 | This article needs to be updated.(February 2018) |
The most successful teams in women's international rugby union have been England, France, and New Zealand.
| This article needs to be updated.(February 2018) |
The most successful teams in women's international rugby union have been England, France, and New Zealand.
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France(1); 
Netherlands(1)
Sweden(3)
Italy(4)
Belgium(6); 
Great Britain(5)
Canada(9); 
England(7); 
United States(9); 
Wales(7)
Germany(11); 
Spain(10)
New Zealand(12); 
Soviet Union(13); World XV(14)
Japan(15)
Ireland(16); 
Kazakhstan(18);
Scotland(16)
Australia(20); 
Russia(19)
Portugal(21)
Hong Kong(22)
Samoa(23)
Denmark(24); 
Jamaica(26); 
Norway(24); 
Trinidad and Tobago(26)
Austria(29); 
Cayman Islands(31); 
Czech Republic(29); 
South Africa(28)
Bosnia and Herzegovina(34); 
Uganda(32); 
Rwanda(32); 
Thailand(34)
China(40); 
Fiji(36); 
Guyana(39); 
Kenya(38); 
Singapore(40);
Tonga(37)
Finland(42); 
Luxembourg(42); 
Romania(42); 
Serbia(42); 
Zambia(46); 
Zimbabwe(46)
Brazil(48); 
Kyrgyzstan(49); 
Uzbekistan(49)
Barbados(51); 
Malaysia(53); 
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines(52)
Bahamas(54); 
Caribbean XV (55)
Laos(57); 
Philippines(58); 
Switzerland(56)
Botswana(59); 
Namibia(59) Canada; Czech Republic; Kenya; England; France; Hong Kong; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Kazakhstan; New Zealand; Samoa; Scotland; Singapore; South Africa; Spain; Switzerland; Uganda; United States; Wales Belgium; Botswana; Namibia; Netherlands; Sweden China; Finland; Laos; Philippines; Russia; Thailand Caribbean Select XV; Cayman Islands; Jamaica; Trinidad and Tobago; Uzbekistan Australia; Bahamas; Germany; Malaysia Barbados; Norway; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Brazil; Guyana; Kyrgyzstan; Romania Luxembourg; Serbia; Zambia; Zimbabwe Fiji; Tonga Austria; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Rwanda Denmark Portugal Soviet Union Great Britain Although the IRB produce a complex and continually updated ranking for men's international rugby they do not compile any ranking system for the women's game. Rugby statistician Serge Piquet has produced a currently unofficial, but generally accepted, world ranking, but where rankings are referred to by some boards these will normally be the finishing positions in the previous Women's Rugby World Cup (which only takes place every four years and will only include those countries that qualified for the finals).
The IRB's seedings for each World Cup are also influenced by positions in the previous tournament, but not entirely decided by them. The table below shows the final positions for the 2014 tournament and is therefore the closest thing to an "official" IRB ranking: [1]
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Rugby Europe, formerly known as FIRA-AER, do produce an annual ranking of European nations, based on previous season's Rugby Europe and Six Nations competitions, for use in RE tournaments (though Six Nations teams are often given a higher seeding in tournaments than their ranking might suggest). As these will be based on more recent performances they can contradict the IRB list and also include countries not featuring in the World Cup-based ranking. On the other hand, they obviously only include European nations. Rankings [2] (based on previous season results) appear to be:
| Rank | Nation | 1997/8 | 1998/9 | 1999/0 | 2000/1 | 2001/2 | 2002/3 | 2003/4 | 2004/5 | 2005/6 | 2006/7 | 2007/8 | 2008/9 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2 | France | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| 3 | Ireland | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| 4 | Italy | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 5 | |
| 5 | Wales | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | |
| 6 | Scotland | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | |
| 7 | Spain | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |
| 8 | Netherlands | 5 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
| 9 | Sweden | - | - | - | - | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 9 | |
| 10 | Russia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| 11 | Finland | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 14 | 14 | 14 | - | 11 | |
| 12 | Germany | 9 | 9 | - | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | - | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | - | |
| 13 | Belgium | - | - | - | - | 12 | - | - | - | - | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | - | |
| 14 | Romania | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | 13 | 13 | - | - | |
| 15 | Luxembourg | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 15 | 15 | 15 | - | - | |
| 16 | Norway | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 16 | - | - | |
| 17 | Serbia | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 17 | - | - | - | - | |
| 18 | Denmark | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12 | 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 19 | Bosnia-Herzegovina | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NR [3] | Switzerland | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NR [4] | Kazakhstan | - | - | 5 | 6 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Detailed results from a small number of tournaments, especially in Africa and Asia, have never been published. The following table therefore relates to the published tournament results. Note: Almost all of New Zealand's sevens matches - apart from the 2009 World Cup and qualifier and two Hong Kong Sevens - have been played by "Aotearoa Maori" and (before 2000) "New Zealand Wild Ducks". While in some cases they were officially sanctioned by the NZRU, neither were full New Zealand teams, and occasionally included players not eligible to play for New Zealand. As a result, they are not included in the table below. The playing record of these unofficial New Zealand teams is: Played 59, Won 55, Lost 4, 93.22%.
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| Year | Matches |
|---|---|
| 1997 | 32 |
| 1999 | 15 |
| 2000 | 42 |
| 2001 | 41 |
| 2002 | 15 |
| 2003 | 87 |
| 2004 | 51 |
| 2005 | 141 |
| 2006 | 101 |
| 2007 | 212 |
| 2008 | 303 |
| 2009 | 283 |
| 2010 | 337 |
| 2011 | 408 |
| Total | 2068 |
As with rankings for 15-a-side rugby, IRB rankings for Sevens are based on the finishing positions in the previous World Cup. The table below shows the final positions for the 2009 tournament:
| 2009 World Cup | Nation |
|---|---|
| 1 | Australia |
| 2 | New Zealand |
| 3= | South Africa |
| 4= | United States |
| 5 | England |
| 6 | Canada |
| 7= | France |
| 7= | Spain |
| 9 | China |
| 10 | Brazil |
| 11= | Italy |
| 11= | Russia |
| 13= | Netherlands |
| 13= | Japan |
| 13= | Thailand |
| 13= | Uganda |
Rugby Europe also produce an annual ranking of European nations, based on previous season's RE championships which are used for the following season's tournaments. Current rankings are:
| Pos | 2010 | 2011 |
| 1 | Spain | England |
| 2 | Netherlands | Spain |
| 3 | France | Netherlands |
| 4 | Italy | Russia |
| 5 | England | France |
| 6 | Russia | Portugal |
| 7 | Germany | Germany |
| 8 | Portugal | Italy |
| 9 | Sweden | Sweden |
| 10 |  Moldova | Moldova |
| 11 | Finland |  Ukraine |
| 12 | Switzerland | Switzerland |
| 13 | Belgium | Finland |
| 14 | Romania | Romania |
| 15 |  Latvia | Czech Republic |
| 16 |  Andorra |  Croatia |
| 17 | Czech Republic | Austria |
| 18 | Austria | Belgium |
| 19 | Croatia | Norway |
| 20 |  Bulgaria | Bulgaria |
| 21 |  Israel | Latvia |
| 22 | Ukraine |  Malta |
| 23 | Malta |  Poland |
| 24 |  Hungary | Denmark |
| 25 | Norway | Andorra |
| 26 | Poland | Israel |
| 27 |  Georgia | Georgia |
| 28 |  Lithuania | Hungary |
| 29 | Denmark | Lithuania |
| 30 | Luxembourg | Serbia |
| 31 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Luxembourg |
| 32 |  Slovenia | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| 33 | Serbia | Slovenia |
World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
The Romania national rugby union team represents Romania in men's international rugby union competitions. Nicknamed Stejarii, the team is long considered one of the stronger European teams outside the Six Nations. They have participated in all but one Rugby World Cup and currently compete in the first division of the European Nations Cup, which they won in 2017. Rugby union in Romania is administered by the Romanian Rugby Federation.
The Samoa national rugby union team represents the Samoa Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. They are also known as "Manu Samoa", which is thought to derive from the name of a Samoan warrior. They perform a traditional Samoan challenge called the siva tau before each game. Samoa Rugby Union were formerly members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Tonga. They are ranked 11th in the world.
The Tonga national rugby union team represents the Tonga Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. The team is nicknamed ʻIkale Tahi . Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a traditional challenge – the Sipi Tau. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. The Ikale Tahi achieved a historic 19–14 victory over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but having lost to New Zealand and Canada, were unable to achieve what would have been their first-ever presence at the quarter-finals.
The Pacific Nations Cup is an international rugby union competition held between three Pacific states: Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The 2019 edition of the tournament also included the national teams of Canada, Japan and United States. First held in 2006, the tournament is intended to strengthen the Tier 2 rugby teams by providing competitive test matches in a tournament format.
The 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, Scotland, in April 1993. This tournament was the inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament. The International Rugby Board invited the established rugby union nations but also were keen to involve emerging nations in the event, recognising the fact that Sevens was providing the bridge between the developed rugby nations and those whose rugby union traditions were less well established.
The World Rugby Pacific Challenge, formerly the IRB Pacific Rugby Cup, is an annual rugby union football tournament held in Oceania since 2006. It is contested by national 'A' teams from the Asia-Pacific region. The tournament is run by World Rugby through Oceania Rugby.
The Russia national rugby union team, nicknamed Medvedi, represented Russia in men's international rugby union international competitions. The team is administered by the Rugby Union of Russia (RUR). The RUR is considered the official successor union of the Soviet Union by World Rugby and the combined CIS team which played in the early 1990s. Since 1992, the team has played as Russia. Its first test match as Russia was against the Barbarians in Moscow in June 1992 and the country's first test against an official Test nation was against Belgium later that same year.
Rugby union is the national sport of Tonga. Tonga are considered to be a tier 2 rugby nation by the International Rugby Board.
The Tonga national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series. Tonga has participated in all but one of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments.
The USSR national rugby union team represented the Soviet Union in rugby union until the early 1990s.
Rugby union in Hong Kong is long established, partly as a result of its being a British colony. Rugby union is one of the most popular sports in Hong Kong. In contrast to the People's Republic of China, it has had a continuous existence dating back over a hundred years, and is most notable for the Hong Kong Sevens tournament, the best known of the rugby sevens tournaments. The top domestic club competition is the HKRFU Premiership.
In the Americas Region for 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Argentina had automatically qualified for the World Cup, and two places were available in the Americas qualification process, which were taken by Canada and the United States. An additional Americas team, Uruguay, also qualified as the Play-off winner.
The 2012–14 European Nations Cup Second Division is the third tier rugby union in Europe behind the Six Nations Championship and the 2012-2014 European Nations Cup First Division.
The British Overseas Territories maintain their own entry requirements different from the visa policy of the United Kingdom. As a general rule, British citizens do not have automatic right of abode in these territories.
The 2014–16 European Nations Cup First Division is the premier rugby union competition below the Six Nations Championship in Europe. It is divided into two tiers; Division 1A and Division 1B.
The 2014–16 European Nations Cup Second Division is the third tier rugby union in Europe behind the Six Nations Championship and the 2014–16 European Nations Cup First Division.
