IRFU announce women's Combined Provinces XV competition

The IRFU have announced that, in partnership with the WRU and the SRU, they have created a women's Combined Provinces XV to play in a pilot Celtic Challenge competition as preparation for the 2023 TikTok Six Nations Championships.

The tournament will see one team from each union compete in a series of home and away fixtures over a six-week period.

Ireland will be represented in the 2023 edition by a Combined Provinces XV, under the guidance of the national team coaching group led by Greg McWilliams and John McKee.

The Ireland Combined Provinces squad will comprise of contracted XVs players and club players under consideration for the Irish Six Nations squad.

Greg McWilliams, Ireland head coach, said: "The Celtic Challenge comes directly after the interprovincial series which will give players the opportunity to build form and match sharpness coming into this new competition

"As a coaching group it gives us the chance to spend six weeks working with a group of established and emerging players ahead of the Six Nations."

Gillian McDarby, IRFU Head of Women's Performance and Pathways, added: "The three partner Unions have worked closely together to put the necessary supports in place to help establish this competition. It is vital at this stage of the sport’s development that we establish sustainable competition models that bridge the gap between the player pathway and the international game.

"The ambition across the three Unions is to increase the number of competing teams in 2024 to six and over the course of the next 3-5 years it is the IRFU’s ambition to have four Irish teams competing in this tournament."