The Lion Foundation Cup is the women's equivalent to the

Air New Zealand Cup The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

. It is a provincial championship contested between women's

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

teams.

History

In 1990 the JJ Stewart Trophy (women's rugby's equivalent of the Ranfurly Shield) was started up for women's provincial teams. The NZRFU then formed a sub-committee to look after New Zealand's future at international level, a year after an unofficial New Zealand XV had played and beaten the California Grizzlies. The first women's national team attended the inaugural Women's Rugby World Cup in 1991 in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The squad had to paid their own way to get to the tournament and attended without the blessing of the NZRFU but they went on to beat Canada and Wales to reach the semi-finals where they lost the United States 7-0 who were the eventual champions. It was another 10 years before the New Zealand women tasted defeat for a second time. That squad was selected off the back of an ever-strengthening Women's National Provincial Championship, which has grown to a 20-team competition after starting with 14 sides in 1999. The NPC and second-tier regional competitions have lifted the standard of women's rugby throughout the country. Not only is the women's NPC helping to battle harden the country's best players, it has also played a critical role in the development of the game among girls. The competition's growth is being mirrored by a rise in the number of girls taking up the game at school level.

References

All Blacks Website
New Zealand rugby union competitions