We are just days away from England v USA getting Rugby World Cup 2025 underway in style in Sunderland on Friday at 19:30 (BST).
More tickets have already been sold for the tournament than any other edition of the Women’s RWC and fans are ready to party.
But for those who might be new to the game there is a lot to take onboard, so below we have laid out everything you need to know.
What is the Women’s Rugby World Cup?
The Women’s Rugby World Cup is an international rugby tournament in which the best test teams from across the globe compete.
This year’s tournament will be the 10th edition of the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
When was the first one held?
The Women’s Rugby World Cup was first held in Wales in April 1991 and featured 12 teams.
It was won by the USA, who beat England 19-6 in the final at Cardiff’s iconic Arms Park on 14 April 1991.
Which team has been the most successful?
New Zealand won their first title in the Netherlands in 1998, beating the USA 44-12 in the final. That triumph was the first of four successive World Cup victories for the Black Ferns.
New Zealand have won the last two tournaments too, meaning the Black Ferns have won six of the nine Women’s Rugby World Cups played to date.
The USA and England are the only other nations to taste tournament victory. The Women’s Eagles’ sole triumph came in 1991 while England have won it twice, in 1994 and 2014.
The Red Roses will start this year’s tournament as favourites on home soil.
Do the teams compete for a trophy?
Yes, all nine Women’s Rugby World Cup-winning teams have lifted a trophy, albeit not the same one.
The original trophy that was played for in 1991 and 1994 was thought to have been lost for much of the next three decades - until it turned up in the attic at a former administrator’s parents’ house.
Between 1998 and 2022, winning captains all hoisted the same silver trophy into the air.
However, the teams assembling in England this August will do so in pursuit of a new piece of silverware.
Weighing in at 4.5kg, the new trophy is bigger than previous incarnations and is crafted in sterling silver with 24-carat gold. It retains the twin-handle design of the trophy it replaces.
Who is playing in it this year?
For the first time since 2002, 16 teams will arrive on the tournament’s start line.
Hosts England, defending champions New Zealand and Rugby World Cup 2021 semi-finalists Canada and France will be joined by Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Wales, Australia, USA, South Africa, Japan, Samoa, Fiji, Spain and debutants Brazil.
Where is it being played?
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 is being played across eight host cities in England.
Matches will be played in Sunderland, Brighton, Bristol, Exeter, London, Manchester, Northampton and York.
When will the matches be played?
The tournament will get underway on August 22, when England take on 1991 winners USA at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.
Pool matches will be played across the next three weekends. The quarter-finals will be played on the weekend of 13 September, the semi-finals on 19 and 20 September and the third-place play-off and final at Allianz Stadium in London on 27 September.
