The Australian Government have released their plan to bid for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2021, with the proposal all matches would be played in the Hunter region on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
Under the plan, all matches would be played at either the Maitland number one Sportsground or the Newcastle Sportsground number two, with the final then to be shifted to the 33,000-capacity Newcastle International Sports Centre, also known as McDonald Jones Stadium.
With 12 countries set to compete, there is a projected boost of $23 million to the New South Wales economy and all athletes will be housed in Newcastle.
The tournament being held in Newcastle will lock it down in one area and cut back on travel expenses, with support coming from the Newcastle council.
Rugby Australia Chief Executive Raelene Castle said the tournament is the biggest in women’s rugby and would provide a large boost to the sport in the nation.
“The Women’s Rugby World Cup is the pinnacle event in Women’s XVs Rugby and we will show the world once again that Australia is unrivalled when it comes to delivering major sporting events,” said Castle.
“We have more women and girls playing Rugby than ever before and we continue to see double-digit growth in participation in both our Sevens and XVs formats of the game. Hosting the tournament would provide us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to showcase the best of the women’s game to the Australian public.”
The announcement follows the New South Wales’ government’s announcement that they would attempt to bring ten World Cups to the state in the next decade. It included the men’s Rugby World Cup in 2027.
At the last World Cup in 2017, New Zealand beat England in the final with Australia losing the sixth-place play-off to Canada.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
I dunno, I get the feeling that they actually did research into the costs and logistics.
Nomad
Guest
Great News. I have some kiwi friends who could not make it to the last women's WC tournament, brilliantly run BTW, in Ireland. They will all be on the plane to watch the Black Ferns play in NSW. For sure.
catcat
Roar Rookie
Great news!
Cost and logistics make Hunter a great fit from a tournament point of view, but I can't see punters travelling from Sydney in droves to watch the big games. Really tough decision to make from the stakeholders. Good luck to them!
Brett McKay
Expert
Yeah, Newcastle No.2 is a great little spot - went up there for an NRC semi-final 18 months ago.
BrainsTrust
Guest
How embarassing is this bid with its 2 dollar shop mentality. If they are adding quarter finals to the format why would you play 33 matches at 2 venues even if the women are lighter and wont cause the same wear and tear. At least there would be bigger crowds for the Australian matches so why play them in such small venues. I would say you would need at least 4 venues. With Gosford hardly being used in winter it would be stupid not to use it as well.
Fin
Guest
Maitland has only just been done for the local league and No 2 in Newcastle only a few years ago so they are both good venues just with limited seating.
Brett McKay
Expert
This would be cool - presumably there would be some upgrades required for Maitland No.1 and the No.2 Sportsground in Newcastle, but having two of the three venues in close proximity and the third maybe only an hour away makes for reasonably easy logistics. And the idea of an Athletes Village arrangement makes sense too...
Fin
Guest
This would be great.