WXV
Women's rugby union tournament for national teams

WXV Global Series
Most recent season or competition:
2024 WXV
SportRugby union
Founded2021; 5 years ago (2021)
First season2023; 3 years ago (2023)
No. of teams18 (6 in 3 divisions)
CountryWorldwide
Most recent
champions		 England (WXV 1)
 Australia (WXV 2)
 Spain (WXV 3)
Official websitewxvrugby.com

WXV Global Series, formerly known simply as WXV, is an international annual women's rugby union competition between national teams. It was launched in 2023 as WXV,[1] featuring three tiers (WXV 1, WXV 2 and 3), each with six teams. In the original split-pool format, teams were divided into two pools and played only against teams from the opposite pool.[2] In September 2025, World Rugby announced the WXV Global Series, a two-tier, three-year programme running from 2026 to 2028. The series will feature more than 100 cross-regional matches and will form part of the qualification pathway for the 2029 Women's Rugby World Cup.[3][4]

Background and original format (2023—2024)

With the expansion of the 2025 Rugby World Cup from 12 to 16 teams, the test calendar was restructured, with the WXV serving to revolutionise the women's international landscape.[5][6][7] WXV was announced on 16 March 2021 with the inaugural edition intended to begin in September 2022, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was pushed back to 2023 to accommodate the postponed 2021 Rugby World Cup. World Rugby said they would be investing £6.4 million in the tournament. It was played within an international window from September to October, except for Rugby World Cup years.[1]

Original three tier format: 2023–2024

Qualification

Teams could qualify through various regional competitions and both play-off and play-in fixtures for the three competition tiers. Each tier had designated regional slots allocated before the 2023 edition. From 2023 the allocation of the slots in tiers two and three may change based on the region of the champion team and the lowest-ranked team. The allocation of slots in tier would have changed from 2026, however the competition was re-formatted before this happened. There was no guarantee that a team will play in the same tier as they did in the year before.

WXV 1

In both the 2023 and 2024 WXV 1 the top three teams from that year's Six Nations Championship and Pacific Four Series qualified for WXV 1. From 2026, the bottom-ranked side's regional place would have been relegated to WXV 2 and the top WXV 2 side's regional place would have been promoted.[2][8]

WXV 2

In 2023, the fourth-placed team from the Six Nations Championship and Pacific Four Series qualified for WXV 2 alongside the champions of the Oceania Rugby Women's Championship, the Asia Rugby Women's Championship, and the Rugby Africa Women's Cup. Additionally, the winner of a playoff between the 5th placed team in the Six Nations and the champions of the Rugby Europe Women's Championship secured a place.[2][8]

Starting in 2023, the champion of WXV 3 had their regional place elevated to WXV 2, leading to the displacement of the regional place of the sixth-placed team, which was relegated to WXV 3 for the following tournament (2024). From 2026 onwards, this process would have also applied to the regional places of both the WXV 2 champion and the sixth-placed team in WXV 1.[2][8]

WXV 3

In 2023, the sixth-placed team from the Six Nations Championship, the runner-up in the playoff between the 5th placed team in the Six Nations and the champion of the Rugby Europe Women's Championship, the winner of a Play-in tournament between Colombia and Brazil, along with the runners-up from the respective regional tournaments in Asia, Africa, and Oceania, qualified for WXV 3.[2][8]

Beginning in 2023, the champion of WXV 3 saw their regional place promoted to tier two, displacing the regional place of the sixth-placed WXV 2 team for the following tournament (2024). The team that was sixth-placed at the end of the tournament had to compete in a playoff with the best non-competing side in the World Rugby Rankings to decide who will take the last place in WXV 3 for the following tournament.[2]

Tournament

In both 2023 and 2024, all tiers used a cross-pool format. Teams are divided into two pools of teams from the same region if possible. Teams will only play the opposition in the other pool.[2][8] WXV 3 was originally announced as a round-robin tournament consisting of four teams. However, this was later revised to also be a six-team cross-pool competition.

Results

WXV 1

Ed. Year Host Champion Runner-up 3rd 4th 5th 6th
1 2023 New Zealand  England  Canada  Australia  New Zealand  France  Wales
2 2024 Canada  England  Ireland  Canada  New Zealand  France  United States
N/a 2025 No competition held due to the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup

WXV 2

Ed. Year Host Champion Runner-up 3rd 4th 5th 6th
1 2023 South Africa  Scotland  Italy  South Africa  Japan  United States  Samoa
2 2024  Australia  Scotland  Italy  South Africa  Wales  Japan
N/a 2025 No competition held due to the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup

WXV 3

Ed. Year Host Champion Runner-up 3rd 4th 5th 6th
1 2023 United Arab Emirates  Ireland  Fiji  Spain  Kenya  Kazakhstan  Colombia
2 2024  Spain  Samoa  Netherlands  Fiji  Hong Kong China  Madagascar
N/a 2025 No competition held due to the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup

Global series format: 2026–

In September 2025, World Rugby announced a major re-structure of the WXV, launching the WXV Global Series.[3][4] The new format runs from 2026 to 2028 and is designed to give women's national teams a larger and more consistent schedule of international rugby.

18 national teams will compete across two competitions. The rankings to determine positions in the series were set at the end of 2024 WXV and teams will remain fixed in these throughout the 2026—2028 cycle

In 2027, crossover matches between the two competitions will coincide with the British & Irish Lions Women's tour of New Zealand, giving additional opportunities for inter-tier play. Results from all three years will feed directly into the qualification pathway for the 2029 Women's Rugby World Cup.[3][4]

References

  1. ^ a b "New global women's competition WXV "wows" the rugby world". Women's Rugby | World Rugby. 19 March 2023. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "WXV: How does it work?". www.world.rugby. Archived from the original on 10 May 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "World Rugby and 18 national unions launch landmark WXV Global Series". World Rugby. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "WXV Global Series: Women's home nations gain control of autumn games". BBC Sport. 18 September 2025. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  5. ^ "Rugby World Cup 2025 set to break new ground as tournament expands to 16 teams". www.rugbyworldcup.com. 30 November 2020. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Women's Rugby World Cup to be expanded to 16 teams from 2025". Sky Sports. 30 November 2020. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Women's World Cup to Expand from 12 to 16 Teams for RWC 2025". Americas Rugby News. 27 January 2022. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d e "World Rugby confirms Pacific Four Series schedule, the new cross-regional women's 15s tournament". www.world.rugby. 29 September 2021. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  9. ^ https://www.rugbypass.com/news/black-ferns-and-springbok-women-join-2026-rugbys-greatest-rivalry-tour/
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WXV&oldid=1330992995"