1991 Women's Rugby World Cup
Cwpan Rygbi'r Byd 1991 i Ferched
Tournament details
Host nation Wales
Dates6 April – 14 April
No. of nations12
Final positions
Champions  United States (1st title)
Runner-up  England
Tournament statistics
Matches played15
1994 →

The 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup was the first Women's Rugby World Cup. The tournament was not approved by the International Rugby Board (IRB), yet it still went ahead despite the disapproval of the sports governing body. France confirmed their participation only minutes before the draw was made on 26 February.[1] Representatives of the IRB, WRFU and RFU attended the final, but it was not until 2009 that the IRB officially endorsed the event as a "world cup" when it published, for the first time, a list of previous winners in a press release.

The tournament was held in and around Cardiff, Wales.[1] Twelve teams competed for the trophy, divided into four pools of three teams each. Each team played three pool matches on 6 April, 8 April, and 10 April, and the semifinals were on 12 April and 14 April, respectively. This meant that the championship teams played five matches over nine days, with only one day rest between matches.

The tournament champions were the United States who defeated England 19–6 in the final at Cardiff Arms Park before almost 3,000 fans.[2] The teams that failed to qualify for the semi-finals took part in a "plate" tournament between the 11 and 13 April.

Organisation

The tournament was created and largely organised by four women who were with the Richmond Women's Rugby Club – Deborah Griffin, Sue Dorrington, Alice Cooper, and Mary Forsyth.[3]

The International Rugby Board decided not to sanction or support the tournament. The tournament was run on a very small and tightly controlled budget. The organisers considered a number of host cities, and chose Cardiff, Wales for several reasons — because most of the teams were European it made sense to hold the tournament in Europe; the organisers were looking for a strong rugby community, which Wales possessed; and Cardiff offered help, including paying for the welcome ceremony and closing dinner.[2]

The tournament made a financial loss. Due in some part to the fact that the men's 1991 Rugby World Cup was also being held in Europe that year, with some matches staged in Wales,[4] the women's tournament experienced disappointing attendance revenues and the failure to attract television contracts or sponsorship.[2] Another financial drain was due to the Soviet Union team being unable to pay its hotel and transport bills, as Soviets were not permitted to leave the country with hard currency.[5] The team had hoped to survive by bartering and selling goods such as vodka and trinkets such as Russian dolls; these activities were curtailed after they aroused the attention of HM Customs and Excise, and the Soviets relied on contributions by local Cardiff businesses to survive.[3]

The financial loss was made good. Anonymous businessmen pledged at the post-tournament celebratory dinner to make up a portion of the deficit.[2] The English Rugby Football Union made good on the remainder of the deficit.[3]

Teams

The organizers invited multiple rugby unions to participate, and 12 nations confirmed their participation. The teams had varying degrees of international experience. Among the more experienced teams were the Netherlands with 20 caps and France with 18 caps, dating back to their first meeting in 1982. Among the lesser experienced teams were Japan with no prior caps, and Spain with 1 prior cap from a 1989 0–28 drubbing by the French.

Match Officials

Referee Matches Officiated
United States Laurel Lockett[6]
Wales Les Peard
  • Final (England v United States)
Wales Gareth Simmonds
  • Semifinal (New Zealand v USA)
Wales Ken Rowlands
  • Semifinal (England v France)
A. Evans
  • Plate Final (Canada v Spain)
  • Holland v USA
  • Wales v Canada
  • Italy v Spain
  • Touch Judge Final (England v United States)
D. Morgan
  • Wales v NZ
  • Touch Judge Final (England v United States)

Pool stages

Pool 1

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD
 New Zealand 2 2 0 0 48 14 +34
 Canada 2 0 1 1 17 33 −16
 Wales 2 0 1 1 15 33 −18
Source:
1991-04-10
Wales 6–24 New Zealand
Llanharan

Pool 2

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD
 France 2 2 0 0 99 0 +99
 Sweden 2 1 0 1 20 37 −17
 Japan 2 0 0 2 0 82 −82
Source:
1991-04-06
France 62–0 Japan
Aberavon
1991-04-10
Japan 0–20 Sweden
Llanharan

Pool 3

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD
 United States 2 2 0 0 53 0 +53
 Netherlands 2 1 0 1 28 7 +21
 Soviet Union 2 0 0 2 0 74 −74
Source:

Pool 4

Team Pld W D L PF PA PD
 England 2 2 0 0 37 9 +28
 Spain 2 1 0 1 13 19 −6
 Italy 2 0 0 2 16 38 −22
Source:
1991-04-06
England 12–0 Spain
Swansea
1991-04-08
England 25–9 Italy
Llanharan
1991-04-10
Italy 7–13 Spain
Glamorgan Wanderers

Plate

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
11 April – Cardiff
 
 
 Canada38
 
12 April – Cardiff
 
 Soviet Union0
 
 Canada6
 
11 April – Cardiff
 
 Italy0
 
 Italy18
 
13 April – Cardiff
 
 Sweden0
 
 Canada19
 
11 April – Cardiff
 
 Spain4
 
 Wales3
 
12 April – Cardiff
 
 Netherlands6
 
 Netherlands0
 
11 April – Cardiff
 
 Spain8
 
 Japan0
 
 
 Spain30
 

Plate quarter-finals

1991-04-11
Canada 38–0 Soviet Union
Cardiff
1991-04-11
Italy 18–0 Sweden
Cardiff
1991-04-11
Wales 3–6 Netherlands
Cardiff
1991-04-11
Japan 0–30 Spain
Cardiff

Plate semi-finals

1991-04-12
Canada 6–0 Italy
Cardiff
1991-04-12
Netherlands 0–8 Spain
Cardiff

Plate final

1991-04-13
Canada 19–4 Spain
Cardiff

Cup

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
12 April – Cardiff
 
 
 England13
 
14 April – Cardiff
 
 France0
 
 England6
 
12 April – Cardiff
 
 United States19
 
 New Zealand0
 
 
 United States7
 

Semi-finals

Third place playoff

Officially, third place was shared between France and New Zealand.

However, a match between a French and a New Zealand XV did take place on 14 April, France winning 3–0. But it is clear from records held by the RFU Rugby Museum that game was not scheduled as part of the tournament and is not included in any official tournament records after the event.

Participants record that New Zealand fielded a weakened team based around players who had not made many appearances in the tournament. New Zealand awarded no caps – indeed the game does not appear in any official Black Fern records. On the other hand, the French RFU have included the game in a recently published official list of internationals, and do appear to have awarded caps.

As status of the game is disputed it is also not currently accepted as being a test match.

Final

1991-04-14
England 6–19 United States
Cardiff

Organisers

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The women who fought for their own World Cup". BBC Sport.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Remembering WRWC’91: The final and the legacy", Scrum Queens, Accessed 2017-12-24.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup trailblazers". England Rugby. 1 August 2017. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "Women's Rugby World Cup", Rugby Football History, Accessed 2017-12-24.
  5. ↑ For press coverage of the 1991 tournament, including coverage of the Soviet Union's financial problems, see the 1991 press cuttings on Women's Rugby: A Newspaper History
  6. ↑ Young, Wendy (April 15, 2016). "'91 USA Rugby Women's Rugby World Cup Winners Honored". scrumhalfconnection.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-07.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "US Women Eagles Win the Inaugural Women's World Cup". www.womeneagles.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-12. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
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