# 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup

The 2021 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the sixth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup, and was one of three major tournaments part of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup. The tournament was held in England from 1 November to 19 November 2022. Originally planned for 2021, it was delayed a year along with the men's and wheelchair tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament featured eight teams, an increase of two from the previous tournament.
For the first time the tournament had parity with the men's and wheelchair tournaments with all participants being paid the same while all 61 matches across three tournaments will be broadcast live.

## Teams
### Qualification

The competing teams were selected based on criteria including growth and current infrastructure and were announced on 18 July 2019.
| Region | Team | Previous appearances | Previous best result | World ranking | Coach | Captain |
| Americas | Brazil | 0 | Debut | 11 | Paul Grundy | Maria Graf |
| Americas | Canada | 1 | Semi-finals (2017) | 4 | Mike Castle | Gabrielle Hindley |
| Asia-Pacific | Australia | 5 | Champions (2013, 2017) | 1 | Brad Donald | Kezie Apps, Sam Bremner, Ali Brigginshaw |
| Asia-Pacific | Cook Islands | 2 | Group stage (2003, 2017) | 5 | Anthony (Rusty) Matua | Kimiora Breayley-Nati |
| Asia-Pacific | New Zealand | 5 | Champions (2000, 2003, 2008) | 2 | Ricky Henry | Krystal Rota |
| Asia-Pacific | Papua New Guinea | 1 | Group stage (2017) | 6 | Ben Jeffries | Elsie Albert |
| Europe | England | 3 | Semi-finals (2008, 2017) | 3 | Craig Richards | Emily Rudge |
| Europe | France | 2 | Group stage (2008, 2013) | 7 | Vincent Baloup | Alice Varela |
* ↑ Competed as part of Great Britain in 2 previous tournaments, finishing as runners-up in 2000.

### Draw

The teams were drawn into two groups of four. The two seeded teams were England (Group A) as hosts and Australia as holders (Group B). The draw was made at Buckingham Palace on 16 January 2020. Teams from pool 1 were drawn by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, pool 2 was drawn by Katherine Grainger and pool 3 by Jason Robinson.
Ahead of the fixture list being announced, the organisers stated that there would be at least four days between a team's games in the interests of player welfare.
The fixtures were announced on 21 July 2020. Following the postponement of the tournament from 2021 to 2022, a revised schedule was published on 21 November 2021. All the games in the tournament were played as double-headers with other games from either the women's or men's tournaments.
| Seeded | Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 |
| Australia  England | New Zealand  Papua New Guinea | Canada  France | Cook Islands  Brazil |

### Squads

Each nation announced 24 player squads to compete in the tournament.

## Venues
### Stadiums

Five venues were used for the women's tournament. Stadiums are referred to by their official name rather than sponsored name, as is International Rugby League policy
| Manchester | Manchester | Manchester | Wigan | Wigan | Wigan |
| Old Trafford | Old Trafford | Old Trafford | DW Stadium | DW Stadium | DW Stadium |
| Capacity: 74,994 | Capacity: 74,994 | Capacity: 74,994 | Capacity: 25,138 | Capacity: 25,138 | Capacity: 25,138 |
| ManchesterWiganLeedsYorkHull ||||||
| Hull | Hull | Leeds | Leeds | York | York |
| MKM Stadium | MKM Stadium | Headingley Stadium | Headingley Stadium | York Community Stadium | York Community Stadium |
| Capacity: 25,586 | Capacity: 25,586 | Capacity: 21,062 | Capacity: 21,062 | Capacity: 8,500 | Capacity: 8,500 |

### Team base camp locations

Two locations were used by the eight national team squads to stay and train before and during the World Cup tournament, as follows;
* Leeds: Brazil, Canada, England and Papua New Guinea
* York: Australia, Cook Islands, France and New Zealand

## Officiating
### Match officials

The list of match officials who officiated across both the men's and women's tournaments was published on 5 October 2022.

## Warm-up matches

Pre-tournament practice matches took place in the weeks before the first round of group stage matches of the World Cup.
* 20 October 2022 19:00 BST (UTC+01:00)
| York Valkyrie | 0–38 | Papua New Guinea |
| | Report | |
* York St John University Sports Park, York
* 25 October 2022 14:00 BST (UTC+01:00)
| Ireland | 8–6 | Canada |
| | Report | |
* Orrell St James Rugby League Club, Wigan
* 27 October 2022 14:30 BST (UTC+01:00)
| England Knights | 14–26 | Cook Islands |
| | Report | |
* Weetwood Sports Park, Leeds
* 27 October 2022 19:30 BST (UTC+01:00)
| Brazil | 4–16 | France |
| | Report | |
* Post Office Road, Featherstone

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | England | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 168 | 12 | +156 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Papua New Guinea | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 108 | 54 | +54 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Canada | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 104 | −66 | 2 | |
| 4 | Brazil | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 164 | −144 | 0 | |
* 1 November 2022 14:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| England | 72–4 | Brazil |
| Tries: Beevers 2' Hill (3) 16', 22', 73' Field 28' Hardcastle (3) 37', 49', 67' Stanley (2) 6', 40' Goldthorp 44' Jones 64' Burke 70' Wood 80' Goals: Stanley (8/14) 23', 29', 38' , 45', 65', 68', 74', 80' | Report | Tries: Momberg 59' Goals: Oliveira (0/1) |
* Headingley Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 8,621 Referee: Rochelle Tamarua (New Zealand) Touch judges: Tom Grant (England), Jack Smith (England) Player of the Match: Courtney Winfield-Hill (England)
* 1 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Papua New Guinea | 34–12 | Canada |
| Tries: Long 25' Molowia (2) 38', 42' Ravu 47' Banu 63' Gwasamun 76' Butler 78' Goals: Veivers (2/5) 43', 80' Malabag (1/2) 64' | Report | Tries: Woods 31' Pakulis 60' Goals: Frananda (2/2) 31', 62' |
* Headingley Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 8,621 Referee: Geoffrey Poumes (France) Touch judges: Aaron Moore (England), James Vella (England) Player of the Match: Martha Molowia (Papua New Guinea)
* 5 November 2022 12:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| England | 54–4 | Canada |
| Tries: Burke (2) 4', 67' Dodd (2) 17', 26' Wilson 20' Goldthorp 33' Roche 35' Stanley (3) 41', 44', 60' Roberts 52' Goals: Stanley (5/11) 21', 27', 36' 42' 61' | Report | Tries: Woods 47' |
* DW Stadium, Wigan Attendance: 23,179 Referee: Paki Parkinson (New Zealand) Touch judges: James Vella (England), Liam Rush (England) Player of the Match: Vicky Molyneux (England)
* 5 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Papua New Guinea | 70–0 | Brazil |
| Tries: Gwasamun (4) 2', 27', 51', 59' Moxon (2) 11', 54' Butler 16' Albert 42' Reeves 45' Koroi 48' Joe 66' Molowia 69' Malabag 72' Aiton 75' Goals: Malabag (7/14) 28', 44', 46', 49', 61', 70', 73' | Report | |
* MKM Stadium, Hull Attendance: 7,080 Referee: Ben Casty (France) Touch judges: Geoffrey Poumes (France), Dean Bowmer (England) Player of the Match: Belinda Gwasamun (Papua New Guinea)
* 9 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Canada | 22–16 | Brazil |
| Tries: Sandboe 25' Maguire 29' Pakulis 59' Fittes 79' Goals: Frananda (3/4) 31', 60', 80' | Report | Tries: Amaral 7' Santini 44' Bodeman 73' Goals: Graf (2/3) 7', 75' |
* Headingley Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 5,471 Referee: Michael Smaill (England) Touch judges: Dean Bowmer (England), Geoffrey Poumes (France)
* 9 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| England | 42–4 | Papua New Guinea |
| Tries: Burke (3) 24', 46', 64' Hardcastle (2) 28', 78' Stanley 37' Whitfield 52' Beevers 75' Goals: Stanley (5/8) | Report | Tries: Molowia 4' |
* Headingley Stadium, Leeds Attendance: 5,471 Referee: Ben Casty (France) Touch judges: Rochelle Tamarua (New Zealand), Aaron Moore (England) Player of the Match: Jodie Cunningham (England)

### Group B

All six of the Group B fixtures were played at the York Community Stadium in York.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Australia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 176 | 8 | +168 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | New Zealand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 88 | 14 | +74 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Cook Islands | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 30 | 126 | −96 | 2 | |
| 4 | France | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 164 | −146 | 0 | |
* 2 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| New Zealand | 46–0 | France |
| Tries: Bartlett 24' Nicholls 29' Hall 33' Murdoch-Masila (2) 39', 76' Vaha'akolo (2) 42', 56' P. McGregor 50' Parker 79' Goals: Nicholls (1/2) 52' Clark (4/7) 30', 34', 77', 80' | Report | |
* York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,091 Referee: Ben Thaler (England) Touch judges: Neil Horton (England), Liam Rush (England) Player of the Match: Apii Nicholls-Pualau (New Zealand)
* 2 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Australia | 74–0 | Cook Islands |
| Tries: Pelite (3) 3', 25', 70' Johnston 9' Aiken (2) 14', 72' Bremmer (4) 21', 44', 60', 63' Ciesiolka 30' Robinson 33', 57' Fuimaono 54' Goals: Brown (6/9) 10', 16', 23', 31', 65', 70' Wheeler (3/3) 55', 58', 61' | Report | |
* York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,091 Referee: Michael Smaill (England) Touch judges: Warren Turley (England), Wyatt Raymond (Australia) Player of the Match: Sam Bremner (Australia)
* 6 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| New Zealand | 34–4 | Cook Islands |
| Tries: McGregor 10' Rota 15' Hall 31' Albert-Jones 54' Hufanga (2) 59', 72' Nu'uausala 79' Goals: Albert-Jones (1/4) 54' Clark (3/3) 33', 74', 80' | Report | Tries: Wiki 67' |
* York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,006 Referee: Michael Smaill (England) Touch judges: James Vella (England), Liam Rush (England) Player of the Match: Raecene McGregor (New Zealand)
* 6 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Australia | 92–0 | France |
| Tries: Ciesiolka 3' Chapman (3) 6', 12', 63' Sergis (4) 9', 17', 37', 42' Aiken 14' Tonegato 21' Harden 27' Pelite (2) 35', 79' Robinson (3) 46', 67', 74' Kernick 55' Goals: Brown (10/13) Wheeler (1/2) Aiken (1/2) | Report | |
* York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,006 Referee: Rochelle Tamarua (New Zealand) Touch judges: Neil Horton (England), Aaron Moore (England) Player of the Match: Tarryn Aiken (Australia)
* 10 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| France | 18–26 | Cook Islands |
| Tries: Bianchini 27' Ciria (2) 48', 76' Song-Puche 65' Goals: Ciria (1/4) | Report | Tries: Ngatupuna 19' T. Matua 30' Wiki 42' Tuaana 61' Dean 73' Goals: K. Matua (3/5) |
* York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,370 Referee: Ben Thaler (England) Touch judges: Belinda Sharpe (Australia), Marcus Griffiths (England)
* 10 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Australia | 10–8 | New Zealand |
| Tries: Aiken 20' Robinson 62' Goals: Brigginshaw (1/1) 22' Brown (0/1) | Report | Tries: Nicholls-Pualau 30' Stephens-Daly 55' Goals: Clark (0/2) |
* York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 3,370 Referee: Todd Smith (Australia) Touch judges: Paki Parkinson (New Zealand), Robert Hicks (England)

## Knockout stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 14 November – York | 14 November – York |
| Australia | 82 |
| Australia | 82 | 19 November – Manchester | 19 November – Manchester |
| Papua New Guinea | 0 | 19 November – Manchester | 19 November – Manchester |
| Papua New Guinea | 0 | Australia | 54 |
| 14 November – York | 14 November – York | | Australia | 54 |
| 14 November – York | 14 November – York | New Zealand | 4 |
| England | 6 | New Zealand | 4 |
| New Zealand | 20 | | |

### Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played as a double-header at the York Community Stadium, York on 14 November 2022.
* 14 November 2022 17:00 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Australia | 82–0 | Papua New Guinea |
| Tries: Davis 10' Kelly (3) 15', 17', 37' Bent 22' Pelite 25' Ciesiolka (2) 28', 46' Kernick 34' Sergis 42' Harden 49' Tonegato (3) 52', 56', 75' Chapman 66' Goals: Brown (10/14) 11', 23', 36', 38', 43', 47', 50', 53', 58', 67' Brigginshaw (1/1) 76' | Report | |
* York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 7,139 Referee: Belinda Sharpe (Australia) Touch judges: Rochelle Tamarua (New Zealand), Marcus Griffiths (England
* 14 November 2022 19:30 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| England | 6–20 | New Zealand |
| Tries: Goldthorp 5' Goals: Stanley (1/1) 6' | Report | Tries: Hufanga 16' R. McGregor 29' Pule 47' Clark 52' Goals: Clark (0/2) Nicholls-Pualau (2/2) 48', 53' |
* York Community Stadium, York Attendance: 7,139 Referee: Kasey Badger (Australia) Touch judges: Geoffrey Poumes (France), Robert Hicks (England) Player of the Match: Mele Hufanga (New Zealand)

### Final

The final was played at Old Trafford, Manchester on 19 November 2022 as a double-header with the final of the men's tournament.
* 19 November 2022 13:15 GMT (UTC±00:00)
| Australia | 54–4 | New Zealand |
| Tries: Sergis (2) 4', 51' Kelly (2) 14', 35' Robinson 26' Tonegato 48' Aiken 56' Cherrington (2) 66', 69' Pelite 72' Goals: Brigginshaw (2/5) 6', 70' Brown (5/5) 36', 49', 52', 57', 67' | Report | Tries: Bartlett 64' Goals: R. McGregor (0/1) |
* Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 67,502 Referee: Belinda Sharpe (Australia) Touch judges: Wyatt Raymond (Australia), Darian Furner (Australia)

## Team of the Tournament

Between the Semi-finals and final the RLWC2021 organisers announced the team of the tournament.