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 France national women's team played the Netherlands 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 for many years. Partly 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 "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, World Rugby 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]
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").
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 World Rugby's existing men's rankings, with minor adjustments to reflect historic differences between women's and men's rugby.
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.
^A try was only worth four points in 1982, the five point try not being introduced until 1992.
^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).
