Rugby 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.
1997
Hong Kong Sevens 15–16 March 1997 Winners: Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , , , , ,
1998
Carib International Sevens (Exhibition game) December 1998 Trinidad & Tobago 12–29 St. Vincent & the Grenadines
YC&AC Invitational Women's Sevens Tournament
March 28, 1998
Winners New Zealand
Competitors: Japan1 Japan 2, New Zealand, World Invitational team,
1999
Hong Kong Sevens 22–24 March 1999 Winners: Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , , , ,
YC&AC International Women's Sevens Tournament March 28, 1999 Winners New Zealand Competitors: Japan 1, Japan 2, New Zealand, World Invitational team, USA, Samoa
2000
Asian Championship 22–24 March 2000. Played as part of the Hong Kong Sevens Winners: Kazakhstan Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , ,
Hong Kong Sevens 22–24 March 2000 Winners: Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , , , , , YC&AC International Women's Sevens Tournament
April 1, 2000
Winners New Zealand
Competitors: Japan, New Zealand, World Invitational team, USA
Jamaica vs Cayman Islands Date unknown Winners: , two matches to nil. Scores unknown.
2001
Asian Championship 28–30 March 2001. Played as part of the Hong Kong Sevens Winners: Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , ,
Hong Kong Sevens 28–30 March 2001 Winners: Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , , , , , , YC&AC International Women's Sevens Tournament
April 7, 2001
Winners New Zealand
Competitors: Japan, New Zealand, World Invitational team, USA
2002
Whangarei tournament Venue/Date: Whangārei, New Zealand, 17 February 2002 (Source NZ Rugby, USA Rugby) 12–12 31–5 InvitationDetails of the Invitation team are not known 12–5 35–0 Invitation 19–0 Invitation ?-? 14–12 United Kawakawa 41–7 10–5 0–0 North Harbour USA won another 2 matches that are not mentioned here (Final record W4, D1, L2) 5–0 NZ Maori 'B' (3rd place match)
Asian Championship 21–22 March 2002. Played as part of the Hong Kong Sevens Winners: Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , ,
Hong Kong Sevens 21–22 March 2002 Winner: Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , ,
2003
Lomai tournament
(Source Fiji Rugby)Mainly a club tournament in Fiji, the Fiji team took the opportunity to help some of their players make the transition from touch to contact. The USA also played thus warranting inclusion in the main list. The tournament saw USA 3rd and Touchdown 1st. What leads to confusion is that an exhibition match was played with mostly Touchdown players bolstered by two from the runners up (QVSOB). This appears to be considered the national Fiji team. USA are then described as Champions although the last match appears to have had little to do with the tournament. Although more properly this was actually the Fiji touch team playing contact. 7–0 0–21
Whangarei tournament are known to have gone on to this tournament before Hong Kong.
Asian Tournament At Hong Kong, 27 March 2003 Winners: Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , , ;
Hong Kong Sevens 27–28 March 2003 Winners: Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , ,
European Tournament At Lunel, France, 24 May 2003 Winners: Competitors: , , , , , , , , ,
South Pacific Games Plans were afoot for a women's sevens tournament but it required six teams. It is not thought that this was achieved.(Source Fiji Union)
2004
CAR North Tournament At Tunisia, 5–7 March 2004 Winners: Unknown Competitors: , and others
Hong Kong Sevens At Hong Kong, March 2004 Competitors: , , , , , , , , Winner:
South America Tournament At: Barquisimeto, Venezuela, 20–21 April 2004 Competitors: , , , , , , , Winner:
Rwanda v Burundi At:Unknown. May 2004 Rwanda 5–0 Burundi
Asian Tournament At Almaty, Kazakhstan, 15–16 May 2004 Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , Winner:
European Tournament At Limoges, France, 21–22 May 2004 Winners: Competitors: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Training Tournament (Central Europe) At Székesfehérvár, Hungary, 26 June 2004 Competitors: , , Hungary 36–5 Austria Other scores not recorded
2005
CAR North Tournament At Tunisia Winners: Unknown Competitors: Unknown
Hong Kong Sevens At Hong Kong, March 2005 Competitors: , , , , , , , Winner:
Asian Tournament At Singapore, 15–16 April 2005 Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , , Winner:
European Qualification Tournament At: Prague, 14–15 May 2005 Winner: Participants: , , , , , , , , , ,
FIRA Women's European Championship At: Lunel, France, 25–26 June 2005 Winner: Participants: , , , , , , , , ,
CAR African Sevens Venue/Date: Kampala, 5–6 November 2005 Cancelled for financial reasons
Training Tournament (Central Europe) Venue/Date: Hungary, 6 November 2005(Source Austria Union) 24–10 10–12 played
NAWIRA Tournament At: Barbados, 19–20 November 2005 Winner: Participants: , , , , , ,
South America Tournament At: São Paulo, Brazil, 19–20 November 2005 Competitors: , , , , , , , Winner:
Valentin Martinez International Tournament At: Montevideo, Uruguay, date unknown Winner: Participants: , , , , , ,
2006
USA Tournament Venue: Los Angeles Winner: Participants: ,
Asian Championship Venue/Date: Taskent, Uzbekistan, 15–16 May Winner: Participants: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , ,
CAR North Tournament At Tunisia Winners: Unknown Competitors: Unknown
CAR South Tournament At Uganda Winners: Unknown Competitors: Unknown
Hong Kong Sevens At Hong Kong, March 2006 Competitors: , , , , , , , , , , Winner:
Emerging European Nations Venue: Hungary No results published
FIRA-AER European Championship – Division A Venue/Date: Limoges, France, 25–27 May 2006 Winner: Participants: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
FIRA-AER European Championship – Division B Venue: Limoges, France, 25–27 May 2006 Winner: Participants: , , , , , , , , ,
CAR African Championship Venue: Kyadondo Rugby Club, Kampala, Uganda Winner: Competitors: , , , , , , ,
Friendly Games Date/Venue: 24–25 July 2006, Grossmugl, Austria. (Source Austria Union) The only information is that teams from Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bavaria, and Mugl took part in a men's and women's tournament.
NAWIRA Tournament Date/Venue: 11–12 November 2006, Garrison Savannah, Barbados. (Source NAWIRA) Winners: Jamaica Participants: , , , , ,
2007
South America Tournament At: Vina Del Mar, Chile, 12–13 January 2007 Competitors: , , , , , , , Winner:
USA Tournament At: San Diego, 9–10 February 2007 Winner: Participants: , , , ,
CAR North Tournament At Tunia Winners: Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , ,
CAR South Tournament At Uganda Winners: Unknown Competitors: Unknown
T-EN Tournament Venue: Székesfehérvár, Hungary, 18 March 2007 Winner: Participants: , ,
Hong Kong Sevens At Hong Kong, March 2007 Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , , , , , Winner:
Asian Championship At Doha, 27–28 April 2007 Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , Winner:
Emerging European Nations Venue: Katowice, Poland Winner: Participants: , , , , , Austria/Czech II
FIRA-AER European Championship – Division B Venue: Zenica, Bosnia, 19–20 May 2007 Winner: Participants: , , , , , , , , , ,
FIRA-AER European Championship – Division A Venue: Zagreb, Croatia, 26–27 May 2007 Winner: Participants: , , , , , ; , , , , ,
FIRA-AER European Championship – Top 10 Venue: Lunel, France, 2–3 June 2007 Winner: Participants: , , , , , , , , ,
CAR African Championship Venue: Kyadondo Rugby Club, Kampala, Uganda Winner: Competitors: , , , , , , , ,
T-EN League Venue: Grossmugl, Austria, 23 June 2007 Winner: Participants: , ,
South East Asia Sevens Source:It appears that this was a regional tournament only rather than for the whole of Asia. There is also some doubt over the South Korean team and it is possible that this was a club side. (Source Peoples Daily)
Venue: Singapore, 6 October 2007. Winner: Participants: , , , ,
Borneo Sevens Source:(Source Sabah Union)
Venue: Borneo, 2 and 3 November 2007. Results unknown Participants: , , , , , .
NAWIRA Tournament At: Winton Rugby Centre, Nassau, Bahamas, 17–18 November 2007 Winner: Participants: , , ,
Pacific Tournament At: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Winner: Participants: , , ,
Dubai Tournament At: Dubai, 1–2 December 2007 Participants: , , plus club teams Results not published.
South East Asia Games Source:A round robin competition followed by semi finals and a final (and bronze medal match) was planned.(Source SEA Games) Summarised
Venue: Sursnaree, Thailand, 9–11 December 2007 Winner: Thailand 52–0 Cambodia Laos 0–36 Singapore Thailand 14–12 Singapore Cambodia 0–20 Laos Cambodia 0–29 Singapore Thailand 52–0 Laos
Classification Stages Semi Finals Thailand 43–0 Cambodia Singapore 27–0 Laos Nation Won Drawn Lost For Against Thailand 3 0 0 118 12 Singapore 2 0 1 77 14 Laos 1 0 2 20 88 Cambodia 0 0 3 0 101
3rd/4th Match (bronze medal) Cambodia 0–15 Laos Final (gold and silver medal) Thailand 19–5 Singapore
2008
South American Tournament and World Cup Qualifier At: Punta del Este, Uruguay, 18–19 January 2008 Competitors: , , , , , , , Winner:
USA Sevens At: San Diego, 9–10 February 2008 Winner: Participants: , , , , ,
Emerging European Nations Venue: Austria, 21–24 March 2008 Winner: Participants: , , , , , , , , ,
Hong Kong Sevens At: Hong Kong, 27–28 March 2008 Competitors: Arabian Gulf, , , , , , , , , , , Winner:
World Cup Pre-Qualifier (Europe) Venue: Bosnia Winner: . Also qualified: , Participants: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Amsterdam Sevens 2008 At: Amsterdam, 17–18 May 2008. Competitors: , , , Winner:
London IRB (Men's) Sevens 2008 (Exhibition game) At: Twickenham 25 May 2008, (during men's IRB sevens). 14–10 Shown live on TV via the BBC interactive service, commentary by Nigel Starmer-Smith. Due to the coverage, a lot of information was recorded.