The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010 (WRWC) was officially launched today (Monday) at the home of England Rugby, Twickenham Stadium. The Rugby Football Union will host the sixth WRWC in August and September next year with the aim of producing the biggest and best WRWC so far. The world’s best 12 sides will battle it out over 30 matches, all aiming to be crowned the world champions on September 5th. New Zealand are the reigning champions but hosts England, ranked second, will certainly be looking to take advantage of their home status. The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010 (WRWC) was officially launched today (Monday) at the home of England Rugby, Twickenham Stadium. The Rugby Football Union will host the sixth WRWC in August and September next year with the aim of producing the biggest and best WRWC so far. The world’s best 12 sides will battle it out over 30 matches, all aiming to be crowned the world champions on September 5th. New Zealand are the reigning champions but hosts England, ranked second, will certainly be looking to take advantage of their home status. The showpiece tournament kicks-off on Friday 20 August at the new multi-million pound Surrey Sports Park in Guildford with all the pool games staged at that venue. Twickenham’s The Stoop, home of Guinness Premiership side Harlequins, will then provide a fitting finale to the tournament with the semi-finals and final staged at the 14,200 capacity stadium. The match schedule for the tournament was also announced today, and there are some mouth-watering opening fixtures including England v Ireland and holders New Zealand v South Africa. Rising forces in the women’s game, USA and Kazakhstan will also meet for the opening round of matches. Sky Sports will be the host broadcaster for the Tournament and have committed to live broadcast of at least seven matches. Tickets for the WRWC 2010 will be available in March exclusively through Ticketmaster. In another exciting link-up rugby fans who buy tickets for the WRWC 2010 will automatically be put on a priority ticketing list for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. Rugby Football Union Chairman Martyn Thomas said: The Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010 in London is a marvellous opportunity to raise the profile of the women’s game in England. Women’s rugby is a rapidly growing sport but to have the showcase event on English soil will undoubtedly help raise the profile of the sport and get more people into the game, and we have a range of legacy programmes designed to achieve just that. And it will be an outstanding event. We have got some fantastic partners in Sky, Surrey Sports Park, Harlequins and Ticketmaster who I know will all help us deliver a successful and well attended WRWC 2010. With RWC 2015 in England also just around the corner rugby fans have got a lot to be excited about. Mike Miller, RWCL Managing Director, added: It is particularly exciting to be launching Women’s Rugby World Cup 2010 at a time when Women’s Rugby is experiencing unprecedented growth and interest throughout the world and of course here in England. This year has been an historic one for Women’s Rugby. Olympic Games inclusion will ensure that the sport has a profile around the world like never before, providing an exciting catalyst for further growth and development while reaching out to new audiences. MATCH DAY 1: FRIDAY, AUGUST, 20USA v Kazakhstan Surrey 1Canada v Scotland Surrey 2New Zealand v South Africa Surrey 1Wales v Australia Surrey 2England v Ireland Surrey 1France v Sweden Surrey 2 MATCH DAY 2: TUESDAY, AUGUST, 24New Zealand v Australia Surrey 1Wales v South Africa Surrey 2France v Scotland Surrey 1Canada v Sweden Surrey 2England v Kazakhstan Surrey 1USA v Ireland Surrey 2 MATCH DAY 3: SATURDAY, AUGUST, 28France v Canada Surrey 1Scotland v Sweden Surrey 2New Zealand v Wales Surrey 1Australia v South Africa Surrey 2England v USA Surrey 1Ireland v Kazakhstan Surrey 2