03/03/2015

Belfast Could Host Women's RWC Final

Belfast's Kingspan Stadium, the home of Ulster Rugby, could be in line to host the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup final.

The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) confirmed on Monday afternoon that it had submitted a bid to host the tournament in two years' time. The competition, if hosted in Ireland, would involve matches taking place in both Dublin and Belfast.

The Union has said it intends to host the pool stages of the tournament at University College Dublin, before it moves to Belfast where the play-offs, semi-finals and final would be hosted at Queen's University Sport and Kingspan Stadium.

The English and South African rugby unions are also rumoured to be interested in hosting the tournament.

The successful bidder will be announced in May.

Announcing the bid, IRFU Chief Executive Philip Browne said: "Interest and participation in women's rugby continues to grow, and building on this momentum we believe Ireland can deliver the best Women's Rugby World Cup to date.

"We hope that the growing interest in Women's rugby in Ireland, world leading facilities at UCD, Queen's University Sport, Kingspan Stadium and our internationally recognised reputation for being one of the world's most welcoming nations will make an Irish bid the standout submission for the 2017 tournament."

Shane Logan, CEO of Ulster Rugby, added: "Ulster Rugby is delighted that our newly developed Kingspan Stadium has been selected to hold the semi-finals and finals of the Women's Rugby World Cup should the bid to host the tournament be successful.

"Kingspan Stadium is one of the premier rugby venues in Europe in a city that is passionate about rugby so we are confident of staging a great festival of rugby in August 2017."

(JP/CD)

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