The RAN Women's Rugby Championship is the regional championship for women's international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

in North America and the Caribbean that is sanctioned by

RAN RAN may refer to: * Radio access network, a part of a mobile telecommunication system * Rainforest Action Network * Ran (gene) (RAs-related Nuclear protein), also known as GTP-binding nuclear protein Ran, a protein that in humans is encoded by t ...

. In 2010 the former NAWIRA Caribbean Women's Rugby Championship became the NACRA Women's Rugby Championship, potentially broadening its coverage in accordance with the widened aim of its recently renamed sponsor. In 2015 NACRA was rebranded to

Rugby Americas North Rugby Americas North (RAN) is the Sports governing body, governing body for rugby union in the North American continental region. Rugby Americas North operates under the authority of World Rugby, and is one of six regional unions represented withi ...

as part of a global renaming policy.

History

Initially named the NAWIRA Caribbean Women's Rugby Championship, it was a small tournament run by the IRB through

NAWIRA Rugby Americas North (RAN) is the governing body for rugby union in the North American continental region. Rugby Americas North operates under the authority of World Rugby, and is one of six regional unions represented within it. Prior to 2016, ...

Rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

is a growing inter-island sport, but the full 15-a-side game is significantly more resource intensive and so it was only with the financial support of the IRB that the first tournament took place in December 2003. Only Trinidad and Jamaica took part in the first event, Trinidad winning both legs in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

. In September 2006 a second event was organised, this time in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

and featuring Guyana. The hosts were again winners by the narrowest of margins. The tournament took place annually, however the 2007 edition was cancelled. It was arranged to take place in the Cayman Islands, starting 19 August 2007, but was cancelled the day before it was due to start as a result of

Hurricane Dean Hurricane Dean was the strongest tropical cyclone of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the most intense North Atlantic hurricane since Hurricane Wilma of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, 2005 season, and is tied with Hurricane Mit ...

. Three teams had been due to take part - Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago. After 2009 NAWIRA was reorganised as NACRA (North America and Caribbean Rugby Association) in order to better encourage participation by unions outside the English-speaking West Indies. From 2010 the tournament became the NACRA Women's Rugby Championship. However, a separate play-off for the Caribbean title was organised for the island teams taking part. The popularity of

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

among other things caused a decline in the fifteens code, the 2011 tournament being the last time the 15-a-side game was played. After the formation of RAN the ten-a-side version of the game has been played with hopes of reviving fifteens. On November 16, 2021 RAN announced the first-ever Women’s 12-a-side tournament to be held in

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

from December 4 to 5. Originally announced as a ten-a-side tournament, competing nations agreed to increase their teams by two players. The purpose of the tournament was to increase competition for women in the region and to allow nations to continue building towards 15s. The tournament was cancelled due to travel restrictions brought on by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2023, RAN confirmed the return of Women’s fifteens after a successful 12-a-side tournament held in Jamaica in 2022.

Appearances

Six nations have taken part in the Caribbean Women's Rugby Championships held to date: * - 4 appearances (2003, 2006, 2008, 2009) * - 3 appearances (2003, 2006, 2008) * - 2 appearances (2008, 2009) * - 2 appearances (2006, 2008) * - 1 appearance (2009) * - 1 appearance (2009)

Champions

References

External links

Tournament rules for 2007 event
{{RAN Women's Championship Women's rugby union competitions for national teams Rugby union competitions in North America Rugby union competitions in the Caribbean 2003 establishments in North America Women's rugby union in North America Recurring sporting events established in 2003

History

Appearances

Champions

See also

References

External links