Introduction
In 1995, teams from Adelaide University and Old Collegians lined up for the first women’s rugby match to be played in South Australia .
Played to Under 19's rules, the first women's rugby season consisted of five games between these two teams, of which University was undefeated.
In 1996, a handful of players from University left and formed a new women's team at Burnside Rugby Club. . Woodville RFC and Elizabeth RFC also established women's teams, with Elizabeth drawing largely on the local air-force base for its players. The competition moved from Under 19's rules to ordinary senior rules.
The first Women’s State team was selected that year. The Nationals were held in Sydney with the South Australian team playing well but recording no wins.
In 1997 Old Collegians, University, Burnside and Elizabeth, were joined by a strong team from Brighton as well as sides from Port Adelaide, Onkaparinga and North Adelaide .
That year, the Nationals were held in Adelaide with the Adelaide team scoring its first wins (against Victoria and Australian Services)
The South Australian Rugby Union recognized the value of women's rugby and funding was acquired for a women's development officer in 1998.
In that same year, the Port Adelaide team closed and Onkaparinga and North Adelaide eventually merged with Woodville and Burnside respectively. The women's competition in 1998 consisted of six teams - Old Collegians, University, Brighton, Elizabeth, Burnside/North Adelaide and Onkaparinga/Woodville ("Wonkaville"). Games started being played on Saturdays and the women's team was now truly a part of the club culture.
By 2001, the Women's Competition in South Australia had continued to shrink, despite the efforts of South Australian Rugby Union to promote women's rugby. Old Collegians, Burnside and University continued to field teams however, the women's teams at Onkaparinga and Brighton closed..
The players from those two teams, in addition to some from Burnside formed a new team with Southern Suburbs RFC. The team from Souths was immediately dominant in the competition and won all the premierships from 2001 to 2004. years. The competition was effectively only 10 a-side in 2001, but returned to the men's "home and away" format.
The difficulties with the competition led to South Australia not sending a team to Nationals that year.
In 2002, attempts were made by the teams from Old Collegians, University, Southern Suburbs and Burnside to rebuild to a 15s competition. Port Adelaide attempted to enter the competition, but could not find the numbers. As Burnside had struggled to field a team in 2001, Port Adelaide and Burnside merged (to be known affectionately as "Pornside").
South Australia did not field a state team in 2002.
Burnside folded in 2003 and Port Adelaide threw their lot in with Woodville to form the fourth women's team. The remaining teams from Old Collegians, University and Southern Suburbs continued.
However, renewed enthusiasm the following year saw Burnside return to the competition in 2004, providing five team competition - Old Collegians, Southern Suburbs, University, Port Adelaide and Burnside.
Unfortunately, in 2005 Adelaide University , one of the two founding clubs, was forced to withdraw from the competition in 2005 due to insufficient numbers.
Despite the drop in numbers, South Australia continues to field a reputable State Representative Team – the Southern Warriors – in the National Women’s Championships.
10 years of Women’s Rugby
2005 marked the tenth year of women's rugby competition in South Australia . In those ten years, Old Collegians is the only club to have fielded teams every year. The Women’s Rugby community, with the support of SA Rugby, celebrated the 10th Anniversary year in August 2005 with a carnival day and exhibition matches.
Since then, three South Australian Southern Warriors players have been selected in the Australian Women’s Squad for the 2006 Women’s Rugby World Cup.