IRFU Submit Women's Rugby World Cup Bid

The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has submitted a bid to host the Women's Rugby World Cup in August 2017.

The tournament, if hosted in Ireland, would involve matches taking place in both Dublin and Belfast.

The Union has said it intends to host the pool stages of the tournament at University College Dublin, before it moves to Belfast where the play-offs, semi-finals and final would be hosted at Queen's University Sport and Kingspan Stadium.

Announcing the bid, IRFU Chief Executive Philip Browne said: "Interest and participation in women's rugby continues to grow, and building on this momentum we believe Ireland can deliver the best Women's Rugby World Cup to date.

"We hope that the growing interest in Women's rugby in Ireland, world leading facilities at UCD, Queen's University Sport, Kingspan Stadium and our internationally recognised reputation for being one of the world's most welcoming nations will make an Irish bid the standout submission for the 2017 tournament."

Fiona Coghlan, IRFU Women's Rugby Ambassador, added: "I am delighted to be part of this ambitious bid to bring one of the world's premier women's sporting events to Ireland.

"The development and profile of women's sport has been fantastic in recent years and it will be a great opportunity for Ireland to showcase sport and to get more women and girls to consider taking up a team sport."

Shane Logan, CEO of Ulster Rugby, commented: "Ulster Rugby is delighted that our newly developed Kingspan Stadium has been selected to hold the semi-finals and finals of the Women's Rugby World Cup should the bid to host the tournament be successful.

"Kingspan Stadium is one of the premier rugby venues in Europe in a city that is passionate about rugby so we are confident of staging a great festival of rugby in August 2017."

President of University College Dublin, Professor Andrew Deeks, added: "University College Dublin is delighted to support the bid to bring the Women's Rugby World Cup to Ireland. The campus and our facilities make a great venue for the World Cup in 2017."

News of the World Cup bid follows a successful weekend for the women's Irish rugby team. The side defeated England 11-8 at Ashbourne on Friday night in their Six Nations clash.

On Sunday, the men's team defeated England in their Six nations fixture at the Aviva Stadium. The full-time score was 19-9.

(JP/MH)