New Zealand, South Africa to host new women’s rugby tournaments, and Hong Kong could bid to join them
- World Rugby announces dates and locations for two of its three WXV tournaments later this year
- Six-team competitions to be held in October and November, with Hong Kong rugby bosses considering bid to host third tier event
World Rugby has confirmed the venues and dates for the inaugural WXV tournaments, which seek to increase “reach, impact and value” of the women’s game across the globe.
Starting in October, the three-tier competition, will pit sides from both hemispheres against each other depending on where they lie in the game’s rankings.
The top competition, featuring the likes of England and France, will be held in New Zealand, with South Africa hosting the WXV 2 tournament.
Hong Kong could stage the WXV 3 event, with local officials expressing an interest in doing so, but only if the city’s women qualify. They would do that by winning this month’s Asia Rugby Championship in Kazakhstan.
“We made a pledge at a spectacular Rugby World Cup 2021 in New Zealand to accelerate the advancement of the women’s game,” Bill Beaumont, the World Rugby chairman, said.
