The 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup (officially IRB Rugby World Cup 2006 Canada) took place in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Canada. The tournament began on 31 August and ended on 17 September 2006. The 2006 tournament was the third World Cup approved by the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the 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 competit ...

(IRB), the previous two being held

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. The

Black Ferns The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns (), represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tour ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

won the 2006 World Cup, defeating England in the final, as they had in 2002. It was New Zealand's third successive title. The semi-finals were also direct repeats of the 2002 tournament – in fact five of the top six places in the final rankings were unchanged. Elsewhere the USA advanced from 7th in 2002 to 5th, and Ireland climbed from 14th to 8th while Australia (5th to 7th), Spain (8th to 9th), and Samoa (9th to 10th) slipped down. The period prior to the competition had not been without controversy. The decision to award the hosting of the competition to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

ahead of a strong bid from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

surprised many. In addition – apart from in Asia – there were no qualifying tournaments for the 2006 World Cup. Instead teams were invited to take part by the IRB with selection based on performances at the World Cup in 2002 and in international matches between 2002 and 2005. This resulted in accusations of a lack of clarity in regard to some selection decisions. In particular the awarding of the final place in the tournament to

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

instead of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

(following a poor performance by

in the 2005 Six Nations) was the cause of some controversy and comment prior to the event.

Qualifiers

Asia

Tickets and sponsorship

Tickets had been available since July 2006 and they could be purchased online at

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or by phone. There were individual and student tickets (for each of six match days), tickets for youth teams and clubs, corporate packages and a special "World Cup Pack" of $125 allowing access to all matches including the finals.
The partners of this tournament were

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"Never Quit" Awards Program,

Molson The Molson Brewery is a Canada-based brewery based in Montreal and was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors. Molson Coors maintains some of its Canadian operati ...

, Tait Radio Communications, Glentel, Budget,

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

, Edmonton Airports and Clubfit. The event was covered by English language network Global TV, daily newspaper

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

and radio stations CFRN 1260, CFBR 100.3 and CFMG 104.9.
All matches were filmed and for the first time were available via streamed media. The final was also broadcast live on TV in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, and a one-hour TV highlights programme was produced by

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for wider distribution, while these recordings are held as part of the IRB's World Cup archive.

Match officials

On 6 July 2006, the IRB Referee Selection Committee announced the appointment of match officials, with twelve women officials selected for the tournament consisting of eight referees and four touch judges. This panel was assisted by experienced international referees George Ayoub, Lyndon Bray, Malcolm Changleng and Simon McDowell, who were appointed in April. Other three touch judges from Canada Rugby Union were included in the final list. ;REFEREES : George Ayoub (Australia) : Jenny Bental (South Africa) : Rachel Boyland (Switzerland) : Lyndon Bray (New Zealand) : Malcolm Changleng (Scotland) : Sarah Corrigan (Australia) : Clare Daniels (England) : Christine Hanizet (France) : Joyce Henry (Canada) : Nicky Inwood (New Zealand) : Kerstin Ljungdahl (Germany) : Simon McDowell (Ireland) ;TOUCH JUDGES : Debbie Innes (England) : Kristina Mellor (New Zealand) : Kristi Moorman (Canada) : Sandy Nesbitt (Canada) : Kim Smit (South Africa) : Dana Teagarden (United States) : Todd Van Vliet (Canada)

Format

The competition was contested over 18 days between 12 teams, allocated to four pools of three and structured into two parts: * a pool stage, with 18 matches played from 31 August to 8 September; * a knockout stage, divided in semifinals and finals, played from 12 to 17 September.

Pool stage

The first three match days saw a cross-pool league system in operation, with Pool A playing Pool D and Pool B playing Pool C, with points going towards one single division table for all four pools. Classification within each pool was based on the following scoring system: * four points for a win; * two points for a draw; * zero points for a loss of 8 points or more. Bonus points were awarded for teams scoring 4 tries or more and losing by 7 points or less. No extra time were played.
Teams were ranked 1–12 on the basis of the most match points. If two teams were equal on match points for any position, then the following criteria would be used in this order until one of the teams could be determined as the higher ranked: * the winner of the match between the two teams; * the best differential between points scored for and points scored against; * the best differential between tries scored for and against; * the most points scored; * the most tries scored; * the toss of a coin.

Knockout stage

After three match days, with each team having played three pool matches, positional semifinals were played with the top four-positioned sides vying to make the Women's Rugby World Cup final and all other sides playing matches in the final two rounds to decide tournament rankings. If no winner could be determined within the time allowed, two teams should have played an extra time of 10 minutes each way with an interval of 5 and then eventually a kicking competition.

Squads

Pools

Pool A

Pool B

Pool C

Pool D

Pool matches

Round one

Round two

Round three

Knock-out stages

9th-12th place classification play-offs

Semi-finals

11th/12th place play-off

9th/10th place play-off

5th-8th classification play-offs

Semi-finals

7th/8th place play-off

5th/6th place play-off

Finals

Semi-finals

3rd/4th place play-off

World Cup Final

Statistics

Teams

Individual records

Top point scorers

Top try scorers

References

External links

2006 WRWC Homepage

WRWC 2006

247.tv – Live video and replays of all the Women's Rugby World Cup matches
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2006 in Canadian rugby union 2006 rugby union tournaments for national teams International women's rugby union competitions hosted by Canada 2006 in women's rugby union Sports competitions in Edmonton August 2006 sports events in Canada September 2006 sports events in Canada 2006 in sports in Alberta Women's Rugby World Cup records and statistics