Women's rugby union
Main article: Women's rugby union
The English Rugby Football Union for Women (RFUW) was founded in 1983, and is the oldest formally organised national governing body for women's rugby.[37]
Major international competitions
The Six Nations is an annual competition involving the European teams England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Each country plays the other five once. After the initial internationals between England and Scotland, the 1880s saw Ireland and Wales begin competing, forming the Home International Championships. France joined the tournament in the 1900s and in 1910 the term Five Nations first appeared. However, the Home Nations (England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) excluded France in 1931 amid a run of poor results, allegations of professionalism (rugby union was officially amateur until 1995) and concerns over on-field violence. France then rejoined in 1939–1940, though World War II halted proceedings for a further eight years. France has played in all the tournaments since WWII, the first of which was played in 1947. In 2000, Italy became the sixth nation in the contest and Rome's Stadio Flaminio, where their games are played, is the smallest venue in the tournament.The reigning Six Nations champions are England, who won four of their games but lost 24–8 to Ireland, and therefore failing to get the grand slam.[49]
The Tri Nations is an annual international series held between the southern hemisphere teams of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. These teams have dominated world rankings in recent years and some consider the Tri Nations to be the toughest competition in international rugby.[50][51] The Tri Nations was initially played on a home and away basis with the three nations playing each other twice. In 2006 a new system was introduced where each nation plays the others three times, though in 2007 the teams played each other only twice, as it was a World Cup year.
Especially since Argentina's strong performances in the 2007 World Cup, a number of commentators believed they should join the Tri-Nations.[52] This was first seriously proposed for the 2008 tournament,[53] then for 2010,[54] but came much closer to reality after the 2009 Tri Nations tournament, when SANZAR (South Africa, New Zealand and Australian Rugby) extended an official invitation to the Unión Argentina de Rugby (UAR) to join an expanded Four Nations tournament in 2012. This move has generally been met with great approval from all parties involved.[55][56] The invitation is subject to certain conditions, like the guaranteed availability of Argentina's top players, most of whom play professional club rugby in Europe at present. To accommodate Argentina's entry, the IRB changed its Regulation 9, which governs the release of players for international duty, in early 2011. Since Argentina was not in a major hemispheric competition, the country's internationals only had to be released for the June and November Tests. The change introduced a new release period, from late August to early October, for all four major Southern Hemisphere powers. SANZAR chief Greg Peters noted at the time that this change would make Argentine internationals less attractive to Northern Hemisphere clubs.[57]
Amidst all the international competitions there are also various Test matches and series, often as part of tours by national teams, which generally take place from September to December and from June to August.
Olympic rugby union
Main article: Rugby union at the Summer Olympics
Rugby union was played at the Olympic Games in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924. As per Olympic rules, the nations of Scotland, Wales and England were not allowed to play separately as they are not sovereign states. In 1900, France won the gold, beating Great Britain 27 points to 8 and defeating Germany 27 points to 17. In 1908, Australasia defeated Great Britain, claiming the gold medal, the score being 32 points to three. In 1920, the U.S. upset France, featuring many players new to the sport of rugby, caused a shock by winning the only match eight points to zero, all points being scored in the second half. In 1924, the U.S. defeated France 17 to 3, becoming the only team to win gold twice in the sport.Rugby in the 1924 Olympic Games was the first Olympic Games that featured film highlights of the rugby matches. Some consider the US victory over France as one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Vintage footage from the gold medal match can be found in the documentary A Giant Awakens: the Rise of American Rugby.
Rugby sevens has been played at the Commonwealth Games since 1998 and on 9 October 2009, the International Olympic Committee voted with a majority of 81 to 8 that rugby union be reinstated as an Olympic sport in at least the 2016 and 2020 games, but in the sevens, 4-day tournament format.[58][59] This is something the rugby world has aspired to for a long time and Bernard Lapasset, president of the International Rugby Board, said the Olympic gold medal would be considered to be "the pinnacle of our sport" (Rugby Sevens).[60]
Women's international rugby
Main article: Women's international rugby union
Women's international rugby union began in 1982, with a match between France and Netherlands played in Utrecht.[61] Over six hundred women's internationals have been played by over forty different nations.The first Women's Rugby World Cup was held in Wales in 1991, and was won by the United States. The second tournament took place in 1994, and since that date the competition has been held every four years. The New Zealand Women's team have won the last four World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010).
As well as the Women's Rugby World Cup there are also other regular tournaments, including a Six Nations, run in parallel to the men's competition.
