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.
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]
On 1 February 2016, World Rugby 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]
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:
For consistency this list has used the following criteria when defining what is or is not an international:
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.
up to and including 24 November 2018
| 152 | v Papua New Guinea (152–0) at Papakura 09/07/2022 Friendly | |
| 141 | v Denmark (141–3) at Toulouse 02/05/2004 FIRA [445] | |
| 134 | v Germany (134–6) at Amsterdam 02/05/1998 World Cup [192] | |
| 121 | v Japan (121–0) at Melrose 15/04/1994 World Cup [086] | |
| v Hong Kong (121–0) at Billings Park UCD, Dublin 13/08/2017 World Cup [1211] | ||
| 119 | v Finland (119–0) at University of A Coruña 30/04/2011 FIRA [885] | |
| 117 | v Germany (117–0) at Barcelona 13/05/2002 World Cup [360] | |
| 113 | v Denmark (113–0) at Amsterdam 08/05/2003 FIRA [413] | |
| 111 | v Sweden (111–0) at Melrose 11/04/1994 World Cup [080] | |
| 109 | v France (109–0) at Edmonton 14/09/1996 Canada Cup [143] v Finland (109–3) at INEF Bastiaqueiro 04/05/2011 FIRA [---] | |
| 105 | v Belgium (105–0) at Amsterdam 08/04/2001 Friendly [308] v Finland (105–0) at Enköping 03/05/2012 FIRA [937] | |
| 101 | v South Africa (101–0) at Imber Court 14/05/2005 Friendly [495] | |
| 100 | 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.
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.
Ratio of registered female rugby players to the total female population.
| Rank | Country | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1: 8 | |
| 2 | 1: 17 | |
| 3 | 1: 74 | |
| 4 | 1: 123 | |
| 5 | 1: 125 | |
| 6 | 1: 131 | |
| 7 | 1: 155 | |
| 8 | 1: 172 | |
| 9 | 1: 191 | |
| 10 | 1: 225 | |
| 11 | 1: 234 | |
| 12 | 1: 262 | |
| 13 | 1: 311 | |
| 14 | 1: 362 | |
| 15 | 1: 449 | |
| 16 | 1: 464 | |
| 17 | 1: 474 | |
| 18 | 1: 528 | |
| 19 | 1: 529 | |
| 20 | 1: 622 | |
| 21 | 1: 693 | |
| 22 | 1: 723 | |
| 23 | 1: 870 | |
| 24 | 1: 897 | |
| 25 | 1: 1,018 | |
| 26 | 1: 1,100 | |
| 27 | 1: 1,204 | |
| 28 | 1: 1,235 | |
| 29 | 1: 1,535 | |
| 30 | 1: 2,049 | |
| 31 | 1: 2,379 | |
| 32 | 1: 2,413 | |
| 33 | 1: 2,512 | |
| 34 | 1: 2,552 | |
| Rank | Country | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| 35 | 1: 2,812 | |
| 36 | 1: 2,883 | |
| 37 | 1: 2,921 | |
| 38 | 1: 2,951 | |
| 39 | 1: 3,247 | |
| 40 | 1: 3,642 | |
| 41 | 1: 3,742 | |
| 42 | 1: 4,255 | |
| 43 | 1: 4,411 | |
| 44 | 1: 4,605 | |
| 45 | 1: 4,671 | |
| 46 | 1: 4,838 | |
| 47 | 1: 5,157 | |
| 48 | 1: 5,331 | |
| 49 | 1: 5,623 | |
| 50 | 1: 5,719 | |
| 51 | 1: 5,859 | |
| 52 | 1: 6,014 | |
| 53 | 1: 6,624 | |
| 54 | 1: 6,800 | |
| 55 | 1: 7,065 | |
| 56 | 1: 7,624 | |
| 57 | 1: 8,054 | |
| 58 | 1: 9,323 | |
| 59 | 1: 9,370 | |
| 60 | 1: 9,838 | |
| 61 | 1: 9,867 | |
| 62 | 1: 9,930 | |
| 63 | 1: 10,190 | |
| 64 | 1: 10,335 | |
| 65 | 1: 10,583 | |
| 66 | 1: 11,017 | |
| 67 | 1: 11,156 | |
| 68 | 1: 12,243 | |
| Rank | Country | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| 69 | 1: 14,092 | |
| 70 | 1: 15,256 | |
| 71 | 1: 15,901 | |
| 72 | 1: 16,023 | |
| 73 | 1: 16,319 | |
| 74 | 1: 17,867 | |
| 75 | 1: 18,822 | |
| 76 | 1: 19,205 | |
| 77 | 1: 19,936 | |
| 78 | 1: 23,579 | |
| 79 | 1: 24,307 | |
| 80 | 1: 24,913 | |
| 81 | 1: 26,802 | |
| 82 | 1: 28,893 | |
| 83 | 1: 30,451 | |
| 84 | 1: 31,736 | |
| 85 | 1: 32,949 | |
| 86 | 1: 33,761 | |
| 87 | 1: 39,308 | |
| 88 | 1: 44,189 | |
| 89 | 1: 48,638 | |
| 90 | 1: 52,138 | |
| 91 | 1: 57,045 | |
| 92 | 1: 62,814 | |
| 93 | 1: 68,634 | |
| 94 | 1: 71,685 | |
| 95 | 1: 80,972 | |
| 96 | 1: 98,328 | |
| 97 | 1: 129,870 | |
| 98 | 1: 139,665 | |
| 99 | 1: 144,300 | |
| 100 | 1: 267,380 | |
| 101 | 1: 862,069 | |
| 102 | 1: 1,298,701 | |
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).