The Women’s Rugby World Cup 🏆 is the women’s rugby union world championship which is organised by World Rugby. The first Rugby World Cup for women was held in 1991, but it was not until the 1998 tournament that the tournament received official backing from World Rugby by 2009, the IRB had retroactively recognised the 1991 and 1994 tournaments and their champions.
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Normally, the tournament is held every four years. However, it was moved forward in 2017 so that the competition could be held in the year before the Commonwealth Games. The 2021 tournament was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but still marketed as the 2021 tournament.
Three countries have won the Women’s Rugby World Cup since its establishment. New Zealand have won the tournament a record six times.
The US won the first ever tournament, held in Wales in 1991. England won in 1994. New Zealand won the next 4 tournaments. England took another victory in 2014 before New Zealand winning again in 2017 and 2021.
Before 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.
