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New Zealand Women's National Rugby Union Team
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 tournaments. They have an 81 percent winning record in Test Match rugby, (updated 24 May 2025). Since their official international debut in 1990, the Black Ferns have lost to only five of the sixteen nations they have played against — Canada, England, France, Ireland and the United States. The team performs a haka before every match; this is a Māori challenge or posture dance. Traditionally the Black Ferns use the haka ''Ko Uhia Mai.'' History Women's rugby in New Zealand was rising in the late eighties, but recognition and assistance from New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) was not available. It was not until 1989 that women's rugby started to get official recognition with the organisation of matches by provinces and clubs. On 22 ...
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Silver Fern
''Alsophila tricolor'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Cyathea dealbata'', commonly known as the silver fern or silver tree-fern, or as ponga or punga (from Māori language, Māori or ),The Māori word , pronounced , has been borrowed into New Zealand English as a generic term for tree ferns. It is also used to refer to tree fern logs when used for landscaping purposes. English speakers generally pronounce the word . is a species of medium-sized tree fern, endemism, endemic to New Zealand. The fern is usually recognisable by the silver-white colour of the under-surface of mature fronds. It is a symbol commonly associated with the country both overseas and by New Zealanders themselves. ''Alsophila tricolor'' is the correct name for ''Cyathea dealbata'' in ''Alsophila'' because the epithet ''dealbata'' is preoccupied by ''Alsophila dealbata'' C.Presl (now a synonym of ''Sphaeropteris glauca''). Description This fern is known to grow to heights of or more (though it occasional ...
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2017 Women's Rugby World Cup
The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Dublin and Belfast. The pool stages were held at University College Dublin with the semi-finals and finals held at Queen's University and Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. The tournament took place three rather than four years after the previous Women's Rugby World Cup because World Rugby wanted to move away from clashing with other events. The event returned to a four-year cycle after 2017. The 2017 tournament set attendance records for a Women's World Cup. The tournament drew 45,412 fans over 30 matches. The final was played in front of a crowd of 17,115, and the pool matches sold out. This was the last edition of the tournament under the "Women's Rugby World Cup" name. On 21 August 2019, World Rugby announced that all future World Cups, whe ...
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Otago Daily Times
The ''Otago Daily Times'' (''ODT'') is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a combined print and digital annual audience of 304,000. Founded in 1861 it is New Zealand's oldest surviving daily newspaper – Christchurch's '' The Press'', six months older, was a weekly paper until March 1863. Its motto is "Optima Durant" or "Quality Endures". History Founding The ''ODT'' was founded by William H. Cutten and Julius (later Sir Julius) Vogel during the boom following the discovery of gold at the Tuapeka, the first of the Otago goldrushes. Co-founder Vogel had learnt the newspaper trade while working as a goldfields correspondent, journalist and editor in Victoria prior to immigrating to New Zealand. Vogel had arrived in Otago in early October 1861 at the age of 26 and soon took up employment at the ''Otago Colonis ...
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Māori Culture
Māori culture () is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Polynesians, Eastern Polynesian culture. Māori culture forms a distinctive part of Culture of New Zealand, New Zealand culture and, due to a large diaspora and the incorporation of Māori motifs into popular culture, it is found throughout the world. Within Māoridom, and to a lesser extent throughout New Zealand as a whole, the word is often used as an approximate synonym for Māori culture, the Māori language, Māori-language suffix being roughly equivalent to the qualitative noun-ending ''-ness'' in English. has also been translated as "[a] Māori way of life." The term , meaning the guiding beliefs and principles which act as a base or foundation for behaviour, is also widely used to refer to Māori cultural values. Four distinct but overlapping cultural eras have contributed Māori history, historically to Māori culture: * b ...
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Haka
Haka (, ; singular ''haka'', in both Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English) are a variety of ceremonial dances in Māori culture. A performance art, hakas are often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. Haka have been traditionally performed by both men and women for a variety of social functions within Māori culture. They are performed to pōwhiri, welcome distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions, or funerals. Kapa haka groups are common in schools. The main Māori performing arts competition, Te Matatini, takes place every two years. New Zealand Haka in sports, sports teams' practice of performing a haka to challenge opponents before international matches has made the dance form more widely known around the world. This tradition began with the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team tour and has been carried on by the New Zealand national rugby union team, Ne ...
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United States Women's National Rugby Union Team
The USA Women's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Women's Eagles, represents the United States in women's international rugby union. The team was officially formed in 1987 and is nicknamed the Eagles. An international powerhouse during the 1990s— the Eagles won the inaugural 1991 Women's World Cup and finished second in the two following World Cups in 1994 and 1998. The team finished fourth at the 2017 Rugby World Cup in Ireland. In May 2018, Rob Cain was appointed full-time Head Coach. Cain joined the Eagles after winning the inaugural Tyrell Premier 15s title in England with Saracens Women. History ''(SourceUS Women's Rugby Foundation)'' The history of women's rugby in the United States can be traced back to three teams that existed in 1972 – the Colorado State University Hookers at Fort Collins; the University of Colorado, at Boulder; and the University of Illinois, at Champaign. During the mid-1970s women's teams began to spring up on college campuses ...
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Ireland Women's National Rugby Union Team
The Ireland women's national rugby union team represents Ireland in international women's rugby union competitions such as the Women's Six Nations Championship and the Women's Rugby World Cup. They have also represented Ireland in the FIRA Women's European Championship. Ireland won the 2013 and 2015 Women's Six Nations Championships. In 2013 they also achieved both a Triple Crown and Grand Slam. They finished fourth in the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup after defeating New Zealand in the pool stages. Ireland hosted the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. The team was part of the by the Irish Women's Rugby Football Union ( IWRFU) . In 2009, the women were taken on by the Irish Rugby Football Union. History Early years The Irish Women's Rugby Football Union was established in 1992. Ireland made their international debut on 14 February 1993 with an away friendly against . This was also Scotland's first international. The match was played at Raeburn Place in front of a crowd ...
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France Women's National Rugby Union Team
The France women's national rugby union team represents France in women's international rugby union. They played the first-ever women's rugby union test match against the Netherlands on 13 June 1982. They compete annually in the Women's Six Nations Championship and have placed third in seven of nine Rugby World Cup's. History ''Source: "Des Filles en Ovalie", Éditions Atlantica (2005), Written by Jacques Corte / Yaneth Pinilla B. Foreword by Serge Betsen.'' There are records of women's rugby being played in France as early as the mid-1890s, and in the 1920s a form of the game called "barette" was very popular, with national championships. However, after the 1930s the game had all but disappeared and was not revived until 1965 when groups of students in Lyon and Toulouse decided to take part in the great charitable campaign against world hunger. Most of them had brothers and friends who played rugby, so they decided to organise a charity game at Bourg-en-Bresse. So successf ...
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England Women's National Rugby Union Team
The England women's national rugby union team, commonly known as the Red Roses, represents England in women's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Women's Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on a total of 21 out of 30 occasions – winning the Grand Slam 19 times and the Triple Crown 25 times – making them the most successful side in the tournament's history. They won the Women's Rugby World Cup in 1994 and 2014, and have been runners-up on six other occasions. Their current permanent head coach, as of October 2023, is John Mitchell. History Until 2009, the badge and logo of England women's national teams was significantly different from that worn by men's teams. However, in 2009 in anticipation of the merger between the Rugby Football Union and Rugby Football Union for Women England teams adopted the men's rose. England have taken part in every Women's Rugby World Cup competition ...
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Canada Women's National Rugby Union Team
The Canada women's national rugby union team represents Canada in international rugby union competitions. They are overseen by Rugby Canada, the governing body of rugby union in Canada. History The Canadian women's program began to develop in the 1980s with the first match being played in 1987 in Victoria, British Columbia against another international rugby start-up, the United States. It was the first women's international test match that was played outside of Europe. In 1991, Canada competed in the inaugural Women's Rugby World Cup in Wales. The team finished in fifth place after defeating Spain 19–4 in the Plate final. Canada has appeared in every World Cup since 1991. Canada were finalists at the 2014 Rugby World Cup. They were drawn in the same pool with eventual winners, England. They had a 13 all draw during the pool stage before meeting in the final, Canada lost 21–9 and were runners-up. In 2022, Canada finished fourth after losing to France in the third place ...
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Test Match (rugby Union)
A test match in rugby union is an international match, usually played between two senior national teams, that is recognised as such by at least one of the teams' national governing bodies. Some teams do not represent a single country but their international games are still considered test matches (for example the British and Irish Lions). Likewise some countries award caps for games between their full national teams and some invitation teams such as the Barbarians. History The first men's international game of rugby football – between Scotland and England – was played at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, the home ground of Edinburgh Academicals, on 27 March 1871. (This was six years before the first cricket test match, one year before the first association football international and 24 years before the first field hockey international.) The first recorded use of the word in relation to sport occurs in 1861 when it was used, especially by journalists, to designate the most impo ...
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Women's Rugby World Cup
The Women's Rugby World Cup is the women's rugby union world championship which is organised by World Rugby. The first Rugby World Cup for women was held in 1991, but it was not until the 1998 tournament that the tournament received official backing from the International Rugby Board (IRB, now World Rugby); by 2009, the IRB had retroactively recognized the 1991 and 1994 tournaments and their champions. Normally, the tournament is held every four years; it was moved forward in 2017 so that the competition could be held in the year before the Commonwealth Games. The 2021 tournament was postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but still marketed as the 2021 tournament. Three countries have won the Women's Rugby World Cup since its establishment, with New Zealand having won the tournament a record six times. History 1990s Before the first Women's Rugby World Cup officially sanctioned by the International Rugby Board there had been three previous tournaments of a similar n ...
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