Race to qualify for WXV gathers momentum
The first teams to confirm their places in the inaugural WXV competition could be known this weekend if England and France avoid defeat in their penultimate matches in the TikTok Women’s Six Nations 2023 against Ireland and Wales respectively.
With the top three teams in the Women’s Six Nations 2023 qualifying for the top tier of WXV later this year, a draw or win would mean that England and France cannot finish outside the top three.
Wales currently occupy the third position in the standings with Italy needing a win over Scotland to remain in the hunt for a place in WXV 1 ahead of the meeting between the sides in Parma on 29 April.
The top three teams in the Women’s Six Nations will be joined in WXV 1 by the teams finishing in the top three of the World Rugby Pacific Four Series 2023, which features Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA.
Canada won the opening match of the Pacific Four Series earlier this month, beating USA 50-17 in Madrid. Australia and New Zealand will kick-off their campaign in Brisbane on 29 June before all four teams converge on Ottawa in Canada for the remaining two rounds of matches.
The Pacific Four Series placings will be confirmed after the final round on 14 July.
There is just as much to play for among the teams currently ranked fourth to sixth in the Women’s Six Nations with places in WXV 2 and WXV 3 to be determined.
The team placing fourth will enter WXV 2 with the sixth-placed team automatically going into WXV 3. The fifth-placed team will face a play-off against Spain, the Rugby Europe Women’s Championship 2023 winners, to determine who qualifies for WXV 2 and WXV 3.
Away from the Women’s Six Nations and Pacific Four Series, the regional qualification process will soon be getting underway for teams in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America.
First up will be the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup Division 1 with Cameroon, Kenya, hosts Madagascar and South Africa contesting the round-robin tournament from 20-28 May in Antananarivo. The winner will advance to WXV 2 with the runner-up taking their place in WXV 3.
This signals the start of a busy period of women’s rugby with the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship and Oceania Rugby Women’s 15s Championship both getting underway in May.
RWC 2021 participants Japan meet China with Hong Kong China also taking on Kazakhstan on the first day of the Asia Rugby Women’s Championship 2023 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 23 May. The winners of the two matches will then face-off on 28 May to determine who goes into WXV 2 and WXV 3.
Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga will then contest the Oceania Rugby Women’s 15s Championship in Brisbane, Australia, between 26 May and 4 June. The winner will take their place in WXV 2 with the runners-up representing Oceania in WXV 3.
South America’s representatives in the first year of WXV will be either Brazil or Colombia, who will meet in a two-leg play-off in July. The winner will qualify for WXV 3 in 2023.
The host locations and dates for the tiers of the inaugural WXV competition will be revealed following the conclusion of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations.
World Rugby, alongside its regional associations and member unions, is developing a unified global calendar to support increased and consistent elite level women’s 15s competition.
How WXV works:
WXV 1
The top tier of competition will consist of six teams and be played in a cross-pool format.
Participating teams will be the top three teams from the TikTok Women’s Six Nations 2023 (Europe) and the top three teams from the World Rugby Pacific Four Series 2023 (Rugby Americas North/Oceania).
Each team will play three matches.
WXV 2
The second tier will also consist of six teams, playing in a cross-pool format.
Participating teams for 2023 will be two teams from Europe, the fourth-placed team from the Pacific Four Series, alongside the winners of the regional women’s championships in Africa, Asia and Oceania.
The European teams will be the fourth-placed side in the Women’s Six Nations 2023 and the winner of a play-off between the fifth-placed team and Spain, the Rugby Europe Women’s Championship 2023 winners.
The region represented by the team that finishes bottom of WXV 2 at the end of each tournament, will be relegated to WXV 3 for the following year.
WXV 3
The final tier will also feature six teams, playing in a cross-pool format.
Participating teams for 2023 will be two teams from Europe and one each from Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America.
Europe’s representatives will be the loser of the play-off between the fifth-placed team in the Women’s Six Nations and Spain, the Rugby Europe Women’s Championship 2023 winners, as well as the bottom-placed team in the Women’s Six Nations.
They will be joined by the runners-up in the regional women’s championship in Africa, Asia and Oceania with the final place going to the winner of a two-leg play-off between Brazil and Colombia who will represent South America.
The regional position of the WXV 3 winner will be promoted to WXV 2 for the following year. The team finishing bottom of WXV 3 will play-off against the next-best ranked side, according to the World Rugby Women’s Rankings powered by Capgemini update on the Monday immediately following the final match of WXV that year.
Comments on RugbyPass
Its a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend om the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside od World Cup years.
5 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
5 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
5 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to comments