As the Women’s Rugby World Cup gets underway this weekend, so memories return to the very first tournament in 1991.

That inaugural event was staged in Wales with the final being held at Cardiff Arms Park.

It was remembered this week in a BBC ‘Scrum Queens’ documentary which told the story of the huge efforts organisers and volunteers put in to get the competition off the ground against all the odds.

In the end, all that hard work paid off as 12 countries took part in the groundbreaking first Women’s World Cup.

Along with host nation Wales, you had England, New Zealand, USA, Canada, France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Japan, Netherlands and the Soviet Union.

Wales and Cardiff Arms Park set the stage

In addition to Cardiff RFC’s Arms Park home staging the knock-out matches and final, games were also played at the club grounds of Swansea, Pontypool, Glamorgan Wanderers, Aberavon and Llanharan.

The Welsh captain was the legendary Liza ‘Bird’ Burgess who shared her memories on the ‘Scrum Queens’ programme.

“It was like ‘Wow’, there’s going to be a World Cup, with women that all play rugby coming across from all over the world and to find out that it was going to be held at the Arms Park was just unbelievable,” she said.

Inspiring those that inspire today

Cardiff Rugby’s Community Foundation director Nadine Griffiths, who won 44 caps for Wales, was inspired to achieve what she did in the game by watching the 1991 tournament as a spectator.

She has vivid memories of matches being played at Llanharan’s Dairy Field.

“A lot of people in school were talking about it being in Llanharan. Everybody knew about it. That was the news,” she said.

“My family is a huge rugby family. My grandfathers played, my dad played. From a young age, I was always dragged around rugby matches to watch my older brother. But it was all boys rugby, you never saw girls playing.

“Prior to the 1991 World Cup coming to this area, my family wouldn’t have had any idea that women’s rugby existed.”

Recalling attending the group match between Wales and New Zealand in Llanharan, Griffiths said: “There was just everybody walking towards the ground, a procession of people. It was absolutely buzzing.

“I remember listening to the Welsh anthem. It filled my whole heart. It was so exciting.

“There was so much skill within that match. All the people that had come out to watch were really getting behind Wales. You really were watching an international game.

“I just remember watching it and thinking ‘I really want to do this’.”

A 24-6 defeat to the Kiwis on the back of a 9-9 draw with Canada at Glamorgan Wanderers saw Wales bow out of the main competition at the group stage.

The four pool winners progressed to the semi-finals which were played at the Arms Park with England beating France 13-0 and the USA defeating New Zealand 7-0.

The inaugural final

So it was England and the USA who met in the final at the famous Cardiff ground on April 14.

Griffiths was determined to be there to see it.

“The tournament had already hooked me and got into my heart. So, I had to make sure I found the train times so I could get down to watch the final,” she recalls. 

“It was a big day because we all got the train into Cardiff, a bunch of us friends from school. It felt like a proper big stadium.”

Wales captain Burgess was also at the ground to see the USA beat England 19-6 and lift the trophy.

“The first World Cup is always going to be a poignant moment. I knew something very special had happened out there,” she said.

Explaining the impact the inaugural tournament had on her, Griffiths says: “All of a sudden, I had a realisation that I could do this, I could play and in 1993 I gained my first cap for Wales.

“Having my dad and my brother and all my cousins there and lining up and singing that anthem, my family members all grew a foot taller with pride.

“My mum and dad flew all around the world watching me play. They never missed one of my international caps.

“Forty four caps later, the 1991 World Cup led to this moment.”

Some 34 years on, the tenth Women’s Rugby World Cup gets underway this weekend with England as the host nation and 16 countries on board.

Tonight (Friday’s) opening match will be a replay of the 1991 final, with England taking on the USA at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.

A Cardiff connection

Wales play their first group match against Scotland at the Salford Community Stadium tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon, with further games against Canada and Fiji to follow in their pool.

Eleven of the current Wales squad have come through or spent time in the Cardiff Rugby pathway, while Community Manager Bronnie Jones has been seconded to the tournament for a month, where she will serve as Italy’s liaison.

The month-long tournament will culminate in the final which will be played at Twickenham on Saturday, September 27.

To mark the opening weekend, a girls Under-16s 10-a-side tournament is being held at the Arms Park tomorrow ahead of the Wales-Scotland game being shown in the clubhouse.

All are welcome with the tournament kick-off at approximately 10:30 and culminating at 2pm.

The Women’s World Cup has taken giant strides forward since those first tentative steps back in 1991 and is now a major global sporting event.

But there will always be a debt to the people who worked so hard to get it up and running and special memories of a historic adventure which reached its conclusion at the Arms Park.