Women's international rugby union  Women's international rugby union has a history going back to the late 19th century but it was not until 1982 that the first international fixture (or "test match") involving women's rugby union took place. The match was organised in connection with the Dutch Rugby Union's 50th anniversary. As part of the celebrations on June 13, 1982 the French national women's team played the Dutch, in Utrecht, Netherlands, with France winning 4–0 in a game that has since been recognised as the first ever women's international rugby union match. Official recognition of women's internationals was not immediate. Almost all women's rugby was originally organised outside of the control of either national unions or World Rugby (WR). Partly as a result no internationally agreed list of rugby internationals exists. However, even in the men's game, WR does not decide which matches are "full internationals" (or "test matches"), leaving such decisions up to participating unions. As a result, one country may classify a match as a full international (and award full test caps) while the opposition may not – countries may even award caps for games against an opposition that is not a national team (World XVs, for example). International rugby initially grew slowly.