Women's Rugby World Cup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Women's Rugby World Cup
Current competition 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup
Sport	Rugby union
Instituted	1991
Number of teams	12
Country(ies)	International (IRB)
Holders	New Zealand (2006)

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 with the next event scheduled to take place in England in 2010.^[1]

The first Women's Rugby World Cup was held in 1991, and won by The United States, though it and the subsequent 1994 competition were not officially sanctioned by the IRB. It was not until the 1998 tournament held in the Netherlands that the tournament received official IRB backing.^[2] The current world champions, and the most successful team, are New Zealand.

[edit] History

Prior to the first Women's Rugby World Cup officially sanctioned by the International Rugby Board 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. The competition included teams representing the United States, the Netherlands, Russia, and the hosts, New Zealand - who emerged as winners after defeating the United States in the final.

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 United States, against expectations, took the first championship with a 19-6 victory over England.^[3] In the Plate competition 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 therefore reducing the quadrennial cycle to just three years.

The next event was originally scheduled to take place in Amsterdam but ended up being moved to Scotland. Eleven countries competed in the tournament with the English meeting the United States in the final for the second time however, in this instance England emerged as winners.^[4]

The 1998 tournament became the first women's world cup officially sanctioned by the International Rugby Board. Amsterdam, who were originally scheduled to host the previous world cup, hosted the largest ever tournament with all matches played at the new National Rugby Centre in the city’s west end.^[5] The tournament also saw a record sixteen teams compete. New Zealand, who withdrew from the previous tournament, also competed. The final saw New Zealand defeat the United States and claim their first world cup title.

The next event was taken to Spain in 2002, where New Zealand, won the title for the second time. The 2006 world cup took place in Edmonton, Canada, and was the first major international rugby union tournament and women's world cup held in North America. New Zealand defeated England in the final to win their third successive world cup title.^[6]

In 2008 a record four countries expressed interest in hosting the 2010 world cup. After considering bids from the Rugby Football Union, the German Rugby Federation, the Kazakhstan Rugby Union and South African Rugby Union the IRB announced that the 2010 event will take place in England.^[7] The Rugby Football Union for Women (RFUW) then announced that the tournament is to be staged in west London, with the final to be played at The Stoop.^[8]

[edit] Results

[edit] Tournaments

Year	Host		Final				Third place match
			Winner	Score	Runner-up		3rd place	Score	4th place
1991 Details	Wales		United States	19 - 6	England		France	Shared third	New Zealand
1994 Details	Scotland		England	38 - 23	United States		France	27 - 0	Wales
1998 Details	Netherlands		New Zealand	44 - 12	United States		England	31 - 15	Canada
2002 Details	Spain		New Zealand	19 - 9	England		France	41 - 7	Canada
2006 Details	Canada		New Zealand	25 - 17	England		France	17 - 8	Canada
2010 Details	England

[edit] Performance of nations

Team	Champion	Runner-up	Third	Fourth
New Zealand	3 (1998, 2002, 2006)	-	-	1 (1991)
England	1 (1994)	3 (1991, 2002, 2006)	1 (1998)	-
United States	1 (1991)	2 (1994, 1998)	-	-
France	-	-	4 (1991, 1994, 2002, 2006)	-
Canada	-	-	-	3 (1998, 2002, 2006)
Wales	-	-	-	1 (1994)

[edit] 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 with the top teams proceeding to the knockout stages. The format for the 2010 event has yet to be announced by the IRB however, it has been confirmed the number of teams participating will remain at twelve^[9] and six regional qualifying tournaments will take place to determine which teams will fill the twelve available places.^[10] In previous tournaments teams were selected by the IRB based on international performances as opposed to qualification via regional tournaments.

[edit] Media coverage

The tournament has grown considerably in the past fifteen years although television audiences and event attendance still remain relatively low, especially in comparison to other women's world cup events. The final of the 2006 event in Canada was broadcast in a number of countries and streamed live via the internet.

[edit] See also

• Women's rugby union
• Women's international rugby

[edit] References

1. ^ "England to Host 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup". UK Sport. 1. http://www.uksport.gov.uk/news/england_to_host_2010_women_irb_rugby_world_cup/. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. 
2. ^ "Women's Rugby World Cup". RugbyFootballHistory.com. 1. http://rugbyfootballhistory.com/WRWC.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. 
3. ^ "Women's Rugby World Cup - History". BBC Sport. 1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/international/1960497.stm. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. 
4. ^ "1994 Women's Rugby World Cup - results". Uniweb. 1. http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/clubs/womens_rugby/RugbyRoot/rugby/games/Results/94WWC.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. 
5. ^ "Rugby Femenino (Women's Rugby)". Iespena.es. 1. http://rugby.iespana.es/h3.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. 
6. ^ "New Zealand retain crown". International Rugby Board. 1. http://www.rwcwomens.com/EN/News/match_30.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. 
7. ^ "Women's rugby looking to sidestep the doubters". The Guardian. 1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2008/nov/12/rugbyunion1. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. 
8. ^ "History of the Women's Rugby World Cup". 1. http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ouwrugby/AhistoryoftheWomensRugbyWorldCup.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. 
9. ^ "2010 World Cup to be held in England". Nowpublic.com. 1. http://www.nowpublic.com/sports/2010-womens-rugby-world-cup-be-held-england. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. 
10. ^ "England to host Women's Rugby World Cup". rugbyheaven.co.nz. 1. http://www.rugbyheaven.co.nz/4703895a22479.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-15. 

[edit] External links

• The official WRWC website
• Women's Rugby World Cup from therugbyworldcup.co.uk
• Results for the previous tournaments at rugbyfootballhistory.com