landscape makes it difficult to ensure our players' safety and that of the wider rugby family.”

Rugby Australia has recently proposed that it host this year’s British and Irish Lions series in South Africa, with questions over whether South Africa can host the tour due to its high number of Coronavirus cases,

World Rugby revised plan is for New Zealand to host the Women's World Cup at a similar time next year.