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Women's international rugby union

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Women's international rugby union has a history going back to the late 19th century, but it was not until 1982 that the first international fixture (or "test match") involving women's rugby union took place. The match was organised in connection with the Dutch Rugby Union's 50th anniversary: as part of the celebrations, on June 13, 1982, the France national women's team played the Netherlands in Utrecht, Netherlands, with France winning 4–0[1] in a game that has since been recognised as the first ever women's international[2] rugby union match.

Official recognition of women's internationals was not immediate, as almost all women's rugby was originally organised outside of the control of either national unions or World Rugby for many years. Partly as a result, no internationally agreed list of rugby internationals exists; even in the men's game, World Rugby does not decide which matches are "full internationals" (or "test matches"), leaving such decisions up to participating unions.

As a result, one country may classify a match as a full international (and award full test caps) while the opposition may not: countries may even award caps for games against an opposition that is not a national team (World XVs, for example).[3]

International rugby initially grew slowly.[4] Sweden joined France and the Netherlands in 1984, followed by Italy in 1985. It was not until 1987 with a U.S. v. Canada matchup that the first international took place outside Europe, and not until 1990, with New Zealand hosting a match, that the first match was played by a Southern Hemisphere team or played in the Southern Hemisphere. However, since 2003 the game has expanded rapidly, and now over 50 nations have played at least one "test match".

Over 1,000 internationals have now been played. Traditional centres of rugby in New Zealand, England, and France have been the most successful nations, but they have been joined by a number of "non-traditional" nations who have also been successful, such as the United States and Canada.

Rankings

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Unlike men's rugby, there was historically no official ranking of women's teams — prior to 2016, World Rugby generally referred to the placings in the preceding World Cup. However, Rugby Europe compiles an annual ranking of European teams and rugby statistician Serge Piquet has produced a currently unofficial, but generally accepted, world ranking list.[5] Another list appears on The Roon Ba website.[6]

On 1 February 2016, World Rugby introduced its first official rankings of women's national teams, calculated in virtually the same manner as the existing rankings for men's national teams.[7]

International women's matches

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Definition of an "international":

Individual unions compile their own international records. As a result, the list below will conflict with some of these "official" records (much in the same way as they will conflict with each other) as unions:

  • may not include some games in their official records because they fielded a below strength team in a tournament for full international XVs, or
  • may include games which are not listed below because they fielded a full strength team in a friendly against an unofficial or "A" team.

For consistency this list has used the following criteria when defining what is or is not an international:

  • Tournament games between national representative XVs from tournaments for full international teams, regardless of an individual union's selection policy;
  • "Friendly" fixtures which it appears were generally promoted prior to the game as being between full strength national XVs. In case of doubt the opinion of the home union – i.e. the promoter of the game – has carried the most weight.
  • Fixtures between official national selections and supra-national teams (such as "World XVs").

World Rugby Rankings (women)

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Women's
World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 rankings as of 11 November 2024[8]
Rank Change* Team Points
1 Steady  England 097.56
2 Steady  Canada 089.31
3 Steady  New Zealand 088.64
4 Steady  France 085.11
5 Steady  Australia 078.10
6 Steady  Ireland 078.03
7 Steady  Scotland 076.82
8 Steady  Italy 074.75
9 Steady  United States 074.20
10 Steady  Wales 072.58
11 Steady  Japan 066.41
12 Steady  South Africa 066.18
13 Steady  Spain 065.42
14 Steady  Russia 061.10
15 Steady  Samoa 060.56
16 Steady  Netherlands 060.20
17 Steady  Fiji 059.14
18 Steady  Hong Kong 056.20
19 Steady  Kazakhstan 055.23
20 Steady  Sweden 052.72
*Change from the previous week

The World Rugby Rankings for women is a ranking system for women's national teams in rugby union, managed by World Rugby, the sport's governing body. The teams of World Rugby's member nations are ranked based on their game results, with the most successful teams being ranked highest. A point system is used, with points being awarded based on the results of World Rugby-recognized international matches. The women's rankings are calculated in the same manner as World Rugby's existing men's rankings, with minor adjustments to reflect historic differences between women's and men's rugby.

Highest team scores

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up to and including 24 November 2018

152  Fiji v Papua New Guinea (152–0) at Papakura 09/07/2022 Friendly
141  Netherlands v Denmark (141–3) at Toulouse 02/05/2004 FIRA [445]
134  New Zealand v Germany (134–6) at Amsterdam 02/05/1998 World Cup [192]
121  United States v Japan (121–0) at Melrose 15/04/1994 World Cup [086]
 New Zealand v Hong Kong (121–0) at Billings Park UCD, Dublin 13/08/2017 World Cup [1211]
119  Spain v Finland (119–0) at University of A Coruña 30/04/2011 FIRA [885]
117  New Zealand v Germany (117–0) at Barcelona 13/05/2002 World Cup [360]
113  Netherlands v Denmark (113–0) at Amsterdam 08/05/2003 FIRA [413]
111  United States v Sweden (111–0) at Melrose 11/04/1994 World Cup [080]
109  New Zealand v France (109–0) at Edmonton 14/09/1996 Canada Cup [143]
 France A v Finland (109–3) at INEF Bastiaqueiro 04/05/2011 FIRA [---]
105  Netherlands v Belgium (105–0) at Amsterdam 08/04/2001 Friendly [308]
 Netherlands v Finland (105–0) at Enköping 03/05/2012 FIRA [937]
101  England v South Africa (101–0) at Imber Court 14/05/2005 Friendly [495]
100  Netherlands v Belgium (100–0) at Enköping, Sweden 17/05/2009 FIRA [737]

Note: An unofficial international between a Uganda XV and a Rwanda XV at Kampala on 4 December 2004 resulted in a 183–0 win to the Uganda XV.

Sources of women's international results

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The above results have been traced mainly via the following listings of national and tournament results – most being national RFUs. Other results have been traced via numerous news reports.

Women's rugby participation rates

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Ratio of registered female rugby players to the total female population.

Source: ScrumQueens

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ A try was only worth four points in 1982, the five point try not being introduced until 1992.
  2. ^ This article, with its accompanying match list and associated data, as well as Women's international rugby union results summary, only includes matches that most independent observers appear to treat as "full internationals" (or "test matches"). These may be defined as:
    • Tournament games between national representative XVs from tournaments for full international teams;
    • Friendly fixtures which it appears were generally promoted prior to the game as being between full-strength national XVs
    • Other fixtures which most independent authorities (as opposed to individual unions) appear to treat as full internationals (such as games involving "World XVs").
    As a result, the list may conflict with the official records published by some national unions who may not include all of these games in their official records (most often because the Union concerned fielded a below-strength team in a tournament for full international XVs), or may include games which fail to meet the above definitions (most often because they fielded a full-strength team in a friendly against an unofficial or "A" team).
  3. ^ "Statistics: Scoring & Player Numbers Explanation". Scrum.com. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  4. ^ Internationals in each calendar year:
    • 1982 1
    • 1983 1
    • 1984 2
    • 1985 3
    • 1986 5
    • 1987 6
    • 1988 11
    • 1989 5
    • 1990 11
    • 1991 17 (World Cup year)
    • 1992 5
    • 1993 12
    • 1994 34 (World Cup year)
    • 1995 12
    • 1996 23
    • 1997 32
    • 1998 52 (World Cup year)
    • 1999 28
    • 2000 37
    • 2001 46
    • 2002 53 (World Cup year)
    • 2003 32
    • 2004 47
    • 2005 44
    • 2006 79 (World Cup year)
    • 2007 58
    • 2008 66
    • 2009 54
  5. ^ "Rugby a Xv Féminin".
  6. ^ "The Roon Ba".
  7. ^ "Official rankings introduced for women's 15s game" (Press release). World Rugby. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  8. ^ "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
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