It has been a good summer for England with the Women’s Cricket team winning the World Cup and the Lionesses performing so well at Euro 2017. Next, onto the scene steps England’s Women as they go as one of the frontrunners to land the Rugby World Cup 2017. Ireland is the host nation for the tournament which begins on August 9th and runs through until the final on August 26th.
With all of the qualifying done and dusted for the event, final preparations have been made and the draw for the group stage is all set. With Ireland being hosts they didn’t have to qualify and neither did any of the other seven who finished in the top eight of the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup which was England, Canada, France, New Zealand, USA and Australia. That’s just six, because Wales were the seventh and they automatically qualified anyway along with Italy as they were the top two teams from the 2015 and 2016 Six Nations sides (outside of England, Ireland and France).
It is England who are going back as the reigning World Champions after beating the Canadians in the final three years ago. England are 4/5 odds on favourites to go and land the title again and the only other nation heading into the tournament under double figures is New Zealand who are dangerously hovering at the 6/4. New Zealand are the most successful nation in the history of the tournament with four titles.
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 Odds
England 4/5, New Zealand 6/4, Canada 12/1, France 25/1, Ireland 25/1, Australia 33/1, USA 40/1, Wales 100, bar 250/1
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Women’s Rugby World Cup Draw
Pool A – Canada, New Zealand, Wales, Hong Kong
Pool B – England, USA, Italy, Spain
Pool C – France, Ireland, Australia, Japan
There are just the three groups then which means that each of the group winners along with the one best runner up out of the three groups will make it through to the semi finals. So there are no second chances in this one and teams have to come out firing. There are those important bonus points running through the group stage. A team which scores four or more tries in a game will pick one up as well as a team which loses by seven points or fewer. Those will be huge factors.
Pool A
Canada, New Zealand, Wales, Hong Kong
Three years ago Canada went so well as they finished level on points with England in their Pool having played out a tight 13-13 draw with the English. They obviously weren’t anywhere near the scoring level of England throughout the tournament though, but they scraped their way through a tight semi final against France before losing to England when they met up again in the final. They are a decent dark horse in this one and they may well cause the New Zealanders some headaches here. New Zealand didn’t even get out of the group stage in the 2014 edition as they were beaten out by Ireland. Wales, who finished second from bottom in this year’s Six Nations, may find the going tough.
Pool B
England, USA, Italy, Spain
There is absolutely nothing to stop England in this group and they should coast to three straight wins and run up some big points at the same time too. They scored 216 points in their five Six Nations games this season and back in 2014 at the World Cup Emily Scarratt was top scorer with 70 points on the board. Top try scorer for them at the Women’s Six nations 2017 was Kay Wilson with 8, supported well from Amy Cokayne and Amy Wilson who touched down five times each. England are stacked with scoring power and pace. Just back in February they played the USA in a friendly for example and hammered them 48-0. That’s how easy it should be for them. With Italy and Spain not being a threat, England should get off to a flyer as they go in search of their third Women’s Rugby World Cup title. It is hard to see anyone even getting close to troubling the England powerhouse in this group and this isn’t a group which is likely to produce the best runner up either.
Pool C
France, Ireland, Australia, Japan
There should be a good scrap between France and Ireland in this group for the top spot. The Irish topped their group over New Zealand at the last World Cup and finished second in the Six Nations this year as well, two points clear of the French. There was a tight duel between them with Ireland winning 13-10 over the French in the 2017 Six Nations but throughout the tournament, the French heavily outscored the Irish in terms of points. The French can’t be dismissed in this one and they may just have enough to edge a title fight with Ireland. There is the tricky floater of Australia in there, who aren’t as good as either of the Europeans in the group, but they could do damage in terms of denying bonus points. It should be France and Ireland occupying the top two spots but there’s a lot of work to do for either to get the best runners up spot, simply because of Australia.
Women’s World Cup Predictions
England should coast to the top spot in their group and with that kind of momentum behind them they are going to take some stopping. The longer that they can avoid the New Zealand team the better obviously as they are their only serious threat in the entire tournament. But still, given the 2017 that England are having, you would have to back them to come through for a successful title defence.
