Women's international rugby union

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 French national women's team played the Dutch 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 (WR) for many years. Partly as a result, no internationally agreed list of rugby internationals exists; even in the men's game, WR 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

Unlike men's rugby, there was historically no official ranking of women's teams — prior to 2016, WR 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, WR 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

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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Top 20 rankings as of 13 May 2024[8]
Rank Change* Team Points
1 Steady  England 096.90
2 Steady  New Zealand 090.56
3 Increase1  Canada 087.52
4 Decrease1  France 087.27
5 Steady  Australia 080.36
6 Steady  Scotland 075.99
7 Steady  Wales 074.28
8 Steady  Italy 074.26
9 Steady  Ireland 073.53
10 Steady  United States 072.57
11 Steady  Japan 069.38
12 Steady  South Africa 065.17
13 Steady  Spain 065.15
14 Steady  Russia 061.10
15 Steady  Samoa 059.57
16 Steady  Netherlands 058.98
17 Steady  Fiji 058.65
18 Steady  Hong Kong 058.31
19 Steady  Kazakhstan 055.97
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 WR's existing men's rankings, with minor adjustments to reflect historic differences between women's and men's rugby.

Women's Test Ranking (unofficial)

Before early 2016, there was no official World Rugby ranking list for women's rugby. Several unofficial lists have been produced, with the list developed by Serge Piquet in 2009 having widest circulation following its adoption by women's rugby website ScrumQueens.com in 2013.

The system is similar in many ways to that used by WR for its men's rankings, and includes data from every women's international match since 1982.

Match points are awarded to each country as follows:

1. Match level – generally the mean of combined points the two teams before the match, with a minima.

2. The result – 400 points for a win, 200 for a draw, 100 for a defeat or 0 for a forfeit in an official competition.

3. Match venue – 100 points is shared between the two teams. A team playing at home against an opponent from another continent gets 0 point, but 100 is awarded to their opponents. 25 points goes to the home team if the opponent is from the same continent, and 75 for their opponents. 50 goes to each team if they are playing on neutral ground.

4. Number of scored points and the points difference.

5. World Cup – a bonus of 50 points for games in qualifying rounds, 100 in pool phases of the finals, 150 for playoffs and 200 for the final.

Matches against A, B, Emerging, Amateur, Junior, Student, Army, Police or Services teams (and provinces/clubs when these games are part of official competitions) are also taken into account.

Nomads, Caribbean Select XV and Great Britain awarded ranking points but not a ranking position.

After each match a team's new ranking points total will be equal to the sum of 10% of their match points, and 90% of the ranking number before the match. This method evens out occasional surprise results and ensures that the ranking rewards consistency of performance.

Finally, in order that current form is given priority over historic performances, points gained from past matches decrease by 2% per year.

Differences between men's and women's rankings

Although the ranking is similar in principle to that produced by WR for men's rugby since 2003 and women's rugby since 2016, there are some differences that take into account differences in women's rugby.

The WR system, for both men and women, does not account for the level of the teams — the winner gains some points, and the loser loses them, regardless of the relative levels of the opponents. This means that a lower-tier team will lose ranking points with a loss to a higher-tier team, even if the result is much closer than expected. Given the sometimes wide variation in strength of teams — even in the same competition — this is too simplistic for women's rugby.

The WR ranking also does not account for matches against "special" teams, especially those that are not WR members — but for many of the smaller women's nations, games against teams such as England "A" are more significant, tougher, and often as good a guide to their strength, if not better, than those against some full-strength test teams. As a result, such games are included in this ranking.

Finally, a new team added to WR's rankings is arbitrarily awarded a fixed number of points (currently 30 in the men's game, and 40 in the women's game). before December 2012, a men's team had to play at least 10 matches to be classified. Given the number of tests women's teams play this would be a significant barrier to inclusion.

An alternative ranking is available at the site 22metri and is based on the WR calculation method applied to the games played from January 2010 with teams assigned an arbitrary starting points of 40, 30 and 20 based on tier.[9] The ranking is similar to the one from Scrumqueens, as expected.

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 [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

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.

Rank Country Ratio
1  Tonga 1: 8
2  Cook Islands 1: 17
3  Saint Vincent & the Grenadines 1: 74
4  Swaziland 1: 123
5  Solomon Islands 1: 125
6  New Zealand 1: 131
7  Ireland 1: 155
8  Bermuda 1: 172
9  Guam 1: 191
10  Tahiti 1: 225
11  Botswana 1: 234
12  Samoa 1: 262
13  Namibia 1: 311
14  Malta 1: 362
15  Australia 1: 449
16  Wales 1: 464
17  Papua New Guinea 1: 474
18  British Virgin Islands 1: 528
19  Cayman Islands 1: 529
20  Vanuatu 1: 622
21  South Africa 1: 693
22  Scotland 1: 723
23  Hong Kong 1: 870
24  Andorra 1: 897
25  Barbados 1: 1,018
26  Fiji 1: 1,100
27  Tunisia 1: 1,204
28  England 1: 1,235
29  Senegal 1: 1,535
30  Moldova 1: 2,049
31  American Samoa 1: 2,379
32  France 1: 2,413
33  Rwanda 1: 2,512
34  Uganda 1: 2,552
Rank Country Ratio
35  Trinidad and Tobago 1: 2,812
36  Singapore 1: 2,883
37  Canada 1: 2,921
38  United States 1: 2,951
39  Guyana 1: 3,247
40  Sri Lanka 1: 3,642
41  Luxembourg 1: 3,742
42  Jamaica 1: 4,255
43  Italy 1: 4,411
44  Zambia 1: 4,605
45  Belgium 1: 4,671
46  Bahamas 1: 4,838
47  Madagascar 1: 5,157
48  Netherlands 1: 5,331
49  Peru 1: 5,623
50  Denmark 1: 5,719
51  Uruguay 1: 5,859
52  Mauritius 1: 6,014
53  Bulgaria 1: 6,624
54  Thailand 1: 6,800
55  Zimbabwe 1: 7,065
56  Latvia 1: 7,624
57  Spain 1: 8,054
58  Kazakhstan 1: 9,323
59  Georgia 1: 9,370
60  Norway 1: 9,838
61  Sweden 1: 9,867
62  Romania 1: 9,930
63  Argentina 1: 10,190
64  Kenya 1: 10,335
65  Lithuania 1: 10,583
66  Czech Republic 1: 11,017
67  Portugal 1: 11,156
68   Switzerland 1: 12,243
Rank Country Ratio
69  Philippines 1: 14,092
70  Finland 1: 15,256
71  Chile 1: 15,901
72  Serbia 1: 16,023
73  United Arab Emirates 1: 16,319
74  Morocco 1: 17,867
75  Japan 1: 18,822
76  Croatia 1: 19,205
77  Cameroon 1: 19,936
78  Israel 1: 23,579
79  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1: 24,307
80  Germany 1: 24,913
81  Ukraine 1: 26,802
82  Hungary 1: 28,893
83  Slovenia 1: 30,451
84  Paraguay 1: 31,736
85  Austria 1: 32,949
86  Poland 1: 33,761
87  Russia 1: 39,308
88  Malaysia 1: 44,189
89  Colombia 1: 48,638
90  Greece 1: 52,138
91  Chinese Taipei 1: 57,045
92  Venezuela 1: 62,814
93  Brazil 1: 68,634
94  Mexico 1: 71,685
95  Ivory Coast 1: 80,972
96  China 1: 98,328
97  Pakistan 1: 129,870
98  Uzbekistan 1: 139,665
99  India 1: 144,300
100  Nigeria 1: 267,380
101  South Korea 1: 862,069
102  Indonesia 1: 1,298,701

Source: ScrumQueens

See also

  • Sports portal

Notes

  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 25 March 2024.
  9. ^ Women Rugby Ranking - a proposal

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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