England, France, NZ win as Women’s Rugby World Cup kicks off

Auckland, Women’s rugby stepped into a bright new spotlight Saturday when the opening matches of the ninth Women’s Rugby World Cup were played in front of a world-record crowd at Auckland’s Eden Park.

Tournament favorite England made an emphatic opening statement with an 84-19 win over Fiji while France beat South Africa 40-5 in a tournament of 26 matches played over 35 days, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

Defending champion and tournament host New Zealand faced the almost unthinkable prospect of an opening loss to seventh-ranked Australia when it conceded three tries and trailed 17-0 after 28 minutes.

But it rallied to win 41-17, snatching the lead for the first time in the 56th minute.

Three matches are set for Sunday — the United States vs. Italy, Canada against Japan and Wales vs. Scotland.

More than 35,000 tickets were pre-sold Saturday, already exceeding the record crowd for a women’s rugby international of 20,000 which saw the final of the 2014 World Cup between England and Canada in Paris. With late walk-ups, the peak attendance is expected to exceed 40,000.

The world tournament comes at a time at which the increasing popularity of rugby among women is leading global growth in the sport. While player salaries continue to lag behind men, increasing investment by World Rugby and national rugby unions is slowly leveling the playing field.

The 12 teams at this World Cup are divided into three groups of four with England and France on course to clash in Group C.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Categories

Pages