WXV Global Series: A Mini-World Cup on Home Soil
Lynne Cantwell, head of women's strategy at the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), has described the forthcoming WXV Global Series as akin to having "a mini-World Cup every year, but on home soil."
The WXV Global Series replaces the previous WXV competition and will feature the top 12 international women's rugby teams worldwide.
Participating nations include England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, alongside France, Italy, Japan, South Africa, and the United States. Matches are scheduled to take place during the autumn international break.
This tournament is designed to prepare teams for the 2029 Rugby World Cup in Australia, with each team playing between nine and sixteen Test matches annually within the WXV Global Series.
"Ireland play USA and Japan and the actual locations are nearly ready to be published and they will be published before the end of the Six Nations," Cantwell told the Ireland Rugby Social.
"That will be brilliant and I think this is going to be a really exciting competition as you are going to have USA coming, Australia the following year, New Zealand and Canada.
"You are going to have a mini-World Cup every year but this will be on home soil. From an Irish rugby point of view, we will have five or six international home games every year which has never happened before. That is really massive."
Lynne Cantwell: Visibility, Legacy and Changing Irish Rugby
Currently, Ireland is competing in the 2024 Women's Six Nations Championship and has lost two of its opening three matches.
Despite these results, Cantwell highlighted positive aspects from the games, particularly noting the 26-7 defeat to France.
"I honestly thought the first half against France, particularly from a pack point of view, was sublime," Cantwell said.
"I am not going to lie, I have never seen anything like it from an Ireland point of view.
"It was absolutely amazing and all the players involved should be so proud of themselves and what they can do. It is only just starting."
Cantwell joined the IRFU in 2025 following a distinguished playing career.
She earned a record 86 caps for Ireland's women's rugby team and was part of the squad that achieved a Grand Slam victory in 2013.
In her current role, Cantwell emphasizes the importance of the women's team becoming financially independent and not relying on the men's game for funding.
"One of the big roles, this may sound black and white, but is how do we commercialise the game and how do we go on a journey that we are able to get revenue and put it back into the pathways and grassroots?
"At the moment, the women's game, this is in women's sport full stop, largely relies on the men's game to be able to fund it.
"Historically, what sport will generate revenue from is tickets, broadcast and sponsorship. We are really young on that journey and what you are trying to do is get people to see that vision, understand it and buy into it."
Cantwell also noted that the IRFU can learn from other female sporting organizations worldwide, such as the Women's Super League (WSL) in England.
"It is a big piece of work and all women's sport is on that journey and rugby isn't breaking through there quite yet.
"The closest is the RFU [Rugby Football Union] and they are trying to make a return in investment by 2031/33. Otherwise, the people we looked at was basketball over in America or the WSL.
"They are big sisters that you are looking at how they do it, but there are big pieces of work."
Cantwell also played in a Rugby World Cup semi-final in France in 2014, further underscoring her extensive experience in the sport.
