About Rugby World Cup 2021

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Rugby World Cup 2021 was due to take place in New Zealand from 8 October-12 November with matches played in three venues across Auckland and Whangārei.

Rugby World Cup 2021 was due to take place in New Zealand from 8 October-12 November with matches played in three venues across Auckland and Whangārei.

The tournament was due to have been played in 2021, but World Rugby confirmed in March 2021 that the tournament would be postponed until 2022.

The ninth edition and the first to be held in the southern hemisphere, New Zealand 2021 will also be the second tournament held outside of Europe, having first been held in Wales in 1991 followed by Scotland (1994), the Netherlands (1998), Spain (2002), Canada (2006), England (2010), France (2014) and Ireland (2017).

The showpiece event in women’s rugby union 15s, Rugby World Cup 2021 will again feature 12 teams – seven of whom qualified directly via their performances at Ireland 2017 and five from a global qualification process – with 26 matches played across 35 days.

RWC 2021 will be the first Rugby World Cup to adopt a gender-neutral naming approach, furthering World Rugby’s commitment to equality and consistency across its portfolio of major tournaments. World Rugby were the first major sporting federation to adopt this policy for its major tournaments.

VENUES

Eden Park, Waitakere Stadium and Whangārei's Northland Events Centre will all host matches at RWC 2021.