Wales women's national rugby union team
 | |||
| Union | Welsh Rugby Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem(s) | The Prince of Wales's feathers | ||
| Ground(s) | Talbot Athletic Ground, Port Talbot[1] | ||
| Coach(es) |  Rhys Edwards | ||
| Captain(s) | Rachel Taylor | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
Wales 4-22 England  (Pontypool, Wales 5 April 1987) | |||
| Largest win | |||
Wales 77-0 Germany  (Barcelona, Spain 17 May 2002) | |||
| Largest defeat | |||
| England 83-11 Wales (Swansea, Wales 10 April 1999) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 6 (First in 1991) | ||
| Best result | 4th place, 1994 | ||
The Wales Women's National Rugby Union Team are a national sporting side of Wales, representing them at rugby union. The side first played in 1987.
History
Wales Women have played as a team officially since 5 April 1987 when a Wales Women team, led by Liza Burgess, took on an England Women side at Pontypool Park.[2] Prior to 1987, Welsh players were selected to represent Great Britain with the first representative side featuring players from Wales running against France at Richmond Athletic Ground in 1986. Great Britain played as a team on several occasions until 1990, beating Italy in their final match. Wales have played England every year since 1987.
Wales hosted the first ever Women's Rugby World Cup in Cardiff in 1991 and since then they have participated in a further four of the five tournaments finishing fourth in 1994, their highest ever finish.[3] The IRB adopted the competition in 1998, which was won by the New Zealand Black Ferns who also won the tournaments in Barcelona in 2002 Edmonton, Canada in 2006.
The Welsh Women's Rugby Union was created in 1994 charged with promoting and governing the development and practice of Women's Rugby in Wales; the other three home unions also took charge of their own administration effectively ending the function of the WRFU in the process. The WWRU also became affiliated to the Welsh Rugby Union at the same time.
The creation of four separate home unions for Women's Rugby in Great Britain also saw the introduction of the Women's Home Nations competition with the first set of internationals taking place in 1995. Wales Women's early years in the tournament saw victories only against Ireland Women . Wales Women also remain the only touring team from Wales to have won a Test series in South Africa, beating the Bokkies by two Test to nil back in 1994.
From 2004 to 2006 a policy of selecting only players based in Wales resulted in a series of poor results - and failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. When the policy was reversed the team immediately recorded their best ever Six Nations performance, with a first ever victory over France in 2006, wins over Scotland in 2006 & 2007 ending a ten-year drought of wins against their Celtic opponents, and culminating with victory over England in 2009 on their way to a Triple Crown. The National 7s squad lifted the European 7s title in 2006, beating England in the final but narrowly failed to secure a place in the 2009 Rugby World Cup 7s. In 2007 Wales also re-entered the FIRA Championship, using the tournament to give tournament experience to its development team.
Current Squad
Squad to 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup:[4]
| Player | Position | Date of Birth | Caps | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowri Harries | Hooker | 15 February 1990 | Neath Athletic
| |
| Jennifer Davies | Prop | 11 March 1982 | Waterloo
| |
| Catrin Edwards | Prop | 15 September 1980 | Bristol
| |
| Cerys Hale | Prop | 4 April 1993 | Pontyclun
| |
| Caryl Thomas | Prop | 19 February 1986 | Bath
| |
| Megan York | Prop | 16 April 1987 | Blaenau Gwent
| |
| Jennifer Hawkins | Lock | 3 April 1990 | Llandaff North
| |
| Shona Powell Hughes | Lock | 8 July 1991 | Neath Athletic
| |
| Nia Davies | Flanker | 7 December 1992 | Cardiff
| |
| Sioned Harries | Flanker | 22 November 1989 | Llandaff North
| |
| Carys Phillips | Flanker | 12 November 1982 | Bristol
| |
| Sian Williams | Flanker | 26 October 1990 | Worcester
| |
| Catrina Nicholas | Number 8 | 1 December 1982 | Llandaff North
| |
| Rachel Taylor | Number 8 | 13 June 1983 | Bristol
| |
| Amy Day | Scrum-half | 7 October 1985 | Llandaff North
| |
| Sian Moore | Scrum-half | 1 March 1988 | Bristol
| |
| Elinor Snowsill | Fly-half | 27 July 1989 | Bristol
| |
| Elen Evans | Centre | 9 January 1985 | Waterloo
| |
| Rebecca De Filippo | Centre | 25 February 1994 | Bristol
| |
| Adi Taviner | Centre | 20 February 1990 | Neath Athletic
| |
| Robyn Wilkins | Centre | 1 April 1995 | Llandaff North
| |
| Laurie Harries | Wing | 24 October 1989 | Llandaff North
| |
| Elli Norkett | Wing | 30 May 1996 | Neath Athletic
| |
| Rafique Taylor | Wing | 23 June 1978 | Pontyclun
| |
| Philippa Tuttiett | Wing | 8 December 1983 | Bristol
| |
| Dyddgu Hywel | Fullback | 10 March 1989 | Bristol
|
Results summary
(Full internationals only)
Correct as of 31 October 2016
| Opponent | First game | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Australia
|
2002 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.00% |
 Canada
|
1991 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 37.50% |
| England
|
1987 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 6.06% |
 France
|
1994 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 18.18% |
| Germany
|
1998 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 Ireland
|
1996 | 21 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 57.14% |
 Italy
|
1998 | 16 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 68.75% |
 Kazakhstan
|
1994 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 60.00% |
 Netherlands
|
1988 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 40.00% |
 New Zealand
|
1991 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.00% |
 Russia
|
1998 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
 Samoa
|
2002 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00% |
 Scotland
|
1993 | 28 | 15 | 0 | 13 | 53.57% |
 South Africa
|
2004 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 66.67% |
 Spain
|
1991 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 22.22% |
 Sweden
|
2007 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 66.67% |
 United States
|
1993 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.00% |
| Summary | 1987 | 172 | 63 | 2 | 107 | 36.63% |
Results
See Women's international rugby for information about the status of international games and match numbering.
Full internationals
Other matches
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References
- ^ Wales Women's venue
- ^ "Historic day for England Women's Rugby". rfu.com. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ "Women's Rugby World Cup". RugbyFootballHistory.com. p. 1. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
- ^ IRB (2014). "Wales Squad". Retrieved 26 August 2014.
External links
- The Welsh Rugby Union
- Bred In Heaven influential Welsh rugby discussion site*Welsh rugby news from icwales
- Welsh rugby union news from Planet Rugby
- Welsh Rugby Fans New website dedicated to Welsh rugby fans
- Sports Council of Wales Welsh Sports Hall of Fame
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