The Ireland women’s rugby team have been drawn in World Cup Pool B along with New Zealand, Kazakhstan and the USA for next August’s tournanment in Paris.
This will be the first time Ireland have faced the Black Ferns, who are the current world champions. "In terms of New Zealand, we are delighted to have drawn them as we have not faced them before and we will relish the chance to play them," said Irish coach Philip Doyle.
“We are familiar with Kazakhstan and the USA from the last World Cup and both teams present a really physical challenge.” Ireland beat USA 22-12 and Kazakhstan 37-3 at the World Cup in England four years ago.
"The Black Ferns are the only team ranked above us in the world that we haven't played so it's a very exciting prospect to test ourselves," said Ireland captain Fiona Coghlan. " With just the top 12 teams in the world qualifying for the World Cup the draw was always going to be tough."
Meanwhile, it has also been confirmed that Ireland begin their defence of the Six Nations championship against Scotland on Saturday, February 1st, at Ashbourne RFC.
