Scotland Women to defend WXV2 & the road to England

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - MARCH 30: Scotland line up for the national anthem ahead a Guinness Women's Six Nations match between Scotland and France at Hive Stadium, on March 30, 2024, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Guinness Women’s Six Nations

It has been a momentous few months for Scotland Women, here’s a breakdown of the history made in this year’s Six Nations.

• First win in Wales since 2004 (18-20), giving Scotland a seven-game win streak, the team’s longest stretch of consecutive wins.
• A record-breaking crowd of 7,774 spectators, selling out Hive Stadium for Scotland’s fixture against England (13 March).
• Two new 50-cap milestones marked by Louise McMillan and Rhona Lloyd.
• Back-to-back wins against Italy (10-17), with a first victory on Italian soil for 25 years.
• Two new Scotland caps: Alex Stewart (236) and Fi McIntosh (237). Stewart is a product of the Pathway (U18 and Scotland Futures), and both players featured across the Celtic Challenge for Edinburgh Rugby.

Alex Stewart (left) made 64 tackles across the campaign, the joint highest of any player.

Rugby World Cup 2025

England and France have already qualified for Women’s Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2025 having reached the semi-finals in New Zealand in 2022.

Prior to the Guinness Women’s Six Nations kicking off, it was confirmed that the highest ranked nation after England and France would earn their ticket to England 2025. After their narrow victory over the Scots in Round 5, Ireland have qualified.

There will be a further opportunity for Scotland teams to qualify for Women’s RWC 2025 through WXV, with the top six ranked non-qualified teams across the three levels at the end of this year’s competition securing their spot.

WXV

In 2023, World Rugby launched a brand-new tournament, WXV. The competition involves the top 16 nations in women’s rugby, split into three divisions. Scotland secured their spot in the second tier of the competition, WXV 2, after finishing fourth in the recent 2023 Women’s Six Nations championship.

Scotland enjoyed three wins out of three games at the WXV 2 tournament in South Africa, beating South Africa, USA and Japan. The final standings came down to points difference with Italy, in which Scotland came out on top to claim the title.

Their wins contributed to six consecutive wins, for the first time since 2001, and provided momentum for the squad going into the 2024 Guinness Women’s Six Nations.

Scotland after winning WXV2 2023.

Now, after their fourth-place finish in the Six Nations, the team have qualified once more for WXV 2, and will contest to retain the title.

Scotland will join Italy, alongside the winners of the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup and Asia Rugby Women’s Championship, plus the fourth-place finishing team in the Pacific Four Series.

Scotland will travel to South Africa, who are the hosts of the WXV 2 competition with three rounds being played.

Round 1 – Friday, 27 – Sunday, 29 September
Round 2 – Friday, 4 – Sunday, 6 October
Round 3 – Friday, 11 – Sunday, 13 October

Hear from the Coach & Captain

“The championship as a whole would suggest we are moving forward but we wanted to finish it off in a way we deserved. Now we have to focus on what we will learn from this championship, move on and look to come back and perform as best as we can. We’ll look forward to going to South Africa, contesting the title and making sure we qualify for the World Cup.” – Bryan Easson

“Pushing France so close, coming away with two wins and pushing Ireland right up till the final whistle is an incredible achievement in a tournament, but it doesn’t mean we are satisfied.

“The depth we have built in this squad and the performances we have put together have been good but our ability to put away opportunities is going to be the point of difference to take us to the next level.

“We’ll regroup and now we have a chance to defend our WXV2 title and that will be our focus for the next six months. I have no doubt that with the character in this group, and talent we have in this group, we will bounce back and go there to put in the best performance for Scotland that we can.” – Rachel Malcolm