World Rugby has announced the pools for the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup, confirming that the two Pacific Islands teams face a challenging path in England to progress to the knockout stages.
Samoa has been placed in Pool A alongside the top-ranked hosts England, Australia (ranked fifth), and the USA (ranked ninth). Meanwhile, Fiji finds itself in Pool B with Canada (ranked second), Scotland (ranked eighth), and Wales (ranked tenth).
The defending champions, the Black Ferns, are grouped with Ireland, Japan, and Spain in Pool C. Pool D includes France, Italy, South Africa, and Brazil, completing the 16-team lineup.
Teams will compete against all opponents in their respective pools over three weekends, with the two highest-scoring teams from each pool advancing to the quarterfinals.
Samoa has qualified for its first Women’s Rugby World Cup since 2014 after finishing third in the WXV 3 competition.
World Rugby also announced that the match fixtures for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, scheduled from August 22 to September 27, will be revealed next Tuesday, October 22, via the tournament’s official website.
Sarah Massey, Managing Director of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, stated, “With anticipation building amongst fans and teams for next year’s showpiece event, today marks an important step forward to what will be an unmissable tournament.” She also mentioned that next week will celebrate another milestone with the unveiling of the match schedule, allowing fans and teams to begin preparing for the 2025 tournament.