List of Women's Rugby World Cup finals

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List of Women's Rugby World Cup finals
SportRugby union
Instituted1991
Number of teams12
CountryInternational (World Rugby)
Holders New Zealand (2021)
Most titles New Zealand (6 titles)

The Women's Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition for women's national teams. The competition was first established in 1991 but the 1991 and 1994 competitions were not sanctioned at the time by the International Rugby Board (IRB, now World Rugby) and were not recognized by them until 2009.[1] The 1998 World Cup was the first tournament sanctioned by the IRB.[2]

New Zealand is the most successful team in the tournament by far. They have won six titles with four back-to-back victories from 1998 to 2010. England follow with two titles and the United States with one. Canada has appeared in a final only once in 2014.

History[edit]

The United States and England contested the first women's final in April 1991. England was in the lead 6–3 at halftime with a converted penalty try by Gill Burns. However a resurgent US team ran in 16 unanswered points to claim the inaugural title.[3]

The 1994 World Cup was held three years later to avoid coinciding with the men's World Cup. The two finalists of the 1991 World Cup seemed destined to repeat their earlier encounter. After a very entertaining match England were the second team to win the trophy.[3]

1998 saw a new champion in New Zealand as they dominated the United States in the final with eight tries. It was the first of four consecutive titles that New Zealand would win, but not without a fight from the English.

England eventually won their second title in 2014 with a shocking exit of New Zealand in the pool stage. Canada made their first appearance in a final before succumbing to England.[4][5][6]

New Zealand returned to the final in 2017, playing defending champions England, it was a closely contested match with an aggregate of 73 points by the two teams. New Zealand won their fifth title.[7][8][9]

The 2021 competition was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and produced a repeat of the 2017 final as hosts and reigning champions New Zealand faced England. England came into the match on a winning streak of 30 matches and took an early lead before Lydia Thompson was sent off for a high tackle. England preserved their lead at 26–19 at half-time but their 14 players were ultimately unable to contain New Zealand, who finally took the lead with a 71st minute try by Ayesha Leti-I'iga. The game at Eden Park was watched by a record crowd for a women's rugby union match of 42,579.[10]

Finals[edit]

List of final matches, and respective venues, finalists and scores
Year Winners Final score Runners-up Venue Location Attendance Ref(s)
1991  United States 19–6  England Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff, Wales
1994  England 38–23  United States Edinburgh Academicals RFC Edinburgh, Scotland c. 3,000
1998  New Zealand 44–12  United States NRCA Stadium Amsterdam, Netherlands
2002  New Zealand 19–9  England Olympic Stadium Barcelona, Spain 8,000
2006  New Zealand 25–17  England Commonwealth Stadium Edmonton, Canada
2010  New Zealand 13–10  England Twickenham Stoop England [11][12]
2014  England 21–9  Canada Stade Jean-Bouin France [13][14]
2017  New Zealand 41–32  England Kingspan Stadium Belfast, Northern Ireland 17,115 [15][16]
2021[a]  New Zealand 34–31  England Eden Park Auckland, New Zealand 42,579 [10]
  1. ^ The 2021 competition was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID19 pandemic.

Results by nation[edit]

List of total final results, and respective runners-up, years won and years runners-up
National team Wins Runners-up Total finals Years won Years runners-up
 New Zealand 6 0 6 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2017, 2021
 England 2 6 8 1994, 2014 1991, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2017, 2021
 United States 1 2 3 1991 1994, 1998
 Canada 0 1 1 2014

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Women's Rugby World Cup final held at Raeburn Place - Raeburn Place Foundation". www.raeburnplacefoundation.org. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  2. ^ "Rugby Football History". www.rugbyfootballhistory.com. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  3. ^ a b Sunderland, Tom (2021-10-23). "Women's Rugby World Cup found in attic after 15 years". mirror. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  4. ^ Hewett, Chris (2014-08-18). "Women's Rugby World Cup final 2014: England finally end 20 years of". The Independent. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  5. ^ Butler, Michael (2014-08-17). "Women's Rugby World Cup final: England v Canada – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  6. ^ "England win Women's Rugby World Cup". BBC Sport. 17 August 2014. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  7. ^ "England suffer heartache in Women's Rugby World Cup Final". mirror. 2017-08-26. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  8. ^ McVeigh, Niall (2017-08-26). "New Zealand beat England 41-32 to win Women's Rugby World Cup – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  9. ^ Standley, James (26 August 2017). "NZ beat England to win World Cup". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  10. ^ a b Grey, Becky (12 November 2022). "New Zealand 34-31 England: Black Ferns win World Cup with dramatic victory". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  11. ^ Fordyce, Tom (2010-09-05). "NZ edge England to win World Cup". Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  12. ^ Kitson, Robert (2010-09-05). "England rue missed chances as New Zealand win fourth World Cup running". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  13. ^ Hamilton, Tom (2014-08-17). "England triumph in World Cup final". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  14. ^ "Women's Rugby World Cup winners praised". Sport England. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  15. ^ "Rugby the winner as WRWC 2017 breaks new ground". www.rugbyworldcup.com. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
  16. ^ "New Zealand beat England in classic to win women's Rugby World Cup in Belfast". Fox Sports. 2017-08-27. Retrieved 2022-02-19.
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