World Rugby has launched WXV, a three-tiered annual competition model as part of its commitment to increase competition, commercial and fan engagement opportunities while raising competitiveness of the women’s game ahead of an expanded 16-team Rugby World Cup 2025.

Supported by an initial £6.4 million World Rugby investment, the three WXV competitions will feature 16 teams and will be hosted within a new September-October global competition window, except in a Rugby World Cup year.

Teams will qualify annually into the WXV competitions courtesy of their finishing positions within the respective annual regional competitions, such as the Women’s Six Nations. These regional competitions, played within a new regional window, must be completed by June each year.

To support the implementation of the WXV competitions, a new annual cross-region competition will be established which will act as one of the principle qualification routes for the top tier of WXV. This will feature Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA.

The WXV structure

WXV 1

WXV 1 will consist of six teams and will be played in a cross-pool format, at a standalone tournament in one location, which will be determined on a year-by-year basis.

Participating teams will include the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (Europe) and the top three teams of the cross-regional tournament featuring Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA (Oceania/Rugby Americas North (RAN)). Each team will play three matches.

There will be no promotion or relegation in the first cycle of WXV 1.

WXV 2

The WXV 2 competition will consist of six teams, playing in a cross-pool format, at a standalone tournament in one location, which will be determined on a year-by-year basis.

Participating teams for 2023 will include two teams from Europe, the fourth-placed team from the cross-regional tournament featuring Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA (Oceania/RAN) 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

WXV 3 will be hosted in one venue as a round-robin format and will consist of four teams with the winner and rankings determined by a points table. Participating teams will include two teams from Europe, one team from Asia and the winner of an Africa v South America play-off.

The top ranked regional position in the WXV 3 competition will be promoted to the WXV 2 competition at the end of each season.

A play-off between the fourth-ranked team and the next best ranked team from the World Rugby Women’s Rankings will determine regional position for the next year.

World Rugby Chairman, Sir Bill Beaumont, said: “This is a landmark moment for the sport. Today’s announcement of a new, global international 15s calendar will underpin the future success and accelerate the development of the women’s game.

“By establishing a unified international 15s calendar and introducing WXV we are creating a platform for the women’s international teams to compete in more consistent, competitive and sustainable competitions at regional and global level. At the same time, we are also growing the profile, fanbase and commercial revenue, generating opportunities for women’s rugby through the new Women in Rugby commercial programme.

“This is an ambitious, long-term commitment to make the global game more competitive, to grow the women’s game and support the expansion of Rugby World Cup to 16 teams from 2025 and beyond.”

World Rugby Vice-Chairman, Bernard Laporte, said: “The new international 15s calendar will provide a consistent, long-term competition pathway and increased international playing opportunities. For the first time ever, women’s high-performance programmes will, in essence, be able to plan from Rugby World Cup to Rugby World Cup with certainty as a result of the new unified global international 15s calendar.”

World Rugby Competitions Operations Manager, Alison Hughes, added: “We have been working in collaboration with our member unions, regions and other key stakeholders over the past two years, developing the unified global international 15s calendar and competition offering.

“To grow the game at elite level we need to ensure our member unions have quality, competitive and consistent playing opportunities so they can continue to develop and invest in their women’s high-performance programmes.

“As part of the international 15s calendar development we have focused on strengthening existing regional competitions and also established an exciting new cross-regional competition to increase annual playing opportunities for some of the top teams in the world where it simply did not exist before.”

Scottish Rugby’s Head of Girls’ & Women’s Performance Rugby, Gemma Fay, said: “This is a significant and important step in the continuation of developing women’s rugby both globally and nationally.

“It’s fantastic to secure regular competitions at a global level, while continuing to play at a regional level with the Six Nations.

“It also heightens the competition of the Six Nations as where you place in the tournament now has an impact on the global season. Every performance will count and we need that pressure as a squad in order to keep developing.”

Recognising that globally women’s high-performance programmes are currently at differing levels and stages, World Rugby is committed to work in partnership with unions to support collective ambitions to progress women’s high-performance programmes forward in a realistic and appropriate pace of development to ensure optimal performance within the WXV.

World Rugby has also announced that the competition programme will be supported by a dedicated Women in Rugby commercial programme that sets out to actively further profile, engagement and sustainable growth, driving revenue back into the development of the game, supporting another key objective of the Women in Rugby Plan 2017-2025.

Watch the video below for more information on the new format