HOW THE WOMEN'S RUGBY WORLE CUP BEGAN.

Fax machines and faith - the inspirational story of how the women's game beat the odds to forge its own global journey

- NICK HEATH

ON THE 20th June 1987, the inaugural Men's Rugby World Cup final was jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand. In front of more than 48,000 spectators at Auckland's Eden Park, Grant Fox kicked 17 points among three tries as the All Blacks defeated France 29-9. By contrast, nine years earlier, University College London student Deborah Griffin was helping to organise the first women's rugby match between UCL and rivals King's College. It was the start of a journey in the game that would see Griffin deliver the first-ever Women's Rugby World Cup and go on to become the Rugby Football Union's first woman president this summer.

"Yeah, we're going to do this."

By the late 1980s, women's rugby had existed in various forms for decades, but it remained fragmented and largely unsupported. Women had been playing the sport in countries like France, New Zealand and England since at least the 1960s, often organising club matches → informally.

In 1983, the Women's Rugby Football Union (WRFU) was formed in England, and in 1985 an unofficial European championship was staged between France, Great Britain and the Netherlands. Despite growing interest, the sport faced persistent sexism. Rugby was widely perceived as a male domain - too physical, too aggressive, too 'unfeminine' for women. Female players struggled for playing kit, pitch access and transport, and coaching was often self-funded. Media coverage was negligible and governing bodies offered little to no support.

As 1991 dawned, the men's international game was preparing for its second global tournament. Griffin, then a member of Richmond Women's rugby club and involved with the WRFU, returned from a club tour in New Zealand with a radical idea. Why not organise an international tournament for women's teams?