World Cup Preview: Pool A

The World Cup draw was made on 19th November 2020 and this split the twelve teams into four “bands”, based on the world rankings at the time and before Italy, Japan and Scotland had qualified. As a result, by the time the tournament kicks off on 8th October 2022, it will have been nearly two years since the draw was made. And quite a lot can happen in two years!

A reminder - the top two teams from the pool qualify for the quarter-finals, plus the best two third-place teams from the three pools.

While Pool A is dominated by the home team, who should qualify with ease, recent form suggests that there is little to nothing to separate the other three. As a result the qualification formula perhaps does not favour this pool, as whoever ends third is unlikely to have recorded any big wins.  

Pool A

New Zealand (World Ranking: 2)
Record since last World Cup: P 21, W 15, L 6 ,F 700, A 353, 71.43%)

For the first time since probably 1998, New Zealand do not go into a World Cup as favourites.

Since lifting the Cup in 2017 in Belfast, the Black Ferns programme has come off the rails somewhat spectacularly, with record defeats to England and France last year, distressing off the field revelations and negative headlines, and a massive churn of players as well as the resignation of their head coach. 

The appointment of Wayne Smith to take a battered team through the last year of World Cup preparation has however yielded immediate results – New Zealand have won six of their last six tests and the return of Portia Woodman from sevens duty is a huge boost.

Australia (World Ranking: 7)
Record since last World Cup: P 13, W 3, L 10, F 225, A 336, 23.08%)

Ten losses in their last 13 games tells the tale of an Australian team, while not lacking in individual talent, struggling to bring it all together with the chances they get to play.

Sevens dominates the women's game in Australia with test rugby playing second fiddle, and now firmly out of the habit of winning against the top teams, reaching the top four, as they did in 2010, would be considered an enormous achievement. 

Like New Zealand though, Australia's buildup has been better than ever before, with seven recent tests plus a Super W competition that included the Fijiana Drua, which gave Jay Tregonning the widest possible look at the depth of his squad. Though they have yet to beat the Black Ferns, their last result was the tightest ever when they lost just 22-14, which should give them heart that they can do well in this pool and realistically try and target the runner up spot. 

Scotland (World Ranking: 10)
Record since last World Cup: P 36, W 10, D 1, L 25, F 625, A 934, 29.17%)

Scotland are deservedly back at the World Cup for the first time since 2010.

This alone is a massive step forward for a team that finished bottom of the Six Nations from 2011 to 2016, winning just four test matches during that period (two against the Netherlands, plus wins against Spain and Sweden).

Increased support from Scottish Rugby saw this turn around in 2017 (too late for that year’s World Cup) when they recorded their first Six Nations wins for seven years, finishing fourth. Since then, they have recorded test wins every year, including on their visit to South Africa in 2019 – their first overseas tour for 14 years.

Full Preview via scrumqueens