World Rugby has launched the host selection process for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 and Hong Kong would be the perfect venue. The Hong Kong Rugby Union pays lots of lip service to women’s rugby and talking ‘legacy’ while pouring money into the men’s team. Hosting the Women’s World Cup would be massive for the game locally and for women’ sport in Asia.
Realistically Hong Kong can never host the men’s rugby World Cup, but we are the perfect venue for the Women’s Rugby World Cup. Hong Kong has the stadiums, lots of affluent sponsors including a cash rich government with money to spend on events that build on Hong Kong’s global visibility. While the HKRU is rolling in cash from the Sevens which it claims is for investing in the game…
Accommodation will be expensive, but with three years notice a hotel could be block booked for a month or one of the many university /student dorms depending on the proposed dates.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 was the best-attended, most-viewed and most socially-engaged ever: 70 million viewers across the five match days and over 750,000 fans visited the official website www.rwcwomens.com.
Looking to build on the success and popularity of the last Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 in Ireland – the Rugby World Cup Board have announced several format changes for the 2021 tournament which include: a revised match schedule; the addition of a quarter-final stage; longer rest periods between matches and an increase in squad size.
The 12-team format will remain in 2021. The revised match schedule will guarantee longer rest periods – four days between pool matches, and five or six days during the knock-out rounds – to benefit player welfare and aid in recovery and preparation. The addition of a quarter-final stage and the longer rest periods will see tournament expand from 23 to 35 days.
Following feedback from teams and players the World Rugby tournament review also concluded that squad size should increase by two – from 28 to 30 players.
World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “The launch of the host selection process for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 is an exciting milestone and follows a fantastic 2017 for women’s rugby. The exceptional Women’s Rugby World Cup in Ireland was the best attended of all time, inspiring on and off the field, and underscored why the event is such an attractive hosting proposition for unions and nations.
“We want to keep building the momentum, which is why we are introducing these changes to the format for the 2021 process. By ensuring an even more competitive and exciting tournament in the future, women’s rugby can continue to play an instrumental role in driving forward the development of the game and significantly broadening rugby’s global fan base.”
https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2017/Womens-Rugby-World-Cup-2017/i-WMSjrqM
Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 host selection process timelines
31 May 2018: Deadline for formal expressions of hosting interest from unions
1 June 2018: Bid documents distributed to interested unions
10 August 2018: Bid responses submitted by unions to World Rugby
14 November 2018: World Rugby Council selects Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 host.