The Women’s Rugby World cup has been postponed until 2022.
The World Rugby announced this “difficult decision” to move this year’s women’s World Cup until 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Rugby World Cup Board and World Rugby Executive Committee are expected to look further into the decision as both groups meet on March 8 and 9, respectively.
The tournament was initially set to start on September 18 in New Zealand, a country with a low Covid-19 death rate.
According to Rugby governing body, the decision was based on
“The evolution of the uncertain and challenging global COVID-19 landscape”.
The border issue in New Zealand is another strong point as Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, said last month that her country’s borders will remain closed until the nation is “vaccinated and protected” for most of 2021.
The rugby community will be shocked by this news, given that this year’s Women’s Six Nations had been shortened and rescheduled to April so that teams will have adequate preparation time ahead of the tournament.
A statement from World Rugby read:
“It has become clear in recent discussions with key partners including New Zealand Rugby, the New Zealand Government, and participating unions, that, given the scale of the event and the Covid-19-related uncertainties, it is just not possible to deliver the environment for all teams to be the best that they can be on the sport’s grandest stage.”
“The challenges include uncertainty and the ability for teams to prepare adequately for a Rugby World Cup tournament both before and on arrival in New Zealand, and challenging global travel restrictions.”
