Rugby World Cup 2021: Players may have to isolate

Teams qualified for the women’s 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand may have to isolate before the tournament.

Friday marks one year to go and organizers are confident the tournament will go ahead.

They are working with the New Zealand government on plans for 11 arriving teams, including England and Wales.

New Zealand’s head of women’s rugby development Cate Sexton said the build-up is “nerve-wracking with so much uncertainty”.

The Rugby World Cup starts on 18 September 2021, with the final on 16 October.

Although there is no detail yet on how the isolation would work, New Zealand is hosting America’s Cup from December this year and the government has made provision for the yacht teams that are already arriving.

Speaking exclusively to BBC Sport, Rugby World Cup 2021 tournament director Michelle Hooper is confident the event will go ahead having worked at the last three men’s Rugby World Cups along with other major global sporting events for football, sailing, and triathlon.

Hooper helped plan Japan 2019 around typhoon season and New Zealand 2011 following the impact of the Christchurch earthquake and is well equipped to deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s not something that is new, unknown, or unusual,” she said. “I really hope it’s a lot different in 12 months’ time, but you just need to work with all the parties and say, ‘Okay, this is what the plan looks like today’.

“As long as the teams are well informed they can build that into the schedules for 2021 and will have the best window to prepare with all the information they need.”

The 2021 tournament will be the first Rugby World Cup for women hosted by a country in the southern hemisphere and Hooper talks of New Zealand’s commitment to “supercharging the women’s game”.

World Rugby has already announced changes to the tournament schedule with the new format including quarter-finals for the first time and scrapping qualification matches.

The 50,000 capacity Eden Park will also become the first stadium to host a women’s final having previously hosted two men’s finals in 1987 and 2011.