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Springbok Women to kick-start WXV 2 showpiece

rugby16 July 2024 13:06
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Springbok Women © Gallo Images

The Springbok Women will face Japan in the opening game of the 2024 edition of WXV 2 on Friday, 27 September in Cape Town, with the other two tournaments kicking off on the same weekend in Canada (WXV 1) and Duban (WXV 3).

South Africa will face Japan, Australia and Italy in the tournament, which will be played at DHL Stadium and Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, with Scotland and Wales completing the six-country roster.

World Rugby on Tuesday unveiled the pools and action-packed match schedule for the highly anticipated return of the women’s 15s competition, which promises thrilling encounters across all three levels in Vancouver, Cape Town and Dubai with the final six Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 places up for grabs.

Kicking off on Friday, 27 September and scheduled to run across three weekends through to Saturday, 12 October, the three-level tournament will see 27 fixtures played across the globe.

Dubai (WXV 3) and South Africa (WXV 2) are returning hosts having each welcomed six teams in 2023 with Canada the new host of WXV 1 in 2024.

SA Rugby's High-Performance Manager for Women's Rugby, Lynne Cantwell, said the announcement brings reality to the Springbok Women's ambitions and will be the start of their Rugby World Cup 2025 cycle, to be played in England next September.

“We were actively building up our squad depth since the previous World Cup in New Zealand and this tournament will be the start of the cycle towards England next year,” said Cantwell.

“We had some focus on our women's sevens programme in this time as well, getting them to qualify for the Olympic Games and HSBC SVNS circuit and those players also added to our depth, which is great.

“All the matches in WXV 2 will be very competitive and as 12th ranked team, we will face sides ranked 11th, ninth and fifth in the world, so it will be a huge challenge for us.

“This will be a perfect opportunity though to get our squad ready for the Rugby World Cup next year and we are super excited about this. Playing at home will also be a huge boost for the players.”

Sally Horrox, World Rugby’s Chief of Women's Rugby, said: “We are delighted to reveal the fixtures for what is set to be an incredibly exciting and important second edition of WXV.

“With six Women’s Rugby World Cup places up for grabs, teams will be vying to secure qualification by ranking as highly as possible at the end of the tournament. No doubt, there will be some exhilarating matches, some new match ups and star players that will captivate fans around the world.”

WXV 2 FIXTURES:

South Africa v Japan

Friday, 27 September

DHL Stadium, Cape Town

Kick-off: 16h00

South Africa v Australia

Saturday, 5 October

Athlone Stadium, Cape Town

Kick-off: 17h00

South Africa v Italy

Saturday, 12 October

Athlone Stadium, Cape Town

Kick-off: 14h00

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