World Cup facts & figures: Pool A

Registered adult players: 3697Registered players per 1000 women: 0.33Scrumqueens test ranking: 4World Cup Seeding: 6Results - all time: P 103, W 44, D 2, L 57Results ?? since last World Cup: P 16, W 9, L 7Average age of squad: 27.3

One of only four teams who have played in every World Cup, Canada have always finished in the top six, including reaching the semi-finals on three occasions - in 1998, 2002 and 2006 (eventually finishing fourth on each occasion).

Looking at their pool, Canada have beaten England twice in 20 games (both wins coming last year), and have won both of their previous games against Spain. They have never previously played Samoa.

Canada won a Nations Cup double in 2013, winning not only the senior championship but also the U20 title, a reflection of the growth of girls?? rugby in Canadian schools for the past decade. Canadian school teams regularly tour the UK and Europe every spring ?? more so than teams from any other country.

Fly half Emily Belchos is one of the tournament's three teenage players, at just over 19 years 3 months.

Registered adult players: 7001Registered players per 1000 women: 0.54

England have also played in every World Cup, winning in 1994, and reaching the final in every other tournament except in 1998 when they lost to New Zealand in the semi-final and went on to finish third.

England have won 18 out of their 20 fixtures against Canada, being unbeaten until last year. England have also met and beaten Samoa once, and have won 12 out of 14 games with Spain, the only exceptions being European Championship games where England sent development teams.

England have been comfortably the busiest test match team since the last World Cup, playing more tests than all their pool opponents put together. This is consistent with their also having played significantly more test matches in their history than any other team ?? in 2010 they actually played more tests than the England men??s XV. England are also one of only two teams to have recorded test match wins over New Zealand (the other?˜being the USA).

Registered adult players: 315Registered players per 1000 women: 54.38Scrumqueens test ranking: 15World Cup Seeding: 12Results - all time: P 18, W 9, L 9Results ?? since last World Cup: P 4, W 2, L 2Average age of squad: 28.4

Samoa have played in two previous World Cups, in 2002 when the finished 9 (out of 16) and 2006 when they were 10(out of 12). In 2010 they failed to qualify, losing in a playoff against Australia 87-0.

Samoa??s only games since 2010 were three games in a World Cup qualifier in France last year, and a test against New Zealand last month. In the qualifier their two wins came against Sweden and Netherlands, but they suffered a heavy defeat to Italy. Despite that they still managed to qualify ahead of Italy who had been drawn to play far tougher opposition (Italy had to play Scotland and Spain, whereas Samoa played Sweden and the Netherlands) in what was a remarkably unbalanced qualification tournament.

Samoa have never won a test match against any of their three pool opponents, though they only lost 14-12 and 10-5 to Spain in 2006.

Samoa was one of the last countries where women's rugby was actually banned - well into the 1960s, with the first women's rugby match at any level not taking place until 1998. Progress after that was rapid, with a women's union being formed in 2000 in time for the World Cup in 2002.

Samoa appear to?˜have the smallest adult?˜player base among the teams in Paris, with only 315 registered adult players. However this is a misleading figure as many adult Samoans live and work in New Zealand (and will be registered there).?˜In fact the squad is mainly composed of players living outside the islands, especially in New Zealand where almost all of the preparations have taken place.

There are nearly 5000 registered?˜under-18s players in Samoa?˜- which, in a country with a population of less than 200,000, means that more than 5% of all women and girls are registered rugby players. This is higher by far than any other country in the tournament. On average a girl in from Samoa is 100 times more likely to take up rugby than a girl from England - and nine times more likely than a girl from New Zealand!

Registered adult players: 1160Registered players per 1000 women: 0.18Scrumqueens test ranking: 10World Cup Seeding: 9Results - all time: P 105, W 50, D2, L 23Results ?? since last World Cup: P 11, W 6, L 5Average age of squad: 28.9

Spain have played in four out of the six previous World Cups, withdrawing at the last minute from the 1994 tournament because it failed to receive IRB approval and failing to qualify for 2010 when they lost a qualifier against Sweden. They were beaten by Canada in the Plate final in 1991 (giving them 6 place), finished 7 in 1998, 8 in 2002 (when they were hosts), and 9 in 2006.

Against their pool opponents, Spain beat Samoa in both of their meetings in the 2006 tournament (albeit narrowly), but have lost both previous games against Canada ?? including a 79-0 reversal in 2006 that remains Spain??s largest ever test defeat. England are far more familiar opponents, with 14 matches between the two teams, two of which were in the World Cup (1991 and 2002) and both of which were close (losing 0-12 and 5-13). Outside the World Cup the teams have met 12 times, with 10 England wins. However Spain beat England in a European Championship semi-final in 2001, and drew 12-12 with them in 2007, also in the European Championship (although in both cases England would have been fielding largely a development team)

Spain are almost unique in having a female coach, In??s Etxegibel, who is also the most capped player in their history, having played as flyhalf for ??The Lionesses?? 64 times between 1997 and 2007. Although current first-choice hooker Aroa Gonz??lez is only seven tests behind, In??s may retain that position as Spain now play far fewer test matches following their expulsion from the Six Nations after 2006 - a truly remarkable event in not just rugby but also women??s sports history. Their removal was nothing whatsoever to do with their playing ability (they had finished third three times between 2000 and 2006, and had won 10 of their 33 games) but was instead because their men??s team did not play in the men??s Six Nations. So when the Six Nations Committee took over the management of the women??s competition from 2007 they were replaced by Italy ?? a team that, at the time, they had never lost to. It is a decision that still burns deeply within Spanish players and officials.

Spain are the lightest team in the tournament - on average each player weighs over 9kg (1st 3lb) less than the average United States player.

Canada ?˜ v ?˜ Spain?˜England ?˜ v ?˜ Samoa

Canada ?˜ v ?˜ Samoa?˜England ?˜ v ?˜ Spain

Spain ?˜ v ?˜ Samoa?˜England ?˜ v ?˜ Canada

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