2006 Women's Rugby World Cup

The 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup (officially IRB Rugby World Cup 2006 Canada) took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The tournament began on 31 August and ended on 17 September 2006. The 2006 tournament was the third World Cup approved by the IRB, the previous two being held 2002 in Spain and in the Netherlands, in 1998. The Black Ferns of New Zealand won the 2006 World Cup, defeating England in the final, as they had in 2002. It was New Zealand's third successive title.

2006 Women's Rugby World Cup

Tournament details
Host nation	Canada
Dates	2006-08-31 – 2006-09-17
No. of nations	12
Champions	New Zealand (3rd title)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	30
Top scorer(s)	Heather Moyse (35)
Most tries	Heather Moyse (7)
← 2002 2010 →

The semi-finals were also direct repeats of the 2002 tournament – in fact five of the top six places in the final rankings were unchanged. Elsewhere the USA advanced from 7th in 2002 to 5th, and Ireland climbed from 13th to 8th while Australia (5th to 7th), Spain (8th to 9th), and Samoa (9th to 10th) slipped down.

The period prior to the competition had not been without controversy. The decision to award the hosting of the competition to Canada ahead of a strong bid from England surprised many.

In addition – apart from in Asia – there were no qualifying tournaments for the 2006 World Cup. Instead teams were invited to take part by the IRB with selection based on performances at the World Cup in 2002 and in international matches between 2002 and 2005. This resulted in accusations of a lack of clarity in regard to some selection decisions. In particular the awarding of the final place in the tournament to Samoa instead of Wales (following a poor performance by Wales in the 2005 Six Nations) was the cause of some controversy and comment prior to the event.

Qualifiers

Asia

[504]
	2005-06-03	Hong Kong	0–78	Japan	Bangkok	[4/17/4]

[505]
	2005-06-03	Thailand	0–67	Kazakhstan	Bangkok	[1/31/1]

[506]
	2005-06-05	Thailand	20–18	Hong Kong	Bangkok	[2/5/2]

[507]
	2005-06-05	Kazakhstan	19–3	Japan	Bangkok	[32/18/1]

Kazakhstan qualify

Tickets and sponsorship

Tickets had been available since July 2006 and they could be purchased online at Ticketmaster or by phone. There were individual and student tickets (for each of six match days), tickets for youth teams and clubs, corporate packages and a special "World Cup Pack" of $125 allowing access to all matches including the finals.[1][2]
The partners of this tournament were Toyota "Never Quit" Awards Program, Molson, Tait Radio Communications, Glentel, Budget, University of Alberta, Edmonton Airports and Clubfit. The event was covered by English language network Global TV, daily newspaper Edmonton Journal and radio stations CFRN 1260, CFBR 100.3 and CFMG 104.9.[3]
All matches were filmed and for the first time were available via streamed media.[4] The final was also broadcast live on TV in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom, and a one-hour TV highlights programme was produced by IMG for wider distribution, while these recordings are held as part of the IRB's World Cup archive.[5]

Match officials

On July 6, 2006 the IRB Referee Selection Committee announced the appointment of match officials, with twelve women officials selected for the tournament consisting of eight referees and four touch judges. This panel was assisted by experienced international referees George Ayoub, Lyndon Bray, Malcolm Changleng and Simon McDowell, who were appointed in April.[6] Other three touch judges from Canada Rugby Union were included in the final list.[7]

REFEREES George Ayoub (Australia) Jenny Bental (South Africa) Rachel Boyland (Switzerland) Lyndon Bray (New Zealand) Malcolm Changleng (Scotland) Sarah Corrigan (Australia) Clare Daniels (England) Christine Hanizet (France) Joyce Henry (Canada) Nicky Inwood (New Zealand) Kerstin Ljungdahl (Germany) Simon McDowell (Ireland)

TOUCH JUDGES Debbie Innes (England) Kristina Mellor (New Zealand) Kristi Moorman (Canada) Sandy Nesbitt (Canada) Kim Smit (South Africa) Dana Teagarden (United States) Todd Van Vliet (Canada)

Format

The competition was contested over 18 days between 12 teams, allocated to four pools of three and structured into two parts:

• a pool stage, with 18 matches played from August 31 to September 8;
• a knockout stage, divided in semifinals and finals, played from September 12 to 17.

Pool stage

The first three match days saw a cross-pool league system in operation, with Pool A playing Pool D and Pool B playing Pool C, with points going towards one single division table for all four pools. Classification within each pool was based on the following scoring system:

• four points for a win;
• two points for a draw;
• zero points for a loss of 8 points or more.

Bonus points were awarded for teams scoring 4 tries or more and losing by 7 points or less. No extra time were played.
Teams were ranked 1–12 on the basis of the most match points. If two teams were equal on match points for any position, then the following criteria would be used in this order until one of the teams could be determined as the higher ranked:

• the winner of the match between the two teams;
• the best differential between points scored for and points scored against;
• the best differential between tries scored for and against;
• the most points scored;
• the most tries scored;
• the toss of a coin.[8]

Knockout stage

After three match days, with each team having played three pool matches, positional semifinals were played with the top four-positioned sides vying to make the Women's Rugby World Cup final and all other sides playing matches in the final two rounds to decide tournament rankings.

If no winner could be determined within the time allowed, two teams should have played an extra time of 10 minutes each way with an interval of 5 and then eventually a kicking competition.[8]

Squads

Main article: 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup squads

Pools

Pool A

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
New Zealand	3	0	0	137	7	14
Spain	1	0	2	14	115	4
Kazakhstan	0	0	3	22	97	0

Pool B

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
England	3	0	0	119	16	14
Australia	1	0	2	88	42	6
Ireland	1	0	2	48	67	5

Pool C

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
France	2	0	1	75	37	10
United States	2	0	1	34	35	9
South Africa	0	0	3	20	179	0

Pool D

Team	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points
Canada	2	0	1	131	71	10
Scotland	2	0	1	56	38	10
Samoa	1	0	2	32	69	5

Pool matches

Round one

[559]
	2006-08-31	New Zealand	66–7	Canada	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[57/43/8]

[560]
	2006-08-31	Spain	0–24	Scotland	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[74/96/14]

[561]
	2006-08-31	Kazakhstan	0–20	Samoa	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[33/9/2]

[562]
	2006-08-31	England	18–0	United States	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[121/55/6]

[563]
	2006-08-31	Australia	68–12	South Africa	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[18/7/1]

[564]
	2006-08-31	Ireland	0–43	France	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[75/108/12]

Round two

[565]
	2006-09-04	New Zealand	50–0	Samoa	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[44/10/1]

[566]
	2006-09-04	England	74–8	South Africa	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[121/8/2]

[567]
	2006-09-04	Canada	79–0	Spain	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[58/75/1]

[568]
	2006-09-04	Australia	10–24	France	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[19/109/2]

[569]
	2006-09-04	Kazakhstan	17–32	Scotland	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[34/97/1]

[570]
	2006-09-04	Ireland	11–24	United States	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[76/56/3]

Round three

[571]
	2006-09-08	New Zealand	21–0	Scotland	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[45/98/3]

[572]
	2006-09-08	Spain	14–12	Samoa	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[76/11/1]

[573]
	2006-09-08	Canada	45–5	Kazakhstan	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[59/35/2]

[574]
	2006-09-08	England	27–8	France	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[122/110/20]

[575]
	2006-09-08	Australia	6–10	United States	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[20/57/3]

[576]
	2006-09-08	Ireland	37–0	South Africa	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[77/9/1]

Knock-out stages

9th-12th place classification play-offs

	Semi-finals				Final
	12 June - St. Albert
	Samoa	43
					16 June - Edmonton (Ellerslie)
	South Africa	10
					Samoa	5
	12 June - Edmonton (Ellerslie)
					Spain	10
	Spain	17
	Kazakhstan	12
					Third place
					16 June - Edmonton (Ellerslie)
					South Africa	0
					Kazakhstan	36

Semi-Finals

[581]
	2006-09-12	Samoa	43–10	South Africa	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[12/10/1]

[582]
	2006-09-12	Spain	17–12	Kazakhstan	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[77/1/36]

11th/12th place play-off

[585]
	2006-09-16	Kazakhstan	36–0	South Africa	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[37/11/1]

9th/10th place play-off

[584]
	2006-09-16	Samoa	5–10	Spain	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[13/78/2]

5th-8th classification play-offs

	Semi-finals				Final
	12 June - St. Albert
	Ireland	10
					16 June - Edmonton (Ellerslie)
	Scotland	11
					Scotland	0
	12 June - St. Albert
					United States	24
	United States	29
	Australia	12
					Third place
					16 June - Edmonton (Commonwealth)
					Ireland	14
					Australia	18

Semi-Finals

[578]
	2006-09-12	Ireland	10–11	Scotland	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[78/99/14]

[580]
	2006-09-12	United States	29–12	Australia	St. Albert Rugby Park, St. Albert	[21/58/4]

7th/8th place play-off

[583]
	2006-09-16	Ireland	14–18	Australia	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[22/79/2]

5th/6th place play-off

[586]
	2006-09-17	Scotland	0–24	United States	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton	[100/59/5]

Finals

	Semi-finals				Final
	12 June - Edmonton (Ellerslie)
	New Zealand	40
					17 June - Edmonton (Commonwealth)
	France	10
					New Zealand	25
	12 June - Edmonton (Ellerslie)
					England	17
	England	20
	Canada	14
					Third place
					17 June - Edmonton (Commonwealth)
					France	18
					Canada	7

Semi-Finals

[577]
	2006-09-12	New Zealand	40–10	France	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[46/111/3]

[579]
	2006-09-12	Canada	14–20	England	Ellerslie Rugby Park, Edmonton	[60/122/12]

3rd/4th place play-off

[587]
	2006-09-17	Canada	8–17	France	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton	[61/112/6]

World Cup Final

[588]
	2006-09-17	England	17–25	New Zealand	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton	[124/47/10]

2006 Women's Rugby World Cup Winners
New Zealand Third title

Statistics

Teams

Points	Team	Matches	Tries	Conversions	Penalties	Drops
202	New Zealand	5	31	16	5	0	0	0
156	England	5	23	13	5	0	0	0
153	Canada	5	24	15	1	0	0	0
114	Australia	5	15	9	7	0	2	0
102	France	5	16	8	2	0	1	0
87	United States	5	14	7	1	0	2	0
80	Samoa	5	13	6	1	0	3	0
75	Kazakhstan	5	13	5	0	0	2	0
72	Ireland	5	11	4	3	0	1	0
67	Scotland	5	9	5	3	1	1	0
41	Spain	5	5	5	2	0	3	0
30	South Africa	5	5	1	1	0	3	0

Individual records

Top point scorers

Points	Name	Team	Position	Apps	Tries	Conv	Penalties	Drops
35	Heather Moyse	Canada	Fullback	5	7	0	0	0
34	Emma Jensen	New Zealand	Scrum-half	5	1	10	3	0
33	Valuese Sao Taliu	Samoa	Fullback	5	5	4	0	0
31	Shelley Rae	England	Fly-half	5	1	10	2	0
30	Sue Day	England	Centre/Wing	5	6	0	0	0
	Maria Gallo	Canada	Centre/Wing	5	6	0	0	0
	Amiria Marsh	New Zealand	Fullback	5	6	0	0	0
	Tobie McGann	Australia	Fullback/Fly-half	5	2	4	4	0
29	Kelly McCallum	Canada	Fly-half	5	0	13	1	0
27	Paula Chalmers	Scotland	Scrum-half	5	1	5	3	1
25	Tricia Brown	Australia	Wing	5	5	0	0	0
	Catherine Devillers	France	Wing	5	5	0	0	0
23	Pam Kosanke	United States	Centre	4	2	5	1	0
21	Estelle Sartini	France	Fly-half/Wing	5	2	4	1	0

Top try scorers

Tries	Name	Team	Position	Appearances
7	Heather Moyse	Canada	Fullback	5
6	Sue Day	England	Centre/Wing	5
	Maria Gallo	Canada	Centre/Wing	5
	Amiria Marsh	New Zealand	Fullback	5
5	Valuese Sao Taliu	Samoa	Fullback	5
	Catherine Devillers	France	Wing	5
	Tricia Brown	Australia	Wing	5
4	Ellie Karvoski	United States	Wing	5
	Ruan Sims	Australia	Centre/Wing	5
3	Stephanie Mortimer	New Zealand	Wing	3
	Claire Richardson	New Zealand	Wing	4
	Isabel Rodríguez	Spain	Scrum-half	5
	Jeannette Feighery	Ireland	Wing	5
	Delphine Plantet	France	Number 8	5
	Charlotte Barras	England	Wing	5
	Rochelle Martin	New Zealand	Flanker	5
	Melissa Ruscoe	New Zealand	Flanker	5

References

1. "Women's Rugby World Cup tickets". July 14, 2006. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
2. "WRWC FAQs". Archived from the original on August 23, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
3. "WRWC Partners". Archived from the original on August 23, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
4. "IRB Women's Rugby World Cup 2006 on www.247.tv". Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
5. "The Rugby World Cup Archive". Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2010.
6. "It's a women's game... including the officiating". July 6, 2006. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
7. "2006 Women's RWC match officials". Archived from the original on August 23, 2010. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
8. "2006 Women's RWC rules". Archived from the original on August 23, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2010.

External links

• 2006 WRWC Homepage
• WRWC 2006
• 247.tv – Live video and replays of all the Women's Rugby World Cup matches