When were women allowed to play rugby?

Answer 1

. It appears that some girls may have played the game as part of their school teams in the 19th century - the earliest record of any female playing Rugby at any level has been traced to Portora Royal School in Enniskillen, Ireland.

Emily Valentine's brothers were responsible for the formation of the school's first rugby team in c1884

However, during the First World War some women's charity games were organised, the most well documented taking place at Cardiff Arms Park on 16 December 1917, when Cardiff Ladies beat Newport Ladies 6-0 Maria Eley played full-back for Cardiff and went on to become probably the oldest women's rugby player before she died in Cardiff in 2007 at the age of 106. Interestingly the Cardiff team (who all worked for Hancock's a local brewery) all wore protective headgear, which predates their male counterparts by some decades.