the highest profile women's rugby tournament is the rugby world cup, historically known as the women's rugby world cup. the women's world cup began in 1991, and has generally been played every four years. the most recent world cup was held in ireland in 2017, where new zealand were the winners. in 2019, world rugby announced that sex/gender designations would officially be removed from the title of the world cup; the first tournament affected by this policy will be the next women's world cup in 2021, to be hosted by new zealand.