The venues for the new annual three-tiered global women’s tournament WXV have been announced for 2024, with Canada the hosts for WXV 1.
WXV 2 will again take place in South Africa and WXV 3 returns to Dubai.
England became the inaugural WXV 1 champions in November after beating world champions New Zealand in Auckland.
All three levels of the tournament will be played across three consecutive weekends in September and October.
Six qualification spots for the World Cup in England 2025 are also available. These will be given to the highest finishing WXV teams, who have not yet qualified through reaching the semi-finals of the previous World Cup or via their regional tournaments.
Hosts Canada were defeated by England in 2022 at the semi-final stage of the World Cup meaning both have already qualified. New Zealand and France are the other two sides safely into England 2025.
With England and France already qualified for the World Cup, the next highest ranked team in this year’s Six Nations will qualify for the tournament ahead of WXV.
In November, Scotland’s 38-7 bonus-point victory over Japan saw them crowned champions of WXV 2 and Ireland narrowly defeated Spain 15-13 to clinch WXV 3.
“The tournament plays a fundamental role in helping us to grow women’s rugby and provides more opportunities for players, showcases the game to more fans and inspires more girls to play,” Sally Horrox, World Rugby’s director of women’s rugby, said.
“It’s crucial that teams get sufficient preparation and game-time ahead of Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, and WXV is designed to help to provide this for players and coaches alike.”
Qualification through regional competitions for WXV takes place in March with 18 spots available. The top three teams from the Six Nations will enter WXV 1 and fourth and fifth-placed teams will enter WXV 2.
The team that finishes bottom of the championship will face a play-off against the Rugby Europe Championship winner for the final spot in WXV 2, with the loser playing in WXV 3.
Key dates
Round 1 – 27-29 September
Round 2 – 4-6 October
Round 3 – 11-13 October
The match schedule is still to be confirmed.