IRFU women's rugby ambassador, Fiona Coghlan said: "I am delighted to be part of this ambitious bid to bring one of the world's premier women's sporting events to Ireland.

"The development and profile of women's sport has been fantastic in recent years and it will be a great opportunity for Ireland to showcase sport and to get more women and girls to consider taking up a team sport.

Having captained Ireland at the recent Women's Rugby World Cup in France, I hope that I can help Irish Rugby to develop a Rugby World Cup that tops everything that went before and I know that the Irish people, Irish business and the Irish media will all come together to deliver a tournament to remember.”

Philip Browne, IRFU chief executive, 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," said

"We hope that the growing interest in women's rugby in Ireland, world-leading facilities at UCD, Queens University Sport, Kingspan Stadium and our internationally recognised reputation for being one of the world's most welcoming nations will make an Irish bid the standout submission for the 2017 tournament..