Rugby: Missing Women's Rugby World Cup trophy discovered in attic 15 years later

Former England international Gill Burns with the recovered trophy. Photo / England Rugby

The Women's Rugby World Cup trophy, gone missing for more than 15 years, has been found in an attic in England.

England Rugby posted a video on its social media accounts revealing the discovery and story behind how it was found.

Former England player Gill Burns, part of the side that won the tournament in 1994 and the last to hold this version of the trophy aloft, recounted how she had been trying to solve the mystery behind its disappearance for some time.

"It was in the museum [World Rugby Museum] briefly before it went back out on tour again and then a few years later we started asking 'does anyone know where the World Cup is?', and nobody knew where it was," she said.

A new trophy was made for the 1998 tournament and has been used ever since, leaving its predecessor as a distant memory; but one that finally surfaced by chance this month.

"A few weeks ago one of the old administrators was clearing out her parents' loft and found some old notebooks, handbooks, posters and minutes for RFU meetings and behind that box was this box, with the treasured World Cup in.

"[It was] very emotional to find a trophy we were lucky enough to lift in 1994, absolutely delighted that we're taking it back to Twickenham tomorrow so it will be stored carefully at the World Rugby Museum there and be on display for all to see."

Burns, who played for England between 1988 and 2002, told BBC Radio 5 Live she was worried it had been "melted down somewhere" and said she had been "searching for it for a while".

After 15 years it's finally been found!

The story of how the first women's Rugby World Cup trophy was found 🏆 pic.twitter.com/dAY2PYY9Ff

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) October 21, 2021

England - currently world's number one-ranked team - have won the Women's Rugby World Cup twice, in 1994 and 2014, trailing only New Zealand for total tournament victories.