World Rugby Unveils Rescheduled 2022 World Cup Dates And Branding

World Rugby has confirmed dates for its rescheduled ‘Rugby World Cup 2021, Playing in 2022’ which will now take place between 8th October and 12th November 2022.

The elite women’s competition will be hosted in New Zealand, where the home nation will look to defend a title they won in Ireland in 2017.

According to World Rugby’s announcement, the new dates will feature increased rest periods for all teams, as the governing body aims to ‘super-charge’ the schedule for players, fans and the host nation. The tournament window will be extended from 35 to 43 days resulting in all teams having a minimum of five rest days between matches, aligning with the approach recently approved for the men’s competition.

It will also allow for matches to be played on Saturdays and Sundays, with no overlap in matches to allow fans to watch all of the action. The original schedule saw matches taking place simultaneously, such as the opening matches for both England and Wales, which were due to kick off at the same time.

The tournament was also originally scheduled to take place between September and October 2021, but a later slot in the year has been announced which will mean warmer weather and longer daylight hours in New Zealand. 

World Rugby has also unveiled new tournament branding, which will retain the reference to 2021 – just as other events such as this year’s rescheduled TOkyo 2020 and EURO 2020 events will – but will also include a ‘played in 2022’ line.

A bespoke te reo Maori version has also been designed, which the governing body says reflects the importance of te reo as an official language of Aotearoa (New Zealand).

“We are fully committed to accelerating the women’s game at all levels and while the postponement was disappointing for everyone, it has provided the unique opportunity to review every aspect of the event to ensure it is the best it can be for the players, fans around the world and the wonderful and enthusiastic New Zealanders,” said Sir Bill Beaumont, Chairman, World Rugby.

“Longer rest periods between matches for all teams is further commitment to delivering comprehensive player welfare standards at RWC 2021.

“I would like to thank all stakeholders for their support and open-minded approach to this process and we can now look forward to a truly spectacular Rugby World Cup 2021, playing in 2022.”