Celtic Challenge

Celtic Challenge
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2024–25 Celtic Challenge
SportRugby union
Founded2023; 2 years ago (2023)
No. of teams6
Country Ireland
 Wales
 Scotland
Most recent
champion(s)		Ireland Wolfhounds (1st title)
Most titlesIreland Combined Provinces XV
Ireland Wolfhounds (one title)
Official websitehttps://celticrugbycomp.com/

The Celtic Challenge is a cross-border women's rugby union competition that will be held annually, launched in 2023. Designed to develop players for the Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the inaugural pilot edition featured a double round robin between three teams, one from each participating union. From 2024 the competition will involve six teams, two from each participating union.[1][2] Beginning with the 2024–25 season, the competition will maintain its six-team setup, transitioning into a full home-and-away round-robin format. The winners will be determined by standings at the end of the season.[3]

The three participating unions fund the competition, with further development funding from World Rugby.

Teams

Current teams
Team Area Established Titles (last)
Wales Brython Thunder Scarlets Llaneli 2023 – (N/A)
Ireland Clovers Munster and Connacht 2023 – (N/A)
Scotland Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh District 2023 – (N/A)
Scotland Glasgow Warriors Glasgow District 2023 – (N/A)
Wales Gwalia Lightning Cardiff Blues 2023 – (N/A)
Ireland Wolfhounds Leinster and Ulster 2023 1 (2023–24)

All time

A total of nine clubs have been involved in since the league's inception in the 2023 season. Below, the 2023–24 clubs are listed along with the number of full seasons they've competed in. Current clubs are shown in bold. The seasons each club has participated in, including the present one, are displayed in the last column.

Seasons competed Team Seasons participated
1 Wales Brython Thunder 2023–24
1 Ireland Clovers 2023–24
1 Scotland Edinburgh Rugby 2023–24
1 Scotland Glasgow Warriors 2023–24
1 Wales Gwalia Lightning 2023–24
1 Ireland Wolfhounds 2023–24
1 Ireland Combined Provinces XV 2023
1 Scotland The Thistles 2023
1 Wales Wales Development XV 2023

History

2023 competition

The inaugural year of the competition in 2023 consisted of three teams:[2]

Union Ireland Ireland Scotland Scotland Wales Wales
Team Combined Provinces XV The Thistles Wales Development XV

The first edition consisted of six matches in a double round robin:[4][5]

Matchday Home team Score Away team Venue Date Ref
1 Scotland The Thistles 27–29 Wales Wales Development XV Scotstoun Stadium 22 January 2023 [1][6][7][8]
2 Wales Wales Development XV  26–27 Ireland Combined Provinces XV Cardiff Arms Park 29 January 2023 [9][10][11]
3 Ireland Combined Provinces XV  45–12 Scotland The Thistles Kingspan Stadium 4 February 2023 [12][13][14]
4 Wales Wales Development XV 7–21 Scotland The Thistles Cardiff Arms Park 11 February 2023 [2][15][16][17]
5 Ireland Combined Provinces XV 19–0 Wales Wales Development XV Kingspan Stadium 18 February 2023 [18][19][20]
6 Scotland The Thistles  26–33 Ireland Combined Provinces XV DAM Health Stadium 25 February 2023 [3][21][22]
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD T TB LB Pts
1 Ireland Combined Provinces XV (C) 4 4 0 0 124 64 +60 18 3 0 19
2 Scotland The Thistles 4 1 0 3 86 114 −28 14 1 2 7
3 Wales Wales Development XV 4 1 0 3 62 94 −32 9 0 1 5
First match(es) will be played: Unknown. Source: [4]
Rules for classification: 1) competition points; 2) match points difference; 3) match points for
(C) Champion

2023–24 competition

Main article: 2023–24 Celtic Challenge

In November 2023 it was announced that for the second season, the competition would expand to six teams.[23]

In December it was announced that the 2023–24 competition will run from December to March 2024 and will be contested by six teams:

  • 2 teams from Ireland, the Clovers and the Wolfhounds.[24]
  • 2 teams from Wales, Brython Thunder and Gwalia Lightning.[25]
  • 2 teams from Scotland, Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors[26]

The teams will play each other once, either home or away, across five rounds before play-offs to decide a champion in March 2024.[27]

References

  1. ^ Barnes, David (21 December 2022). "Celtic Challenge to provide high-performance opportunities ahead of TikTok Six Nations". The Offside Line. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b Reid, Alasdair (20 November 2023). "Young 'Thistles' set for new women's rugby challenge as Celtic Challenge announced". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  3. ^ "Edinburgh & Glasgow return for expanded Celtic Challenge". BBC Sport. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Celtic Challenge – Rugby". Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  5. ^ "Celtic Challenge kicks off this weekend". ScrumQueens.com. 18 January 2023. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Match Report: The Thistles v WRU Development XV". Scottish Rugby Union. 22 January 2023. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  7. ^ "WRU Development XV claims win in Scotland". Welsh Rugby Union. 22 January 2023. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Celtic Challenge: Thistles 27-29 WRU Development XV". BBC. 22 January 2023. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Close Celtic challenge at Arms Park". Welsh Rugby Union. 29 January 2023. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Combined Provinces Win Opening Celtic Challenge Clash In Wales". Irish Rugby Football Union. 29 January 2023. Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  11. ^ "Celtic Challenge: WRU Development XV 26-27 Combined Provinces XV". BBC. 29 January 2023. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Combined Provinces Win With Seven Tries At Kingspan Stadium". Irish Rugby Football Union. 4 February 2023. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  13. ^ "Match Report: Combined Provinces v The Thistles". Scottish Rugby Union. 4 February 2023. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  14. ^ "Celtic Challenge: Combined Irish Provinces earn 45-12 win over Scottish Thistles". BBC. 5 February 2023. Archived from the original on 6 February 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
  15. ^ "Thistles gain revenge over Development XV". Welsh Rugby Union. 11 February 2023. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  16. ^ "Match Report: WRU Development XV v The Thistles". Scottish Rugby Union. 11 February 2023. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Celtic Challenge: WRU Development XV 7-21 Thistles". BBC. 11 February 2023. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  18. ^ "Combined Provinces Notch Up Third Celtic Challenge Win". Irish Rugby Football Union. 18 February 2023. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  19. ^ "Combined Provinces remain unbeaten in Celtic Challenge". Welsh Rugby Union. 18 February 2023. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  20. ^ "Celtic Challenge: Irish Provinces clinch title as Wales draw blank". BBC. 19 February 2023. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  21. ^ "Match Report: The Thistles v Combined Provinces". Scottish Rugby Union. 25 February 2023. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  22. ^ "Combined Provinces Finish Celtic Challenge Unbeaten". Irish Rugby Football Union. 25 February 2023. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  23. ^ "Celtic Challenge to expand in second year". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  24. ^ "Fixtures and Team Names for Celtic Challenge Announced". Irish Rugby. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  25. ^ "Two new teams to represent Wales in expanded Celtic Challenge". Welsh Rugby Union. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  26. ^ "Celtic Challenge competition format confirmed alongside alignment of Scottish sides to Edinburgh Rugby & Glasgow Warriors". Scottish Rugby. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  27. ^ "Thunder and Lightning set for Celtic Challenge". BBC Sport. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.