England, Canada, New Zealand and France have confirmed their place in the top band of teams entering Thursday's draw for Women's Rugby Cup 2025, which can be watched live on the BBC's The One Show, airing from from 19:00 (GMT+1), and globally (including the UK) it will be streamed live at 19:20 (GMT+1) on RugbyPass TV.
After becoming back-to-back WXV 1 champions with a 21-12 win over Canada at BC Place in Vancouver on Saturday, England will go into the draw as the highest-rated team of all-time – men's or women's.
John Mitchell's all-conquering side, who have now won 20 matches on the bounce, have a rating of 97.56 points, the highest of any team since the World Rugby Rankings were first introduced in October 2003.
WXV 1 hosts Canada are now 8.25 points in arrears in second, New Zealand remain third with France, who the Black Ferns beat 39-14 in the final round of WXV 1, back in fourth.
Newly-crowned WXV 2 champions Australia head up band two as the fifth seeds, with Ireland, Scotland and Italy joining them. The Wallaroos swapped places with Scotland after they beat last year's winners 31-22 in Saturday's title decider in Cape Town.
Italy moved into band two thanks to a 23-19 win over South Africa, displacing the USA, who finished bottom of WXV 1 after suffering three straight defeats.
As the team ranked in ninth, the Women's Eagles are in band three along with Wales, Japan and South Africa.
WXV 3 2024 winners Spain head up band four along with runners-up Samoa, Fiji and the lowest-ranked team in the draw, Brazil.
The top four teams in the rankings will be placed into band 1 and prepopulated into the first position in each pool. The remaining 12 teams will be drawn into bands 2,3 and 4 based on their rankings and drawn one by one.
Women's RWC 2025 Draw Bands (ranking in brackets)
Band 1: England (1), Canada (2), New Zealand (3), France (4)
Band 2: Australia (5), Ireland (6), Scotland (7), Italy (8)
Band 3: USA (9), Wales (10), Japan (11), South Africa (12)
Band 4: Spain (13), Samoa (15), Fiji (17), Brazil (42)
