Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025: Hosts England to face USA in opener

England will play the USA in the opening match of next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.

The Red Roses will get the tournament under way at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light on 22 August.

The fixture list also sees Scotland and Wales face each other in their Pool B opener at the Salford Community Stadium in a double-header with Australia and Samoa.

Ireland, meanwhile, play world champions New Zealand in their final Pool C fixture on 7 September in Brighton.

Organisers are hoping the tournament will have the same impact on women’s rugby in England as the Lionesses did on women’s football when they won their home European Championships in 2022.

RWC2025 managing director Sarah Massey has described the tournament as a “showcase” of “the very best of women’s rugby”.

The 10th edition of the Women’s Rugby World Cup will see a return to 16 teams for the first time since 2002, with Brazil becoming the first ever South American side to qualify for the tournament.

The Red Roses are drawn in Pool A and after their opening match in Sunderland will move to Northampton to face Samoa in their second match on 30 August, before taking on Australia in Brighton in their group finale on 6 September.

In total, there will be 24 pool fixtures, spread across six venues, including six double-headers at Northampton, Salford and Exeter.

The quarter-finals will be hosted in Exeter and Bristol, with the latter also the home for both semi-finals.

The final and bronze-medal match will be the seventh double-header of the tournament and held at Twickenham, with organisers unable to use its new “Allianz Stadium” name for contractual reasons during the World Cup.

BBC Sport has secured exclusive rights to broadcast every game of the tournament.

New Zealand hosted the last World Cup in 2022, defeating England in a dramatic final in front of a then record-breaking crowd for a women’s fixture of 42,579 at Eden Park.

Select matches at next year’s tournament will be shown on the BBC’s linear channels, while every game will be available to watch live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra will also broadcast commentary on the tournament.