Ireland bids for Women's Rugby World Cup 

A Women’s World Cup on Irish soil in 2017 has every chance of success and boosting the bid for the men’s 2023 event, IRFU chief executive Philip Browne has said, after submitting a bid to host the tournament in two years.

With the women’s game at an all-time high in terms of interest and participation following the 2013 Six Nations Grand Slam and the victory over New Zealand at last summer’s World Cup en route to the semi-finals, the Irish Rugby Football Union yesterday revealed it had submitted a bid to governing body World Rugby to host the 2017 championship in Dublin and Belfast.

Ireland looks likely to be competing with England, the only other country known to have expressed an interest, in staging the tournament, and if successful when World Rugby makes it decision in May, would host the pool stages at University College Dublin before moving to Belfast for the semi-finals and finals at Queens University Sport and the newly developed Ravenhill, all described by Browne as “world-leading facilities”.