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 in a game that has since been recognised as the first ever women's international 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).
International rugby initially grew slowly. 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
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. Another list appears on The Roon Ba website.
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.
International women's matches
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)
| Rank | Change* | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
 England |
097.56 |
| 2 | |
 Canada |
089.31 |
| 3 | |
 New Zealand |
088.64 |
| 4 | |
 France |
085.11 |
| 5 | |
 Australia |
078.10 |
| 6 | |
 Ireland |
078.03 |
| 7 | |
 Scotland |
076.82 |
| 8 | |
 Italy |
074.75 |
| 9 | |
 United States |
074.20 |
| 10 | |
 Wales |
072.58 |
| 11 | |
 Japan |
066.41 |
| 12 | |
 South Africa |
066.18 |
| 13 | |
 Spain |
065.42 |
| 14 | |
 Russia |
061.10 |
| 15 | |
 Samoa |
060.56 |
| 16 | |
 Netherlands |
060.20 |
| 17 | |
 Fiji |
059.14 |
| 18 | |
 Hong Kong |
056.20 |
| 19 | |
 Kazakhstan |
055.23 |
| 20 | |
 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
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
|
| 134 | New Zealand v Germany (134–6) at Amsterdam 02/05/1998 World Cup
|
| 121 | United States v Japan (121–0) at Melrose 15/04/1994 World Cup
|
| New Zealand v Hong Kong (121–0) at Billings Park UCD, Dublin 13/08/2017 World Cup
| |
| 119 | Spain v Finland (119–0) at University of A Coruña 30/04/2011 FIRA
|
| 117 | New Zealand v Germany (117–0) at Barcelona 13/05/2002 World Cup
|
| 113 | Netherlands v Denmark (113–0) at Amsterdam 08/05/2003 FIRA
|
| 111 | United States v Sweden (111–0) at Melrose 11/04/1994 World Cup
|
| 109 | New Zealand v France (109–0) at Edmonton 14/09/1996 Canada Cup 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 Netherlands v Finland (105–0) at Enköping 03/05/2012 FIRA
|
| 101 | England v South Africa (101–0) at Imber Court 14/05/2005 Friendly
|
| 100 | Netherlands v Belgium (100–0) at Enköping, Sweden 17/05/2009 FIRA
|
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
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.
- Australia at the Wayback Machine (archived 30 September 2007) Complete for 1994–2006, some errors in dates.
- England (1998–)
- FIRA European Championships (2003–)
- France (1982–2004)
- France (1990–)
- Germany (rather incomplete)
- International Rugby Board (2006–, Six Nations and World Cup only)
- Japan (1994–2002)
- Netherlands (2003–)
- Norway (2002–)
- New Zealand (1991–)
- RBS Six Nations (2004–)
- Sweden (1984–2005)
- USA (complete, some errors)
- Wales (1987–, some gaps, some errors)
Women's rugby participation rates
Ratio of registered female rugby players to the total female population.
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|
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Source: ScrumQueens
See also
- Canada Cup
- Caribbean Women's Rugby Championship
- FIRA Women's European Championship
- Scottish Women's Rugby Union
- Pacific Tri-Nations
- Women's rugby
- Women's Rugby World Cup
- Women's Six Nations Championship
- Women's International Rugby Union Sevens
- Women's international rugby union results summary
- List of women's international rugby union test matches
- Women's international rugby union (non test matches)
- Rugby Africa Women's Cup
Notes
- A try was only worth four points in 1982, the five point try not being introduced until 1992.
- 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").
- "Statistics: Scoring & Player Numbers Explanation". Scrum.com. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
- 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
- "Rugby à XV Féminin".
- "The Roon Ba".
- "Official rankings introduced for women's 15s game" (Press release). World Rugby. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
- "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
External links
Media related to Women's rugby union at Wikimedia Commons- Rugbydata includes women's internationals (18 March 2010 to 16 March 2014)
- Entire list of internationals (13 June 1982 to 28 April 2012) in a Google Documents spreadsheet.
- The rise and popularity of women's rugby in Canada, by John A O'Hanley (1998)
- Official women's World Rankings
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