Ireland have been successful in their bid to host the 2017 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
In March, the IRFU announced it had submitted a bid to host the competition in August 2017 at locations in Dublin and Belfast.
The tournament pool stages will be held at University College Dublin before moving to Belfast for semi-finals and the final, which will be held at the Kingspan Stadium.
Commenting on the news, IRFU CEO Philip Browne said: "Interest and participation in women's rugby continues to grow and building on this momentum we believe Ireland can deliver the best Women's Rugby World Cup to-date.
"We hope that the growing interest in women's rugby in Ireland, world class facilities such as UCD, Queens University Sport, Kingspan Stadium and our internationally recognised reputation for being one of the world's most welcoming nations will make an exceptional event for the entire Island.”
World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “The awarding of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 to Ireland is great news for teams and fans as the sport continues to reach out and inspire new participants in our great game.
"I am sure that Dublin and Belfast will prove to be popular destinations.”
Ireland reached the semi-finals at last year’s World Cup in Paris, recording a first ever win over New Zealand along the way, before being beaten conclusively by eventual champions England.
Ireland have also won the Six Nations titles twice in recent years, taking the Grand Slam in 2013 before completing a remarkable double with their male counterparts earlier this year.
Woop woop!!!!! Great news #rollon2017 #worldcup ??????thanks @IrishRugby for bidding #excitingtimes
— Niamh Briggs (@niamhbriggs15) May 13, 2015
Subject: Ireland to host 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup 
