Samoa included in Women’s Rugby World Cup

Samoa were yesterday announced as the 12th and final participants in the 2006 Women’s Rugby World Cup, which will be staged in Edmonton, Canada, next September.

The decision, at a meeting of the Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) board in Paris, will see the South Sea Islanders join the top four from the 2002 competition: New Zealand; England; France and Canada as well as FORU representative Australia; ARFU qualifier Kazakhstan; CAR representative South Africa; NAWIRA representative USA; and Ireland, Scotland and Spain from FIRA.

Philip Doyle's Irish side qualified automatically for the 2006 World Cup by virtue of their nail-biting 11-6 win over their Welsh counterparts at the Cardiff Arms Park in March.