RugbyFest 1990

Rugby World Cup

women = yes
datefrom = 1990-08-19
dateto = 1990-09-01
host = New Zealand
nations = 4
champion = New Zealand
runnerup = United States
matches = 7
attendance =
apm =
top scorer =

RugbyFest 1990 (officially the "Women's World Rugby Festival") was a two-week festival of women's rugby, held in Christchurch, New Zealand between 19th August and 1st September 1990. The event has been inflated sometimes to the status of a mini-world cup. In reality with only four teams taking part, and lacking major nations such as France, England and Canada, it was never that. However it was still a significant stept forward - the first ever world-wide multi-regional women's rugby tournament. Held only eight years after the first women's international it was a sign of how much the game had already expanded.

tatus of internationals played at RugbyFest

Teams from Asia, North America and Europe took part alongside local sides in a series of 15-a-side fixtures. Participants included four "national" teams (originally there were to have been five, but Japan withdrew) and featured what are held by many to be the first internationals ever played by New Zealand and USSR/Russia.

In practice there is some dispute about how "official" the national teams were, not least because in some cases there was not yet a national women's governing body to grant official status. So, for example, the USA RFU considers all games by the USA team against "national" XVs at the tournament to be official "tests" whereas the New Zealand (or at least the New Zealand rugby almanack) lists the games as unofficial "New Zealand XV" fixtures. As the IRB provides no "official" ruling or listing of women's rugby internationals (the only list of any sort appears here) it can only be for the reader to decide on the status of these games.

"International" fixtures

Final Table

Results

wrugbybox
test# = 36
date = 1990-08-26
nohome = ruw-rt|NZL
score = 56–0
noaway = ruw|NED
stadium = Christchurch
code = 1/15/1

wrugbybox
test# = 37
date = 1990-08-28
nohome = ruw-rt|NZL
score = 8–0
noaway = ruw|URS
stadium = Christchurch
code = 2/1/1

wrugbybox
test# = 38
date = 1990-08-29
nohome = ruw-rt|NED
score = 0–38
noaway = ruw|USA
stadium = Christchurch
code = 16/4/1

wrugbybox
test# = 39
date = 1990-08-30
nohome = ruw-rt|NED
score = 12–4
noaway = ruw|URS
stadium = Christchurch
code = 17/2/1

wrugbybox
test# = 40
date = 1990-08-30
nohome = ruw-rt|NZL
score = 9–3
noaway = ruw|USA
stadium = Christchurch
code = 3/5/1

wrugbybox
test# = 41
date = 1990-08-31
nohome = ruw-rt|USA
score = 32–0
noaway = ruw|URS
stadium = Christchurch
code = 6/3/1

wrugbybox
test# = 42
date = 1990-09-01
nohome = ruw-rt|NZL
score = 12–4
noaway = flagicon|World World XV | stadium = Christchurch
code = 4/1/1

Other "national team" fixtures

The festival also included a number of games between the "national" teams and local sides. Results were:

ruw|NED:
* 19.08.1990 Canterbury "B" 4, Netherlands 12
* 20.08.1990 Crusadettes 20, Netherlands 0
* 20.08.1990 Burnside-Merrivale 6, Netherlands 12
* 21.08.1990 Canterbury "A" 34, Netherlands 4
* 22.08.1990 Netherlands w/o v Tokyo
* 23.08.1990 Paremata-Plimmerton beat Netherlands ("score not recorded")
* 24.08.1990 Netherlands beat Nagoya ("score not recorded")
* 25.08.1990 Netherlands beat Tokyo ("score not recorded")
* 27.08.1990 Wellington 10, Netherlands 4
* 01.09.1990 Auckland 25, Netherlands 0

ruw|USA:
* 27.08.1990 Canterbury 0, USA 12
* 28.08.1990 Auckland 0, USA 6

ruw|URS:
* 19.08.1990 Canterbury "A" 20, USSR 0
* 20.08.1990 Paremata-Plimmerton 0, USSR 0
* 26.08.1990 Belfast 16, USSR 14
* 27.08.1990 Auckland 25, USSR 0

ource

Official unpublished scoresheets held in the collections of the [http://www.rugbymuseum.co.nz/ Rugby Museum of New Zealand]

ee also

*Women's Rugby World Cup
*Women's international rugby results 1982-