Physical fitness of elite women's rugby union players over a ...

2.2.3 International Women’s Rugby
Men’s Rugby Union has been an international sport since 1871, when England and Scotland
contested the first international match (Quarrie & Hopkins, 2007). In the United States, the
senior, U23 and U19 women’s national team began participating in 1987, 1999 and 2002,
respectively (Chase, 2006). The South African Women’s Rugby team, commonly known as
the Springbok Women’s Team, played their inaugural test matches against Wales at the
Adcock Stadium in Port Elizabeth and at Securicor Loftus Stadium in Pretoria in 2004,
followed by a reciprocation outbound tour to Wales and England in 2005 whereby the team
won its first international game against Wales (SA Rugby, 2005). The Springbok Women’s
team won their first home game and test series in June 2006 against Netherlands (SA Rugby,
2006).
In 2006, at the third official 2006 International Rugby Board Women’s Rugby World Cup in
Canada, South Africa participated as the Confederation of Africa Rugby (CAR)
representative. The first recognised Women’s Rugby World Cup was hosted by The
Netherlands Rugby Board in 1998, which was won by New Zealand, who are the current
three-time defending World Cup champions. Prior to this, World Tournaments were staged in
Wales and Scotland in 1991 and 1994 respectively.
2.3 PHYSIOLOGICAL DEMANDS OF RUGBY COMPETITION
Rugby is typical of many team sports, with a range of work intensities, durations and recovery
periods (McLean, 1992). Researchers have used measurements of physiological parameters
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