World Rugby launches landmark WXV Global Series on path to 2029 Women's Rugby World Cup

The series, launched in partnership with 18 national unions and the International Rugby Players Association, promises to deliver over 100 fixtures across the 2026–28 cycle.

Its aim is to fuel the momentum generated by recent record-breaking events — including the ongoing Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 in England, which has already attracted more than 300,000 fans and over 435 million video views across World Rugby channels.

The top 12 teams in the world, including England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy and world champions New Zealand, will compete in a home-and-away, cross-regional touring model within a newly aligned September–October international window.

This approach will allow unions to retain commercial rights to their home fixtures, creating valuable opportunities to grow the women’s game domestically.

Meanwhile, teams ranked 13–18 (Brazil, Fiji, Hong Kong China, Netherlands, Samoa and Spain) will play their fixtures at a single centralised venue in 2026 and 2028, fully funded by World Rugby. These tournaments are designed to address financial challenges and ensure development opportunities for emerging nations.

The structure also ties directly into the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2029 qualification process. Alongside automatic places for the four semi-finalists from RWC 2025 (Canada, England, France, New Zealand), teams will qualify through a mix of regional tournaments, world rankings, and a final qualification event within the WXV Global Series in 2028.

For the home nations, the new structure represents a major step forward in fixture certainty and global competitiveness. England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland will not only have guaranteed annual matches against Southern Hemisphere heavyweights such as New Zealand and Australia, but also retain the commercial and fan benefits of hosting marquee fixtures at home.

Importantly, the September–October window has been carefully aligned with the Guinness Women’s Six Nations, ensuring that Europe’s flagship women’s competition can continue to thrive in the spring, while the WXV Global Series provides a meaningful autumn programme. With the Six Nations already attracting record attendances, this dual-calendar approach looks set to supercharge the growth of women’s rugby across the UK and Ireland.

The launch comes as women’s rugby continues to surge in popularity. The Guinness Women’s Six Nations broke attendance records in 2023, with 58,498 fans at Twickenham for England v France, while the Pacific Four Series sold out in Kansas City. The first iteration of WXV, staged in 2023 and 2024, has already raised standards by providing more consistent, competitive fixtures for unions worldwide.

World Rugby Chair Brett Robinson hailed the new series as a “landmark moment”:

“The launch of the WXV Global Series marks another landmark moment for the women’s game, following what will be an era-defining Women’s Rugby World Cup in England, that will change the global landscape for women’s rugby.”

He added: “It delivers on our commitment to raise standards, provide consistent and competitive fixtures, a clear international calendar that prioritises welfare, and create sustainable commercial outcomes for the women’s game globally. Working closely with players and unions, this model creates the platform for women’s rugby to reach its full potential on and off the field.”

World Rugby Director of High Performance Nicky Ponsford echoed the excitement:

“This announcement builds on the growing momentum in women’s rugby. With the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 in England set to be the most attended and most viewed tournament in history, we now look ahead to the semi-final weekend with real excitement.”

“The WXV Global Series offers unions, players and domestic leagues certainty for the next three years. It will also support the development of teams ensuring quality competition across the cycle.”

With the new series now confirmed, the road to Australia 2029 is set to feature more opportunities, more visibility, and more high-quality international rugby than ever before.