Women's international rugby union

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

Contents

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. 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 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). [1]

Women's international rugby developed gradually. Sweden joined France and the Netherlands in 1984, followed by Italy in 1985. The first international match outside Europe took place in 1987 between the United States and Canada. In 1990, New Zealand hosted a match, marking the first game played in or involving a team from the Southern Hemisphere.

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 several "non-traditional" nations who have also been successful, such as the United States and more recently Canada.

Rankings

Women's World Rankings

Women's
World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 rankings as of 1 September 2025 [2]
RankChange*TeamPoints
1Steady2.svgFlag of England.svg  England 97.76
2Steady2.svgFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 90.13
3Steady2.svgFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 88.74
4Steady2.svgFlag of France.svg  France 85.82
5Steady2.svgIRFU flag.svg  Ireland 78.82
6Steady2.svgFlag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 77.39
7Steady2.svgFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 75.46
8Increase2.svg1Flag of the United States.svg  United States 72.90
9Decrease2.svg1Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 72.37
10Increase2.svg2Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 71.62
11Decrease2.svg1Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 70.13
12Decrease2.svg1Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 68.82
13Steady2.svgFlag of Spain.svg  Spain 63.31
14Steady2.svgFlag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 59.98
15Steady2.svgFlag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 59.72
16Steady2.svgFlag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 57.56
17Steady2.svgFlag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 57.42
18Steady2.svgFlag of Russia.svg  Russia 55.10
19Steady2.svgFlag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan 53.88
20Steady2.svgFlag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 50.68
*Change from the previous week

Unlike men's rugby, there was historically no official ranking of women's teams — before 2016, World Rugby referred to using the placings in the preceding World Cup. However, Rugby Europe compiled an annual ranking of European teams and rugby statistician Serge Piquet produced an unofficial, but accepted, world ranking list. [3] Another list appears on The Roon Ba website. [4]

On 1 February 2016, World Rugby introduced its first official rankings of women's national teams, calculated similarly as the existing rankings for men's national teams. [5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ A try was only worth four points in 1982, the five-point try not being introduced until 1992.
  2. ↑ This article lists rugby matches considered "full internationals" or "test matches" by most independent observers. It includes:
    • Tournament games between national XVs in full international competitions.
    • Friendly matches that are promoted as being between full-strength national teams.
    • Other fixtures recognised as full internationals by independent authorities.
    The list may differ from official national union records, as some unions exclude games where they fielded a weaker team or include matches against unofficial or "A" teams.

References

  1. ↑ "Statistics: Scoring & Player Numbers Explanation". Scrum.com. Archived from the original on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  2. ↑ "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 1 September 2025.
  3. ↑ "Rugby à XV Féminin". Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "The Roon Ba". Archived from the original on 10 February 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Official rankings introduced for women's 15s game" (Press release). World Rugby. 1 February 2016. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
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