Women's Rugby World Cup

The Women's Rugby World Cup is the premier international competition in rugby union for women. The tournament is organised by the sport's governing body the International Rugby Board (IRB). The championships are currently held every four years

The first Women's Rugby World Cup was held in 1991, and won by the United States. Though the 1991 tournament, along with the subsequent 1994 competition were not officially sanctioned by the IRB. The 1998 tournament held in the Netherlands was backed by the IRB. The current world champions are New Zealand.

History

Prior to the first Women's Rugby World Cup officially sanctioned by the International Rugby Board (IRB) there had been three previous tournaments of a similar nature. The first of these was an event held in August 1990 in New Zealand. Though not considered a World Cup, the tournament was referred to as the 'World Rugby Festival for Women', or 'Rugger Fest'. The competition included teams representing four nations - United States, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, and the hosts, New Zealand, who emerged as winners.

The first tournament referred to as the Women's Rugby World Cup was held in 1991 and hosted by Wales. Twelve countries were divided into four groups of three. The USA shocking all those involved, took the first championship with a 19-6 victory over England, while in the Plate competition for second place teams Canada prevailed over Spain 18-4. Following the first tournament it was decided to move the tournament schedule to the year prior to the next men's world cup – reducing the quadrennial cycle to just three years.

The next was apparently originally scheduled for Amsterdam but ended up being moved to Scotland. Eleven countries competed, the English again met the USA in the final, though this time England emerged as winners.

The 1998 tournament received a huge boost in that it became fully backed by the International Rugby Board (IRB). Amsterdam, Netherlands (who were to host an earlier world cup) hosted the largest ever tournament with all matches played at the new National Rugby Centre in the city’s west end and a record sixteen teams competing. New Zealand also competed for the first time, and defeated the USA in the final to claim their first world cup.

The next event was taken to Spain in 2002, where the Black Ferns won the title for the second time. The 2006 world cup took place in Edmonton, Canada, being the first women's world cup held in North America. The Black Ferns defeated England in the final to win their third successive World Cup title.

Results

Tournaments

Performance of nations

# - 3 titles
# - 1 title
# - 1 title

Format

The format for the 2006 tournament split the 12 participating nations into four pools of three teams. Each nation played three games, after the completion of which a re-seeding process took place. Nations were moved into divisions dictated by their respective overall tournament ranking.

Media coverage

The tournament has grown a lot in the past 15 years. The final of the 2006 event in Canada was broadcast in a number of countries and streamed live via the internet.

ee also

*Rugby World Cup
*Rugby World Cup Sevens
*Under 21 Rugby World Championship
*Women's international rugby

External links

* [http://www.rwcwomens.com/ The official WRWC 2006 website]
* [http://www.wrwc2006.com/ WRWC 2006 - A dedication to Women's Rugby]
* [http://www.rwcwomen2006.com/ Unofficial source for Women's Rugby World Cup news]
* [http://home.wxs.nl/~wrwc98/ 1998 Website]
* [http://www.247.tv/irb.php 247.tv - Live video and replays of all the Women's Rugby World Cup matches]