England women's national rugby union team
The England women's national rugby union team, also known as the Red Roses, represents England in women's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Women's Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on a total of 16 out of 25 occasions – winning the Grand Slam 15 times and the Triple Crown 21 times – making them the most successful side in the tournament's history. They won the Women's Rugby World Cup in 1994 and 2014, and have been runners-up on five other occasions. Their coach is Simon Middleton.
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| Nickname(s) | Red Roses | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Emblem | Red Rose | ||
| Union | Rugby Football Union | ||
| Head coach | Simon Middleton | ||
| Captain | Sarah Hunter | ||
| Most caps | Rochelle Clark (137) | ||
| Top scorer | Emily Scarratt (640) | ||
| Top try scorer | Sue Day (61) | ||
| Home stadium | Twickenham | ||
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| World Rugby ranking | |||
| Current | 1 (as of 23 November 2020) | ||
| Highest | 1 (2012–2013, 2014–2015, 2017, 2020–) | ||
| Lowest | 4 (2015) | ||
| First international | |||
 Wales 4–22 England  (Pontypool, Wales; 5 April 1987) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
England 101–0 South Africa  (London, England; 14 May 2005) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 New Zealand 67–0 England (Burnham, New Zealand; 13 August 1997) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 8 (First in 1991) | ||
| Best result | Champions, 1994, 2014 | ||
History
Until 2009 the badge and logo of England women's national teams was significantly different from that worn by men's teams. However, in 2009 – in anticipation of the merger between the RFU and RFUW – England teams adopted the men's rose.
England have taken part in every Women's Rugby World Cup competition, winning in 1994 and 2014 and finishing as runner-up on five other occasions.
The 1995/1996 season saw the introduction of a Home Nations Championship between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, which England won in its inaugural year. England won the Championship every year except from the 1997/98 season when Scotland won it. France joined the competition in the 1998/99 season making it the Five Nations Championship with England achieving the Grand Slam in three successive seasons. In the 2001/02 season, Ireland rejoined the fold in preparation for the World Cup, and the competition expanded to be known as the Six Nations, since when England have finished lower than runner-up on only 2 occasions, in 2013 and 2015 respectively, and have won the title on 9 separate occasions, including in 7 consecutive tournaments between 2006 and 2012 and the Grand Slam on 8 more occasions, including 3 times in a row between 2006–2008 and 2010–2012, respectively.
Results summary
| Top 20 rankings as of 22 November 2021[1] | |||
| Rank | Change* | Team | Points |
| 1 |  | England | 96.26 |
| 2 | | New Zealand | 88.58 |
| 3 |  1 |  France | 88.43 |
| 4 |  1 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada | 88.15 |
| 5 | | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia | 78.68 |
| 6 | |  United States | 76.63 |
| 7 | |  Ireland | 76.54 |
| 8 | |  Italy | 76.43 |
| 9 | |  Scotland | 73.48 |
| 10 | |  Spain | 72.10 |
| 11 | | Wales | 71.02 |
| 12 | |  Japan | 65.49 |
| 13 | | South Africa | 63.39 |
| 14 | |  Russia | 61.10 |
| 15 | |  Kazakhstan | 60.45 |
| 16 | |  Samoa | 59.72 |
| 17 | |  Netherlands | 58.27 |
| 18 | |  Hong Kong | 57.89 |
| 19 | |  Sweden | 57.73 |
| 20 | |  Germany | 57.72 |
| *Change from the previous week | |||
- Full internationals only
Correct as of 21 November 2021
| Opponent | First game | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1998 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Canada | 1993 | 32 | 28 | 1 | 3 | 87.50% |
| France | 1991 | 51 | 37 | 0 | 14 | 72.55% |
| Germany | 1997 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Ireland | 1996 | 27 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 92.59% |
| Italy | 1991 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Kazakhstan | 2000 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Netherlands | 1990 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| New Zealand | 1997 | 29 | 10 | 1 | 18 | 34.48% |
| Russia | 1994 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Samoa | 2005 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Scotland | 1994 | 30 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 93.33% |
| South Africa | 2005 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| Spain | 1991 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 87.50% |
| Sweden | 1988 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% |
| United States | 1991 | 20 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 95.00% |
| Wales | 1987 | 38 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 94.74% |
| Total | 1987 | 290 | 244 | 3 | 43 | 84.14% |
World Cup Record
| Rugby World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | Squad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991 |
Runners-up | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 28 | Squad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994 |
Champions | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 172 | 39 | Squad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998 |
Third Place | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 219 | 78 | Squad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 |
Runners-up | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 138 | 37 | Squad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 |
Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 146 | 47 | Squad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 |
Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 171 | 23 | Squad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 |
Champions | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 184 | 37 | Squad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 |
Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 211 | 88 | Squad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 |
Squad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | Champions | 41 | 34 | 1 | 6 | 1217 | 367 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players
Current squad
On 7 October 2021, England head coach Simon Middleton announced a 40-player squad for the 2021 Autumn Internationals.[2]
- Caps updated as of 28 October 2021
Honours
- Winners (16): 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2019, 2020
- Grand Slam (15): 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2019, 2020
- Triple Crown (21): 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
References
- "Women's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- "Red Roses Squad Announced For Autumn Internationals". England Rugby. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- James Riach. "England 21-9 Canada – Women's rugby World Cup match report". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to England women's national rugby union team. |
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