WXV begins this weekend in the UAE and South Africa, but what exactly is it? WXV is World Rugby’s attempt to drive growth in women’s rugby, by providing teams with more international matches. The key reason behind this is the expansion of Rugby World Cup 2025 to include 16 teams, which is up from the 12 who competed at last year’s tournament. Furthermore, World Rugby wants to ensure competitiveness doesn’t suffer and WXV appears to be a good approach to this. Each team that qualifies for WXV is guaranteed at least 3 matches a year, alongside the matches they play for qualification. This is a huge improvement given some nations previously haven’t even had a single guaranteed game in a year. For example, outside of last year’s World Cup, South Africa hadn’t played an international match since 2019.
WXV has massive promise for the future of women’s rugby. The competition is broken into three tiers of six teams, who will each play three matches across weekends in October and November.
WXV 1
WXV 1 is being hosted by Aotearoa New Zealand, and begins on Friday 20 October (local time). The first round of matches, which will be played in Wellington, are on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 October. Round 2 will be played on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 October at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium. Auckland will host the final round of games, played on Friday 3 and and Saturday 4 October.
Qualification for WXV 1 was straightforward. The top 3 teams from the Six Nations and the Pacific Four series were granted qualification for this year. England won the Six Nations, with France coming second and Wales third. The Pacific Four series was won by New Zealand, with Canada and Australia joining them in second and third respectively. The teams will play each of the teams from the other competition – i.e. the Six Nations teams will play each of the Pacific Four teams.
WXV 2
WXV 2 is being played in Stellenbosch and Cape Town, South Africa. Stellenbosch will host the first round of matches, to be played on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 October (local time). The final two rounds will be played in Cape Town on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 October, and then Friday 27 and Saturday 28 October.
Qualification for this tier was based largely on regional qualifiers. The fourth placed teams from the Six Nations and Pacific Four qualified – Scotland and USA respectively. Europe was also granted a further spot via a playoff between the fifth-placed Six Nations team, Italy, and Spain who were the winners of the Rugby Europe regional qualifiers. Italy won this match to claim the spot in WXV 2. Each of the remaining spots went to the winners of the regional qualifying tournaments for Africa, Asia, and Oceania. These were won by South Africa, Japan, and Samoa respectively.
The teams have been split into two pools – Scotland, Italy, and Samoa are in Pool A, while South Africa, Japan, and USA make up Pool B. Each team from Pool A will play each of the teams in Pool B.
WXV 3
WXV 3 kicks off on Friday 13 October at 5pm (local time) in Dubai. All matches for WXV 3 are being played at Dubai’s Sevens Stadium. The schedule for WXV 3 mirrors that of WXV 2.
Most of the teams in WXV 3 are the runner-ups for qualification to WXV 2. These teams are Spain, Kenya, Kazakhstan, and Fiji. Ireland qualified as the sixth-placed team in the Six Nations. The final spot went to Colombia, who beat out Brazil in the final of the South American regional qualifying tournament.
Ireland, Kenya, and Kazakhstan have been put in Pool A, with Spain, Fiji, and Colombia in Pool B. Much like WXV 2 each team from Pool A will play each of the teams in Pool B.
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Here are your WXV fixtures for 2023. #WXV #WXVRugby #Rugby pic.twitter.com/sKw5xzg2xh
— WXV (@WXVRugby) August 14, 2023
What’s at stake?
The main thing up for grabs in WXV is qualification for Rugby World Cup 2025, though it is worth noting this will be based on the 2024 WXV. The six best teams in WXV who don’t qualify for the World Cup by other means will earn qualification. New Zealand, England, France, and Canada have all already qualified for the next World Cup, meaning they don’t need to qualify through WXV. Wales and Australia are guaranteed a WXV qualifying spot if they don’t qualify through their regional tournaments because there is no relegation from WXV 1 in 2023. Otherwise, bragging rights are the only other thing up for grabs in WXV 1. England and France will be looking for revenge on New Zealand who beat them both on the way to winning the last World Cup.
WXV 2 and 3 will feature promotion and relegation in 2023, simultaneously providing motivation and jeopardy to teams in these tiers. The bottom-ranked side in WXV 2 will see their regional place relegated to WXV 3 – e.g. if USA finish last, the fourth-placed Pacific Four team will play in WXV 3 in 2024. The top side in WXV 3 will earn promotion for their region in 2024, while the sixth-placed team will play against the top-ranked non-WXV side to keep their spot. Especially with World Cup qualification on the line, promotion and relegation will play a major role for all teams involved.
In WXV World Rugby have made genuine steps towards growing the global game. It is an exciting time to be a rugby fan, with more top-quality matches on offer than ever before.
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