Women's Rugby World Cup trophy to be on display in Kildare ahead of 2017 tournament
The Women's Rugby World Cup trophy will be on view early next month in Kildare as the excitement ramps up ahead of the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup which will be held in Ireland in the early autumn.
Castletown House in Celbridge will be the venue for the visit of the coveted trophy, and locals are being invited along to get a glimpse of it ahead of the hugely anticipated tournament.
Fáilte Ireland, together with the IRFU, are hosting the event and the trophy will be on display on Thursday 6th July from 1.30 to 3.30pm to alert visitors to the fact that Ireland will be hosting this prestigious event.
Kicking off on August 5th, the Women’s Rugby World Cup will see 12 national rugby teams play in a series of matches in Dublin (UCD) and Belfast (Queens University and Kingspan Stadium). The tournament format will see 18 pool stage matches taking place in UCD and 12 knock out stage matches hosted in the two Belfast venues.
Speaking about the importance of securing such a high profile event for Ireland, Paul Kelly CEO of Fáilte Ireland stressed -
“We are delighted to be hosting the Women’s Rugby World Cup – particularly given the growing popularity of women’s rugby and the event’s potential benefit for Irish tourism.
"We hope that people will come on down to Castletown House to see the trophy for themselves ahead of this prestigious event. Fáilte Ireland is always very keen that any international event we bring here showcases Ireland’s ability to stage international events brilliantly and we are sure that the experience in August - for both athletes and spectators – will truly demonstrate our capacity to host high profile international events of scale.”
Fáilte Ireland has been working closely with the IRFU and other stakeholders in the build up to the holding of the Women’s Rugby World Cup - including sponsorship of €300,000 for the event as well as supporting the hosting of the World Rugby Women’s Repechage Event in June 2016 and the World Rugby Women’s Sevens tournament in August 2015.
Garret Tubridy, Tournament Director, Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 said -
“We are hugely grateful for the support of Failte Ireland. Unlike a regular game day we will have visitors form 12 nations at the venue at each match day which will create a very special atmosphere. We know the Irish welcome is renowned world-wide and we hope to bring a flavour of it to the tournament.”