Wales women's national rugby union team

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the men's team, see Wales national rugby union team. For the women's sevens team, see Wales women's national rugby sevens team.

Wales
EmblemThe Prince of Wales's feathers
UnionWelsh Rugby Union
Head coachIoan Cunningham
CaptainHannah Jones
First
colours
Second
colours
World Cup
Appearances6 (First in 1991)
Best result4th place, 1994
Women's
World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 rankings as of 15 April 2024[1]
Rank Change* Team Points
1 Steady  England 096.18
2 Steady  New Zealand 090.56
3 Steady  France 088.00
4 Steady  Canada 086.27
5 Steady  Australia 081.61
6 Steady  Italy 076.50
7 Steady  Scotland 075.80
8 Steady  Wales 073.41
9 Steady  United States 072.57
10 Steady  Ireland 072.35
11 Steady  Japan 069.38
12 Steady  South Africa 065.17
13 Steady  Spain 065.15
14 Steady  Russia 061.10
15 Steady  Samoa 059.57
16 Steady  Netherlands 058.98
17 Steady  Fiji 058.65
18 Steady  Hong Kong 058.31
19 Steady  Kazakhstan 055.97
20 Steady  Sweden 052.72
*Change from the previous week

The Wales women's national rugby union team (

Women's Rugby World Cup and the Women's Six Nations Championship
.

History

As far back as the nineteenth century, the Welsh game was a notable for the high levels of female interest. As such, the newly constructed stand at Cardiff Arms Park had to be renovated for "the comfort of the ladies", with another reporter stating that "fully a third" of the spectators at Stradey Park, Llanelli were female. In 1905, an English journalist from the Daily Mail reporting on The Original All Blacks game against Newport RFC at Rodney Parade, reported: "The average woman in Newport, judging from the expert feminine criticisms punctuating Saturday’s play, apparently knows as much of the science of rugby as any man."[2]

While it is still a subject of debate as to when the first female Welsh teams played, women's rugby would gain great prominence during the

Hancocks Brewery) beat Newport Ladies 6–0.[3] Maria Eley played full-back for Cardiff and went on to become probably the oldest women's rugby player[4] before she died in Cardiff in 2007 at the age of 106.[5]
A photograph of the Cardiff team is believed to be the oldest known image of a women’s rugby team and is part of the collection at Cardiff Rugby Museum.

The Cardiff Ladies. Taken on 15 December 1917, it is believed to be the oldest image of a women’s rugby team

The first official Wales Women team first played on 5 April 1987 when led by Liza Burgess, they took on an England Women side at Pontypool Park.[6] 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 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.[7] The IRB adopted the competition in 1998, which was won by the New Zealand Black Ferns.

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 Six Nations performance, with a 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.

In November 2021, the Welsh Rugby Union announced that they would be offering 12-month contracts to Wales Women for the first time in its history. The contracts take effect on January 1, 2022.[8]

Players

Current squad

Ioan Cunningham named the 37 player Welsh squad on 6th March for the 2024 Women's Six Nations Championship.[9][10][11]

Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Kelsey Jones
Hooker
 (1997-10-04)4 October 1997 (aged 26) 42 England Gloucester-Hartpury
Carys Phillips
Hooker
 (1992-11-12)12 November 1992 (aged 31) 70 England Harlequins
Molly Reardon
Hooker
 (2003-09-22)22 September 2003 (aged 20) 1 Wales Cardiff Met
Abbey Constable
Prop
 (1991-06-18)18 June 1991 (aged 32) 5 England Gloucester-Hartpury
Gwenllian Pyrs
Prop
 (1997-11-28)28 November 1997 (aged 26) 31 England Bristol Bears
Sisilia Tuipulotu
Prop
 (2003-08-14)14 August 2003 (aged 20) 18 England Gloucester-Hartpury
Jenni Scoble
Prop
 (1993-03-28)28 March 1993 (aged 30) 0
Donna Rose
Prop
 (1991-06-05)5 June 1991 (aged 32) 20 England Saracens
Natalia John
Second row
 (1996-02-15)15 February 1996 (aged 28) 37 Wales Brython Thunder
Georgia Evans
Second row
 (1997-01-29)29 January 1997 (aged 27) 25 England Saracens
Gwen Crabb
Second row
 (1999-07-28)28 July 1999 (aged 24) 29 England Gloucester-Hartpury
Abbie Fleming
Second row
 (1996-03-31)31 March 1996 (aged 27) 16 England Harlequins
Alisha Joyce-Butchers
Back row
 (1997-06-14)14 June 1997 (aged 26) 45 England Bristol Bears
Shona Wakley
Back row
 (1991-07-08)8 July 1991 (aged 32) 45
Kate Williams
Back row
 (2000-04-05)5 April 2000 (aged 23) 11 England Gloucester-Hartpury
Gwennan Hopkins
Back row
 (2004-11-14)14 November 2004 (aged 19) 0
Bryonie King
Back row
 (2003-08-14)14 August 2003 (aged 20) 4 England Bristol Bears
Alex Callender
Back row
 (2000-07-29)29 July 2000 (aged 23) 34 Wales Brython Thunder
Bethan Lewis
Back row
 (1999-02-19)19 February 1999 (aged 25) 44 England Gloucester-Hartpury
Keira Bevan
Scrum-half
 (1997-04-28)28 April 1997 (aged 26) 59 England Bristol Bears
Sian Jones
Scrum-half
 (2004-12-03)3 December 2004 (aged 19) 2 England Sale Sharks
Megan Davies
Scrum-half
 (2002-01-19)19 January 2002 (aged 22) 7 England Bristol Bears
Lleucu George
Fly-half
 (2000-01-12)12 January 2000 (aged 24) 19 England Gloucester-Hartpury
Niamh Terry
Fly-half
 (2000-04-30)30 April 2000 (aged 23) 9 Wales Brython Thunder
Kerin Lake
Centre
 (1990-05-24)24 May 1990 (aged 33) 48
Hannah Jones (c)
Centre
 (1996-11-14)14 November 1996 (aged 27) 54 England Gloucester-Hartpury
Mollie Wilkinson
Centre
 (2003-10-24)24 October 2003 (aged 20) 0
Carys Cox
Centre
 (1998-11-05)5 November 1998 (aged 25) 5 England Ealing Trailfinders
Lisa Neumann
Wing
 (1993-12-23)23 December 1993 (aged 30) 40 England Harlequins
Jasmine Joyce-Butchers
Wing
 (1995-10-09)9 October 1995 (aged 28) 36 United Kingdom Great Britain 7s
Hannah Bluck
Wing
 (1997-04-01)1 April 1997 (aged 26) 10 Wales Brython Thunder
Catherine Richards
Wing
 (2000-10-21)21 October 2000 (aged 23) 0 England Gloucester-Hartpury
Kayleigh Powell
Fullback
 (1999-02-18)18 February 1999 (aged 25) 14
Nel Metcalfe
Fullback
 (2004-12-17)17 December 2004 (aged 19) 3
Jenny Hesketh
Fullback
 (2002-04-15)15 April 2002 (aged 21) 2 England Bristol Bears
Courtney Keight
Fullback
 (1997-12-27)27 December 1997 (aged 26) 11 England Bristol Bears
Amelia Tutt
Fullback
 (2003-06-02)2 June 2003 (aged 20) 1 England Leicester Tigers

Previous squads

Notable players

Award winners

World Rugby Awards

The following Wales players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2001:[14]

World Rugby Women's 15s Dream Team of the Year
Year Forwards Backs Total
No. Players No. Players
2021 — 15. Jasmine Joyce-Butchers 1

Six Nations Player of the Championship

The following Wales players have been shortlisted for the Women's Six Nations Player of the Championship since 2020:[15]

Year Nominees Winners
2023 Sisilia Tuipulotu —

Records

World Cup

Rugby World Cup
Year Round Position GP W D L PF PA
Wales 1991 Plate quarter-finals N/A 3 0 1 2 18 39
Scotland 1994 3rd Place Playoff 4th 5 3 0 2 63 96
Netherlands 1998 11th Place Playoff 11th 5 3 0 2 181 75
Spain 2002 9th Place Playoff 10th 4 2 0 2 126 50
Canada 2006 Did not participate
England 2010 9th Place Playoff 9th 5 2 0 3 91 109
France 2014 7th Place Playoff 8th 5 1 0 4 48 147
Ireland 2017 7th Place Playoff 7th 5 2 0 3 78 143
2021
 Quarter-final — 4 1 0 3 40 139
Total 8/9 4th 36 14 1 21 645 798
  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place Home venue

Overall

See also: List of Wales women's national rugby union team matches

(Full internationals only)
Correct as of 13 April 2024

Rugby: Wales internationals 1987–
Opponent First game Played Won Drawn Lost Percentage
 Australia 2002 6 0 0 6 0.00%
 Canada 1991 14 2 2 10 14.29%
 England 1987 41 2 0 39 4.88%
 France 1994 29 4 0 25 13.79%
 Germany 1998 2 2 0 0 100.00%
 Hong Kong 2017 2 2 0 0 100.00%
 Japan 2017 2 1 0 1 50.00%
 Ireland 1996 31 17 0 14 54.84%
 Italy 1998 22 13 1 8 59.09%
 Kazakhstan 1994 5 3 0 2 60.00%
 Netherlands 1988 5 2 0 3 40.00%
 New Zealand 1991 7 0 0 7 0.00%
 Russia 1998 2 2 0 0 100.00%
 Samoa 2002 1 0 0 1 0.00%
 Scotland 1993 36 20 0 16 55.56%
 South Africa 2004 8 6 0 2 75.00%
 Spain 1991 11 4 0 7 36.36%
 Sweden 2007 3 2 0 1 66.67%
 United States 1993 6 2 0 4 33.33%
Summary 1987 244 81 3 151 33.20%

References

  1. ^ "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  2. ^ Hitt, Carolyn (6 November 2021). "Carolyn Hitt: Wales Women contracts announcement might finally turn despair into hope for Welsh women's rugby". Wales Online. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  3. ISBN 0-9504421-0-0
    .
  4. ^ Rugby is the secret of 106-year-old's longevity, Penarth Times, 23 January 2006
  5. ^ Maria remained a keen player until she married her husband, Hector, and concentrated on bringing up eight children. She attributed her longevity to a love of rugby and an aversion to cigarettes and alcohol. Away from rugby and family duties she chaired the senior citizens club at her native Cogan for 24 years and was still calling bingo until she was 101.
  6. ^ "Historic day for England Women's Rugby". rfu.com. 5 April 2012. Archived from the original on 9 July 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Women's Rugby World Cup". RugbyFootballHistory.com. p. 1. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  8. ^ Southcombe, Matthew (3 November 2021). "Wales Women to be offered professional contracts for the first time". WalesOnline. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Cunningham names 37 players for 2024 Six Nations squad - Welsh Rugby Union". Welsh Rugby Union. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  10. ^ "WALES RUGBY NAME SQUAD FOR 2024 GUINNESS WOMEN'S SIX NATIONS - Guinness Women's Six Nations". www.sixnationsrugby.com. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ^ Graham, Josh (28 March 2024). "Wales Women's Six Nations Squad – Tuipulotu benched". Rugby World. Retrieved 9 April 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "Liza Burgess: "The sky's the limit for women's rugby"". www.world.rugby. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  13. ^ "World Rugby - Hall of Fame". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  14. ^ "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Women's Six Nations Player of the Championship". Six Nations Rugby. Retrieved 18 April 2024.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wales_women%27s_national_rugby_union_team&oldid=1219606458"