World Rugby has announced that South Africa will host one of three new WXV tournaments later this year.
South Africa will play host to the six-team second tier WXV 2 competition in the Western Cape, with matches being played across the weekends of 14, 21 and 28 October. WXV 1 will be hosted in New Zealand, while the host for WXV 3 is set to be named once the participating team picture becomes clearer, in order to maximise attendance, reach and impact.
However, to qualify, the Springbok Women must win the African Cup tournament in Madagascar towards the end of May – when they face Cameroon, Kenya and the host union in Antananarivo. Success for the Springbok Women would guarantee them qualification for WXV 2 and the chance to play in front of local supporters for the first time since hosting Spain in August 2022.
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“It’s massive for the women’s game and we can only commend World Rugby for designing and funding the competition where the top 18 teams in the world will get more competitive games to play, and I have no doubt that it is going to drive the standard of the game,” said Lynne Cantwell, SA Rugby’s High-Performance Manager for Women’s Rugby. “Domestically, we would love to market the women’s game as wide as possible and by having it on our doorstep, we can reach out to many potential fans and players by bringing the game to them. It will also give our national team at least three more competitive Tests every year and this time around, it will provide a good build-up to the 2024 season, which will be the next Rugby World Cup qualification cycle. More games will make us more competitive and hopefully improve our world ranking.”
The WXV series is part of World Rugby’s mission to raise the profile and competitiveness of women’s 15s by providing the global platform between Rugby World Cups to increase the reach, impact and value of the sport, growing the game as a whole.
Importantly, it will double the number of annual international fixtures for most competing teams, combining with World Rugby’s Accelerate programme to raise standards at Rugby World Cup 2025 and beyond.
“WXV is the flagship of the competitions pillar of our accelerating the global growth of women in rugby strategy,” said World Rugby Chief of Women’s Rugby Sally Horrox. “It is more than a world-class competition, it is a statement of intent, a vehicle to supercharge the reach, competitiveness and value of elite women’s rugby and growing rugby more broadly, projecting the sport to new audiences in new markets.