Ireland co-captains Edel McMahon and Sam Monaghan lift the WXV3 trophy following the team's win over Spain last October ©Christopher Pike/World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images
WXV returns in September and October later this year, with Canada, South Africa, and Dubai hosting the best of the best in Women’s international rugby.
With the added excitement of six 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup places up for grabs, the action promises to be compelling.
Following its impactful launch in 2023, the tournament remains central to World Rugby’s ambition to accelerate the growth of the Women’s game.
WXV provides more competitive matches for national teams, and greater profile and investment on the road to an expanded 16-team Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2025.
Canada’s hosting of WXV1 comes after record crowds at the World Rugby Pacific Four Series in 2023. With the national team flying high in the top four of the World Rugby Women’s Rankings, powered by Capgemini, hosting the pinnacle annual competition in the Women’s calendar will ignite excitement further.
Meanwhile, building on the momentum achieved in 2023, WXV2 will return to South Africa, and WXV3 to Dubai, delivering a world class high performance environment for teams.
This year’s tournament will kick off earlier to support performance planning and best preparation for Unions for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025. All three levels will play across the same three weekends to enable the six qualification spots to be confirmed immediately after the conclusion of the tournament.
Round 1: Friday, September 27-Sunday, September 29
Round 2: Friday, October 4-Sunday, October 6
Round 3: Friday, October 11-Sunday, October 13
Qualification for WXV gets under way in March, with teams from around the world competing to secure one of 18 spots across the relevant levels through their regional competitions.
Competitive and exciting matches in the final round of WXV 2023 determined regional positions across all three levels for 2024, with exception to the final spot in WXV3 which will be determined by a play-off between Colombia (placed last in WXV3 2023) and the Netherlands (top-ranked team from alternative region).
Four teams have already booked their place at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, courtesy of reaching the semi-finals of the previous edition, played in New Zealand in 2022. They are reigning World champions New Zealand, Guinness Women’s Six Nations and WXV1 champions England, Canada, and France.
A further six teams will qualify as winners of six regional tournaments in 2024 (the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship, Guinness Women’s Six Nations, Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship, Pacific Four Series, Rugby Africa Women’s Cup, and the Sudamerica play-off).
The final six spots will go to the highest finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through RWC 2021 and the regional tournaments outlined above.
World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby, Sally Horrox, said: “We are delighted to be working with Rugby Canada, the South African Rugby Union, and Dubai to host WXV later this year.
“The tournament plays a fundamental role in helping us to grow Women’s rugby, and provides more opportunities for players, showcases the game to more fans, and inspires more girls to play.
“Our hosts all share our ambition to take the tournament to the next level and further strengthen the development of the Women’s game.
It’s crucial that teams get sufficient preparation and game-time ahead of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, and WXV is designed to help to provide this for players and coaches alike.
“I saw first-hand just how much the competitiveness grew across the tournament last year, and I look forward to the same again.”
WXV continues to be supported by Capgemini, Gallagher, Mastercard, and Mitsubishi Electric, with World Rugby also injecting multi-million pound investment on the road to RWC 2025.
WXV will break in 2025 for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in England, and a full review of the tournament will be undertaken with participating Unions to ensure that, collectively, WXV continues to support high performance and commercial goals on the road to the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup in Australia and beyond.
The WXV match schedule, venues, and ticketing information will be announced in the coming weeks.
More information, including all the latest WXV news, can be found here.
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