1990s

Before the first Women's Rugby World Cup officially sanctioned by the International Rugby Board there had been three previous tournaments of a similar nature. The first of these was an event held in August 1990 in New Zealand. Though not considered a world cup, the tournament was referred to as the World Rugby Festival for Women. The competition included teams representing the United States, the Netherlands, Russia, and the hosts, New Zealand – who emerged as winners after defeating the United States in the final.

The first tournament referred to as the Women's Rugby World Cup was held in 1991 and hosted by Wales. Twelve countries were divided into four groups of three. The United States, against expectations, took the first championship with a 19–6 victory over England.^[2] In the Plate competition Canada prevailed over Spain 18–4. Following the first tournament, it was decided to move the tournament schedule to the year prior to the next men's world cup, therefore reducing the quadrennial cycle to just three years.

The next event was originally scheduled to take place in Amsterdam but ended up being moved to Scotland. Eleven countries competed in the tournament with the English meeting the United States in the final for the second time; however, in this instance England emerged as winners.^[3]

The 1998 tournament became the first women's world cup officially sanctioned by the International Rugby Board. Amsterdam, who were originally scheduled to host the previous world cup, hosted the largest ever tournament with all matches played at the new National Rugby Centre in the city's west end.^[4] The tournament also saw a record sixteen teams compete. New Zealand, who withdrew from the previous tournament, also competed. The final saw New Zealand defeat the United States and claim their first world cup title.

2000–present

The next event was taken to Spain in 2002. New Zealand won the title for the second time by defeating England 19–9 in the final.

The 2006 World Cup took place in Edmonton, Canada, and was the first major international rugby union tournament and women's world cup held in North America. New Zealand defeated England in the final to win their third successive world cup title.^[5]

Wales v South Africa match in 2010

A record four countries expressed interest in hosting the 2010 World Cup. After considering bids from England, Germany, Kazakhstan and South Africa, the IRB announced that the 2010 event would take place in England.^[6] The tournament was staged in London, with the final played at the Twickenham Stoop.^[7]

New Zealand celebrating their title in 2017

The 2017 World Cup was hosted by the Irish Rugby Football Union, which governs the sport on an All-Ireland basis. Games were held in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland and in Belfast in Northern Ireland.^[8][9] The tournament was held one year earlier than usual in order to re-align the Women's Rugby World Cup's scheduling for greater synergy with the Summer Olympics (which added rugby sevens in 2016) one year prior, and Rugby World Cup Sevens held the following year. The tournament was to return to a four-year cycle afterward,^[10] with the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup awarded to New Zealand.^[11]

Logo prior to 2021, when gender designation would be removed

In August 2019, World Rugby announced that in an effort to "elevate the profile of the women's game", the women's championship will be marketed under the "Rugby World Cup" branding, with no gender designation, beginning in 2021. World Rugby stated that the decision was intended to promote gender equality and "[eliminate] any inherent or perceived bias" towards men's events, with chairman Bill Beaumont explaining that it "demonstrates our ongoing and unwavering commitment to advancing women in rugby both on and off the field in line with our ambitious strategic plan." World Rugby became the first major sports federation to rebrand its events in such a way.^[11]

The 2021 tournament in New Zealand was postponed by one year to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; it will still be branded as the 2021 Rugby World Cup.^[12]

From 2025 the competition finals will be expanded to 16 teams, from the 12 competing in 2021.^[13] On 12 May 2022, World Rugby announced that England, Australia and the United States would host the next three women's tournaments in 2025, 2029, and 2033 respectively. As part of a new strategy, Australia and the United States were also awarded the preceding men's tournaments in 2027 and 2031 respectively—marking the first time that the men's and women's Rugby World Cup will be held successively in the same host nation.^[14]

Tournaments

Ed.	Year	Host	First place game			Third place game			Num. teams
			Champion	Score	Runner-up	Third	Score	Fourth
1	1991	Wales	United States	19–6 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	England	France	Shared[15]	New Zealand	12
2	1994	Scotland	England	38–23 Edinburgh Academicals, Edinburgh	United States	France	27–0 Edinburgh Academicals, Edinburgh	Wales	12
3	1998	Netherlands	New Zealand	44–12 NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam	United States	England	31–15 NRCA Stadium, Amsterdam	Canada	16
4	2002	Spain	New Zealand	19–9 Olympic Stadium, Barcelona	England	France	41–7 Olympic Stadium, Barcelona	Canada	16
5	2006	Canada	New Zealand	25–17 Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton	England	France	17–8 Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton	Canada	12
6	2010	England	New Zealand	13–10 Twickenham Stoop, London	England	Australia	22–8 Twickenham Stoop, London	France	12
7	2014	France	England	21–9 Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris	Canada	France	25–18 Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris	Ireland	12
8	2017	Ireland[16]	New Zealand	41–32 Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast	England	France	31–23 Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast	United States	12
9	2021[17]	New Zealand	New Zealand	34–31 Eden Park, Auckland	England	France	36–0 Eden Park, Auckland	Canada	12
10	2025	England	To be determined	Twickenham Stadium, London	To be determined	To be determined	Twickenham Stadium, London	To be determined	16
11	2029	Australia	To be determined			To be determined			16
12	2033	United States	To be determined			To be determined			16

Team records

Team	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place	Total top 4
New Zealand	6 (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2017, 2021)	–	–	1 (1991)	7
England	2 (1994, 2014)	6 (1991, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2017, 2021)	1 (1998)	–	9
United States	1 (1991)	2 (1994, 1998)	–	1 (2017)	4
Canada	–	1 (2014)	–	4 (1998, 2002, 2006, 2021)	5
France	–	–	7 (1991, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2017, 2021)	1 (2010)	8
Australia			1 (2010)		1
Wales	–	–	–	1 (1994)	1
Ireland	–	–	–	1 (2014)	1

Participating nations

Team	1991	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2017	2021	2025
Australia	–	–	5th	7th	7th	3rd	7th	6th	6th
Canada	5th	6th	4th	4th	4th	6th	2nd	5th	4th	Q
England	2nd	1st	3rd	2nd	2nd	2nd	1st	2nd	2nd	Q
Fiji	–	–	–	–	–	w	–	e	9th
France	3rd	3rd	8th	3rd	3rd	4th	3rd	3rd	3rd	Q
Germany	–	w	14th	16th	–	e	–	–	–
Hong Kong	–	–	–	e	e	e	e	12th	w
Ireland	–	7th	10th	14th	8th	7th	4th	8th	e
Italy	8th	w	12th	12th	–	e	e	9th	5th
Japan	11th	8th	–	13th	e	e	e	11th	12th
Kazakhstan	–	9th	9th	11th	11th	11th	12th	–	e
Netherlands	7th	w	13th	15th	–	e	e	e	e
New Zealand	3rd	w	1st	1st	1st	1st	5th	1st	1st	Q
Russia	11th[lower-alpha 1]	11th	16th	–	–	e	e	e	e
Samoa	–	–	–	9th	10th	e	11th	–	w
Scotland	–	5th	6th	6th	6th	8th	e	e	10th
South Africa	–	–	–	–	12th	10th	10th	–	11th
Spain	6th	w[lower-alpha 2]	7th	8th	9th	e	9th	10th	e
Sweden	10th	10th	15th	–	–	12th	e	–	–
United States	1st	2nd	2nd	5th	5th	5th	6th	4th	7th
Wales	9th	4th	11th	10th	–	9th	8th	7th	8th

Q = nation qualified for Final Tournament not yet played
w = nation withdrew from (final) Tournament
e = nation eliminated in qualifying stage and did not reach Final Tournament
– = nation did not enter competition.

The following nations have participated in qualifying stages, but have never reached the Final Tournament:

Team	1991	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2017	2021	2025
Belgium	–	–	–	–	–	e	–	e	–
Brazil	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	e
China	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	e
Colombia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	p
Czech Republic	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	e	–
Finland	–	–	–	–	–	–	e	–	–
India	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	e
Kenya	–	–	–	–	–	–	e	–	e
Laos	–	–	–	–	–	–	e	–	–
Madagascar	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	e
Papua New Guinea	–	–	–	–	–	w	–	e	e
Philippines	–	–	–	–	–	–	e	–	e
Singapore	–	–	–	–	–	e	e	–	e
Switzerland	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	e	–
Thailand	–	–	–	–	e	–	e	–	–
Tonga	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	w
Uganda	–	–	–	–	–	–	e	–	e

e = nation eliminated in qualifying stage and did not reach Final Tournament
w = nation withdrew from qualifying stage
p = nation possibly eliminated in qualifying stage and will need to be successful in Repechage in order to reach Final Tournament
– = nation did not enter qualifying stage competition.

Apart from the African region, the nations involved in the continental qualifying stages have not been announced as at 20 October 2019.

Final referees