THE IRFU HAS confirmed it has partnered with its Welsh (WRU) and Scottish (SRU) equivalents to launch a pilot ‘Celtic Challenge’ competition, supported by World Rugby, to provide a high-performance tournament window for players in national-team contention ahead of the 2023 TikTok Six Nations.
The first edition of the tournament, which will begin on 29 January, will see one team from each of the three Celtic-nation unions compete against each other home and away over a six-week period. The development competition will conclude four weeks prior to kick-off in the Six Nations.
Ireland, Wales and Scotland intend to expand the tournament to six teams in 2024, with two sides competing from each country.
The IRFU 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 squad will consist of contracted XVs players as well as club players who are under consideration for inclusion in McWilliams’ Six Nations squad. It will be based at the IRFU’s High Performance Centre on the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin.
The Combined Provinces XV’s two home fixtures will be played at Kingspan Stadium, Belfast, on the 4 February and 18 February.
Wales will be represented by the Welsh Development XV, which will be led by Wales forwards coach Mike Hill and assisted by WRU lead female pathway coach Liza Burgess as well as Rhys Pritchard.
The Welsh squad will consist of a mix of young, up-and-coming players as well as club players with a stated focus on developing talent for the 2025 World Cup and beyond.
The Scots will be represented by The Thistles, whose coaches will be confirmed in the new year. Their squad will comprise of home-based contracted players as well as rising talent within the Scottish Futures programme and the Tennent’s Premiership.
Gillian McDarby, the IRFU’s head of women’s performance and pathways who worked with the WRU and SRU to deliver the tournament, said that “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 three to five years, it is the IRFU’s ambition to have four Irish teams competing in this tournament.”
Ireland head coach Greg McWilliams added: “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.”
2023 Celtic Challenge – Combined Provinces XV Fixtures
(Kick-off times will be confirmed by the respective unions once finalised)
- WRU Development XV v Combined Provinces XV, Sunday 29 January 2023 – Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
- Combined Provinces XV v The Thistles, Saturday 4 February 2023 – Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
- Combined Provinces XV v WRU Development XV, Saturday 18 February 2023 – Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
- The Thistles v Combined Provinces XV, Sunday 25 February 2023 – TBC
