New Zealand, South Africa to host new women’s rugby tournaments, and Hong Kong could bid to join them
- World Rugby announces dates and locations for two of its three WXV tournaments later this year
- Six-team competitions to be held in October and November, with Hong Kong rugby bosses considering bid to host third tier event
World Rugby has confirmed the venues and dates for the inaugural WXV tournaments, which seek to increase “reach, impact and value” of the women’s game across the globe.
Starting in October, the three-tier competition, will pit sides from both hemispheres against each other depending on where they lie in the game’s rankings.
The top competition, featuring the likes of England and France, will be held in New Zealand, with South Africa hosting the WXV 2 tournament.
Hong Kong could stage the WXV 3 event, with local officials expressing an interest in doing so, but only if the city’s women qualify. They would do that by winning this month’s Asia Rugby Championship in Kazakhstan.
“We made a pledge at a spectacular Rugby World Cup 2021 in New Zealand to accelerate the advancement of the women’s game,” Bill Beaumont, the World Rugby chairman, said.
“Much progress is being made at rapid pace and today we are marking another milestone with confirmation of the dates and venues for the inaugural WXV competition.
“With women and girls leading our strategy to grow the sport on a global basis, this competition will increase the reach and impact of the sport and drive the overall competitiveness of women’s international rugby as we look forward to an expanded 16-team Rugby World Cup 2025 in England and subsequent Rugby World Cups in Australia in 2029 and USA in 2033.”
Fresh off the back of hosting a record-breaking Rugby World Cup, New Zealand will welcome the world’s top six teams across three match weekends on October 21 and 28, and November 4.
Cape Town will be the setting for WXV 2, with matches in October from the 14 to 28.
With the qualification process gathering pace, so far England, France and Wales have booked their place in WXV 1. Scotland have secured a place in WXV 2, and Ireland are confirmed for WXV 3. Italy will now play-off against Spain to determine the final European representatives in WXV 2 and WXV 3.
The World Rugby Pacific Four Series 2023 will determine the remaining three teams in WXV 1 and one team in WXV 2 with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA contesting the competition featuring the top two teams in Oceania and North America.
The remaining places will be determined via regional qualifiers, starting in May with competitions in Africa, Asia and Oceania being played in Madagascar, Kazakhstan and Australia respectively, while Brazil and Colombia will meet in a two-leg play-off to determine South America’s qualifier for WXV 3.
WXV 3 dates will mirror the same weekends as WXV 2, and World Rugby said a host would be announced when it was clearer who had qualified in order to “maximise attendance, reach and impact”.
WXV – How does it work?
All tiers will consist of six teams and be played in a cross-pool format.
WXV 1: The top three teams from the Six Nations and the top three teams from the World Rugby Pacific Four Series. Each team will play three matches. There will be no relegation or promotion for the first two years.
WXV 2: Two teams from Europe, the fourth-placed team from the Pacific Four Series, alongside one team from Oceania, Asia and Africa.
The sixth-placed regional position in the WXV 2 competition at the end of each season will be relegated to WXV 3.
WXV 3: Two teams from Europe and one from Asia, Oceania, Africa and South America. The regional position of the winner of WXV 3 will be promoted to WXV 2 and the bottom team will play off against the next best ranked side on the Monday after the final match of WXV that year.
