Women's rugby union
What is the number of countries that play Women's rugby?
Rugby union
Women's rugby league Women's rugby union South American Women's Sevens African Women's Sevens Championship List of women's rugby sevens competitions
Women's_rugby_league-Women's_&_Girls_Rugby_League Women's_rugby_union-Acceptance_and_growth:_1998– South_American_Women's_Sevens-Abstract African_Women's_Sevens_Championship-Abstract List_of_women's_rugby_sevens_competitions-Abstract
Governing bodies. Women's & Girls Rugby League. The Women & Girls Rugby League is the international governing body of women's rugby league and was established in 2000 in conjunction with the first Women's Rugby League World Cup. The organization currently oversees the running of the international game for women's rugby league and helps organize rugby league domestically in several countries. 
Widespread acceptance of the game leads to women's versions of other major rugby union tournaments (the women's Five Nations begins in 1999), and growing numbers of headlines. In 2000 the Irish WRFU affiliate fully with the IRFU—but there were still set-backs. In 2002 the Australian RFU dropped support for women's team's entry to world cup. The decision was seen as a factor in IOC rejection of rugby as an Olympic sport and was reversed two years later. But this is unusual. Women's teams are now being accepted on the main stage. In 2002 Scotland play their first women’s match at Murrayfield and in 2003 England stage the first women’s international at Twickenham. In 2006 the RFU devoted the rugby museum's main annual exhibition to the history of women's rugby—"Women's Rugby—A Work in Progress", and the same year sees Women's Rugby World Cup broadcast live on the Internet. The game remains an amateur, minority sport—but a fast growing one played in over 80 countries worldwide. Cost and player numbers mean that in many of these nations sevens tends to dominate, but 15-a-side championships have now been established in all regions. 1999 Irish WRFU affiliate fully with the IRFU 1999 The Women's Home Nations Championship becomes the Women's Five Nations with the addition of France. 2000 South African women affiliate with South African Rugby Football Union. 2000 The addition of Spain establishes the Women's Six Nations. 2002 Australian RFU drops support for women's team's entry to world cup. Decision seen as a factor in IOC rejection of rugby as an Olympic sport. Reversed two years later. 2004 Wales restrict national team selections to players from Welsh teams. Slump in performance significant factor in rejection of entry for 2006 world cup. Decision reversed in time for 2006 Six Nations. 2005 Canada controversially selected as hosts for 2006 World cup—despite major bid from England. Believed that selection was part of an IRB policy to host tournaments outside of Europe. 2005 Ugandan women form Uganda Women's Rugby Association (UWRA) and affiliate to the Uganda Rugby Union (URU). 2006 Major exhibition on history of women's rugby—"Women's Rugby—A Work in Progress" held at Twickenham 2006 The inaugural Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) women's 7's. Uganda are the hosts and lose to South Africa in the final. 2006 New Zealand's Black Ferns defeat England in the IRB's Rugby World Cup Women's Final in Canada. 2007 Donna Kennedy becomes Scotland's most-capped player and the World's most-capped female player with 100 caps. Her last game a narrow defeat to France. This record has now been overtaken by Louise Rickard of Wales, who equalled Kennedy's record in the 2008 6 Nations. 2007 Welsh Women's Rugby Union merges with the Welsh Rugby Union. 2007 The Women's Six Nations is formally adopted by the men's Six Nations organisation; as a result, Spain are replaced by Italy. 2007 Third Caribbean Championship in the Cayman Islands are cancelled less than 48 hours before they are due to start due to Hurricane Dean 2009 Australia take the title at the inaugural IRB Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai, which was fully integrated into the men's competition. Australia beat New Zealand after extra time in the final. Tournament favourites England go out in the quarter-finals. 2009 Wales defeat England for the first time in the 22-year history of the fixture, bringing to an end England's quest for a fourth consecutive 6 Nations Grand Slam. 2009 England's women's rugby governing body, the RFUW, establish a mirror to the existing boys' AASE (Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence) programme at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire and Moulton College, Northamptonshire. AASE programmes are offered at RFU Academies at Guinness Premiership clubs across England. For the programme to be made available to girls is a landmark. 2009 A record number of countries bid to host the 2014 Women's World Cup 2009 In June, Scottish Women's Rugby Union merges with the Scottish Rugby Union. 2010 Crowd of 13,253—a world record for a women's match—watches the World Cup final at Twickenham Stoop. 2011 The first IRB-sponsored women's sevens event apart from the World Cup Sevens, the IRB Women's Sevens Challenge Cup, was held in Dubai as part of the 2011 Dubai Sevens. 2012 The IRB launches the IRB Women's Sevens World Series, analogous to the men's IRB Sevens World Series. 2016 The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio will include men's and women's rugby sevens—with the women's tournament being given absolute equality with the men's in terms of both player and team numbers.  
The South American Women's Sevens, now also known as the CONSUR Women's Sevens, is the regional championship for women's international rugby sevens in South America. The tournament is held over two days, typically on a weekend. It is sanctioned and sponsored by CONSUR, the Confederación Sudamericana de Rugby, which is the rugby union governing body for the region. Rugby sevens — also known as 7-a-side, or 7s — is a short form of the sport of rugby union that was first played in 1883. The first (men's) internationals took place in 1973. As women's rugby union developed in the 1960s and 1970s the format became very popular as it allowed games, and entire leagues, to be developed in countries even when player numbers were small, and it remains the main form the women's game is played in most parts of the world. However, although the first women's international rugby union 15-a-side test match took place in 1982, it was not until 1997 before the first women's international 7s tournaments were played, when the 1997 Hong Kong Sevens included a women's tournament for the first time. Over the next decade the number of tournaments grew, with almost every region developing regular championship competitions. This reached its zenith with the first Women's Sevens World Cup in 2009, shortly followed by the announcement that women's rugby sevens will be included in the Olympics from 2016. The first official regional 7s championship for international women's teams from South America was held in Venezuela in 2004. Since then, the regional 7s championships have periodically served as pre-qualifying competitions for the Rugby 7s World Cup, or other sevens tournaments. The following are details of all regional women's international championships played in South America, listed chronologically with the earliest first, with all result details, where known (included are the CONSUR Women's Sevens and other official regional championships, e.g. the Valentin Martinez Women's Sevens tournament). 
The African Women's Sevens, now also known as the CAR Women's Sevens, is the regional championship for women's international rugby sevens in Africa. The tournament is held over two days, typically on a weekend. It is sanctioned and sponsored by CAR, the Confederation of African Rugby, which is the rugby union governing body for the region. Rugby sevens — also known as 7-a-side, or 7s — is a short form of the sport of rugby union that was first played in 1883. The first (men's) internationals took place in 1973. As women's rugby union developed in the 1960s and 1970s the format became very popular as it allowed games, and entire leagues, to be developed in countries even when player numbers were small, and it remains the main form the women's game is played in most parts of the world. However, although the first women's international rugby union 15-a-side test match took place in 1982, it was not until 1997 before the first women's international 7s tournaments were played, when the 1997 Hong Kong Sevens included a women's tournament for the first time. Over the next decade the number of tournaments grew, with almost every region developing regular championship competitions. This reached its zenith with the first Women's Sevens World Cup in 2009, shortly followed by the announcement that women's rugby sevens will be included in the Olympics from 2016. The first official regional 7s championship for international women's teams from Africa was held in Tunisia in 2004. Since then, the regional 7s championships have periodically served as pre-qualifying competitions for the Rugby 7s World Cup, or other sevens tournaments. The following are details of all regional women's international championships played in South America, listed chronologically with the earliest first, with all result details, where known (included are the CAR Women's Sevens and other official regional championships, e.g. CAR North and South tournaments). 
Rugby Union Sevens - a short form of the sport of rugby union - was first played in 1883, with the first (men's) internationals taking place in 1973. As women's rugby union developed in the 1960s and 1970s the format became very popular as it allowed games, and entire leagues, to be developed in countries even when player numbers were small, and it remains the main form the women's game is played in most parts of the world. However, although the first Women's international rugby union 15-a-side test match took place in 1982, it was not until 1997 before the first 7-a-side internationals were played, when the Hong Kong Sevens included a women's tournament for the first time. Over the next decade the number of tournaments grew, with almost every region developing regular championship. This reached its zenith with the first Women's Sevens World Cup in 2009, shortly followed by the announcement that women's rugby sevens will be included in the Olympics from 2016. In 2011/12 the IRB organised three official women's challenges tournaments in Dubai, Hong Kong and London. After the success of these events an annual IRB Women's Sevens World Series was launched from the start of the 2012/13 season. The following is a list of all women's international tournaments that have been traced since 1997, listed chronologically with the earliest first, with links to result details, where known. If two tournaments are run concurrently the apparently more senior will be listed first. Some tournaments include both club and national teams, and these are only included where the majority of teams are International. Occasionally what are effectively national teams play unofficially under an assumed name - these games are also noted where this is known. The summary section looks at each region in turn and attempts to draw some conclusions about the relative strengths of the participants. This is a little flawed due to the absence of some results and information as well as the inclusion of non-international teams to make up the numbers but should give the best guess available. 