The 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup was the first Women's Rugby World Cup. The tournament was not approved by the International Rugby Board (IRB), yet it still went ahead despite the disapproval of the sports governing body—France only confirmed their participation minutes before the draw was made on 26 February. Representatives of the IRB, WRFU and RFU attended the final but it was not until 2009 that the IRB officially endorsed the event as a "world cup" when it published, for the first time, a list of previous winners in a press release.
The tournament, held in Wales saw twelve teams compete for the trophy over a period of only a week. The tournament champions were the United States. The teams that failed to qualify for the semi-finals took part in a "plate" tournament between the 11 and 13 April.
Although the tournament was run on a very small and tightly controlled budget it still made a financial loss (which was eventually made good by the RFU), significantly due to the Soviet Union team being unable to pay its hotel and transport bills The team had hoped to survive by bartering and selling trinkets (including, it was suggested at the time, vodka) and items of kit, but these activities were curtailed after they aroused the attention of HM Customs and Excise.
Read more about 1991 Women's Rugby World Cup: Plate Quarter-finals, Plate Semi-finals, Semi-finals, Plate Final, Third Place Playoff, Final
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