England to defend WXV1 title in Canada as tournament schedule announced ahead of 2025 Rugby World Cup

England will defend their WXV1 title in Canada as the schedule for this year's competition was announced.

Canada will host the top tier of WXV – a global women's rugby tournament – for the first time. WXV2 will return to South Africa, while WXV3 will again be held in Dubai.

All three tiers of the tournament will be played across consecutive weekends at the end of September and start of October – September 27 to 29, October 4 to 6 and October 11 to 13.

England hold the WXV1 title after defeating world champions New Zealand in the inaugural edition of the tournament last year.

Scotland won WXV2, while Ireland are the current WXV3 champions.

Qualification for this year's WXV will take place through regional competitions in March, with 18 spots available across all three tiers.

The top three teams from the Women's Six Nations will enter WXV1, while the fourth and fifth-placed sides will enter WXV2.

The bottom-placed team at the Women’s Six Nations then faces a play-off against the Rugby Europe Championship winner for the final spot in WXV2, with the loser dropping down into WXV3.

"We are delighted to be working with Rugby Canada, the South African Rugby Union and Dubai to host WXV later this year," said World Rugby chief of women’s rugby Sally Horrox.

"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.

"Our hosts all share our ambition to take the tournament to the next level and further strengthen the development of the women’s game."

This year's WXV will have the added incentive of qualification for the 2025 Rugby World Cup, which will be staged in England.

There will be six places at the World Cup up for grabs, although a number of teams have already qualified.

Canada, England, France and New Zealand reached the last four at the Rugby World Cup in 2022, earning a spot at the next edition of the tournament.

"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," Horrox added.

"I saw firsthand just how much the competitiveness grew across the tournament last year and I look forward to the same again."

For now, England's players will be focusing on the current Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby season, shown live on TNT Sports, before the Women's Six Nations gets underway on March 23.

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