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 World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international ru ...

(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. 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
press release
The tournament was held in and around

Cardiff, Wales Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingdo ...

. 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

who defeated England 19–6 in the final at Cardiff Arms Park before almost 3,000 fans."Remembering WRWC’91: The final and the legacy"
Scrum Queens, Accessed 2017-12-24. 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 Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

, and Mary Forsyth. 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. The tournament made a financial loss. Due in some part to the fact that the men's

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

was also being held in Europe that year, with some matches staged in Wales, the women's tournament experienced disappointing attendance revenues and the failure to attract television contracts or sponsorship. 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.For press coverage of the 1991 tournament, including coverage of the Soviet Union's financial problems, see the 1991 press cuttings o
Women's Rugby: A Newspaper History
/ref> 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. The financial loss was made good. Anonymous businessmen pledged at the post-tournament celebratory dinner to make up a portion of the deficit. The English

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

made good on the remainder of the deficit.

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

Pool stages

Pool 1

Pool 2

Pool 3

Pool 4

Plate

Plate quarter-finals

Plate semi-finals

Plate final

Cup

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

Organisers

* Deborah Griffin — Chair * Sue Dorrington — Commercial manager *

— Press and PR * Mary Forsyth — Financial director

References

External links

US Women Eagles Win the Inaugural Women's World Cup
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

1991 rugby union tournaments for national teams 1990–91 in Welsh rugby union International women's rugby union competitions hosted by Wales 1991 in women's rugby union April 1991 sports events in Europe 1991 in Welsh women's sport