1. Introduction and Participating Teams
The 2021 Rugby World Cup (women’s), officially still branded with the year 2021 but played in 2022, was the ninth edition of the Women’s Rugby World Cup. It took place in New Zealand from 8 October to 12 November 2022, in the cities of Auckland and Whangārei on the North Island.
It was historic for several reasons:
- First Women’s Rugby World Cup hosted in the Southern Hemisphere
- First time hosted by New Zealand
- New expanded format with quarter-finals (no more classification play-offs)
- Longer schedule with at least five rest days between matches
New Zealand, the defending champions, won their sixth world title, beating England in an unforgettable final at Eden Park, 34–31, in front of a record crowd for a women’s rugby match in New Zealand.
Participating Teams (12)
Automatically qualified (top 7 from 2017):
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand (hosts & holders)
- 🏴 England
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇺🇸 United States
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🏴 Wales
Regional / playoff qualifiers:
- 🇿🇦 South Africa (Africa 1)
- 🇯🇵 Japan (Asia 1)
- 🇮🇹 Italy (Europe 1)
- 🇫🇯 Fiji (Oceania 1)
- 🏴 Scotland (repechage winners)
2. Tournament Format
- 3 pools of 4 teams (Pools A, B, C)
- Round-robin in each pool (each team plays 3 matches)
- Points system:
- 4 points for a win
- 2 for a draw
- 0 for a loss
- +1 bonus for scoring 4+ tries
- +1 bonus for losing by fewer than 8 points
Qualification for quarter-finals:
- Top two teams in each pool
- Plus the two best third-placed teams
3. Results of All Group Matches
Pool A
Teams: New Zealand, Australia, Wales, Scotland
Final table:
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand – 3 W, 0 L, 154–29, 15 pts
- 🇦🇺 Australia – 2 W, 1 L, 44–60, 8 pts
- 🏴 Wales – 1 W, 2 L, 37–84, 5 pts
- 🏴 Scotland – 0 W, 3 L, 27–89, 2 pts
Match results:
- Australia 17–41 New Zealand – Eden Park
- Wales 18–15 Scotland – Whangārei
- Scotland 12–14 Australia – Whangārei
- Wales 12–56 New Zealand – Waitakere
- Australia 13–7 Wales – Whangārei
- New Zealand 57–0 Scotland – Whangārei
New Zealand dominated the pool with three big wins; Australia edged both Wales and Scotland in tight games to finish second.
Pool B
Teams: Canada, Italy, United States, Japan
Final table:
- 🇨🇦 Canada – 3 W, 0 L, 92–31, 15 pts
- 🇮🇹 Italy – 2 W, 1 L, 55–40, 9 pts
- 🇺🇸 United States – 1 W, 2 L, 54–68, 5 pts
- 🇯🇵 Japan – 0 W, 3 L, 30–92, 0 pts
Match results:
- United States 10–22 Italy – Whangārei
- Japan 5–41 Canada – Whangārei
- United States 30–17 Japan – Whangārei
- Italy 12–22 Canada – Waitakere
- Japan 8–21 Italy – Waitakere
- Canada 29–14 United States – Waitakere
Canada were clinical and unbeaten; Italy impressed by beating both USA and Japan and only losing to Canada.
Pool C
Teams: England, France, Fiji, South Africa
Final table:
- 🏴 England – 3 W, 0 L, 172–26, 14 pts
- 🇫🇷 France – 2 W, 1 L, 91–18, 11 pts
- 🇫🇯 Fiji – 1 W, 2 L, 40–145, 4 pts
- 🇿🇦 South Africa – 0 W, 3 L, 22–136, 1 pt
Match results:
- South Africa 5–40 France – Eden Park
- Fiji 19–84 England – Eden Park
- France 7–13 England – Whangārei (tight, bruising match)
- Fiji 21–17 South Africa – Waitakere (Fiji’s historic first RWC win)
- France 44–0 Fiji – Whangārei
- England 75–0 South Africa – Waitakere
England looked unstoppable in the pool with three big wins and a powerful maul. France beat everyone except England and were again one of the most complete teams in the tournament.
Ranking of Qualified Teams for Knockouts
After the pools, the 8 quarter-finalists were:
- Pool winners: New Zealand, Canada, England
- Runners-up: France, Italy, Australia
- Best third places: United States, Wales
(Fiji, South Africa, Japan, Scotland were eliminated.)
4. Knockout Stage: Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, Final
Quarter-finals
France 39–3 Italy – Whangārei
- France dominated, with a hat-trick from Joanna Grisez and a penalty try.
New Zealand 55–3 Wales – Whangārei
- The Black Ferns ran in multiple tries; Portia Woodman scored twice in a statement performance.
England 41–5 Australia – Waitakere
- England’s forward power, especially their maul, totally controlled the match. Marlie Packer scored a hat-trick.
Canada 32–11 United States – Waitakere
- Canada beat their North American rivals with a strong all-round display, tries from Hunt, Paquin, Farries and Tessier.
Semi-finals
Both semis were played at Eden Park, Auckland.
Canada 19–26 England
England maintained their massive winning streak, but this was very close:
- England tries: Marlie Packer, and two from Abby Dow
- Canada stayed in touch with tries from Paquin, Corrigan and Beukeboom
- Emily Scarratt’s penalties ultimately made the difference
New Zealand 25–24 France
One of the best women’s tests ever played:
- New Zealand tries: Fluhler, Tui, Fitzpatrick
- France tries: Romane Ménager (2), Vernier
- Caroline Drouin’s kicking kept France in front at times
- In the final minutes, Drouin had a long-range penalty to win it for France… and missed. New Zealand survived by one point.
Third-place Play-off
France 36–0 Canada – Eden Park
France were ruthless, shutting Canada out and scoring five tries (including two by Romane Ménager) to clinch third place yet again.
Final: England vs New Zealand
England 31–34 New Zealand – Eden Park, Auckland
Attendance: 42,579
A truly legendary final.
England scoring:
- Tries: Ellie Kildunne, Amy Cokayne (3), Marlie Packer
- Conversions: Emily Scarratt (3)
New Zealand scoring:
- Tries: Georgia Ponsonby, Ayesha Leti-I’iga (2), Stacey Fluhler, Krystal Murray, Amy Rule
- Conversions: Renee Holmes (2)
Key storylines:
- England came in on an incredible winning streak (30+ tests in a row).
- An early red card to England (noted widely at the time) forced them to play most of the game with 14 players, but their maul still caused huge damage, especially through Amy Cokayne.
- New Zealand responded with their trademark attacking rugby, scoring six tries and using width, pace and offloads to stretch England.
- Ayesha Leti-I’iga’s late try sealed the 34–31 comeback win for the Black Ferns.
New Zealand lifted their sixth Women’s Rugby World Cup trophy, all-time record.
5. Most Outstanding Players
Based on the stats you provided and how the tournament unfolded, these were some of the standout players:
Top Point Scorers
- 🏴 Emily Scarratt (England) – 44 points
- 1 try, 12 conversions, 5 penalties
- England’s calm, experienced goal-kicker and midfield leader, vital in tight knockout games.
- 🇫🇷 Caroline Drouin (France) – 38 points
- 1 try, 12 conversions, 3 penalties
- Ran the French backline and kept them in big matches with her boot, especially against New Zealand.
- 🇳🇿 Renee Holmes (New Zealand) – 35 points
- 2 tries, 11 conversions, 1 penalty
- Key fullback and kicker for the champions.
- 🇳🇿 Ruahei Demant (New Zealand) – 31 points
- 2 tries, 9 conversions, 1 penalty
- Captain and fly-half, Player of the Tournament for many observers; her game control and vision were crucial.
- 🇺🇸 Alev Kelter (USA) – 27 points
- 2 tries, 4 conversions, 3 penalties
- Versatile, powerful back and the main American points scorer.
Top Try Scorers
- 🇳🇿 Portia Woodman (New Zealand) – 7 tries
- Top try scorer of the tournament
- Devastating pace and power on the wing, though her campaign ended early in the semi-final after a head clash.
- 🏴 Amy Cokayne (England) – 6 tries
- 🏴 Marlie Packer (England) – 6 tries
- 🇨🇦 Emily Tuttosi (Canada) – 6 tries
These three forwards were unstoppable at times, especially from lineout mauls close to the line.
- 🇳🇿 Ruby Tui (New Zealand) – 5 tries
- Also one of the faces of the tournament: brilliant finishing, aerial skills, and charismatic presence in interviews.
- 🇬🇧 Abby Dow (England) – 4 tries
- 🇨🇦 Paige Farries (Canada) – 4 tries
- 🇫🇷 Joanna Grisez (France) – 4 tries
- 🏴 Claudia MacDonald (England) – 4 tries
- 🏴 Connie Powell (England) – 4 tries
All were key attacking threats for their teams on the edges or from close range.