WXV 2: Bok Women set to battle Japan, Australia, and Italy in Cape Town

South Africa will also face Australia and Italy in the tournament, which will be played at DHL Stadium and Athlone Stadium in Cape Town, with Scotland and Wales completing the six-country roster.

World Rugby on Tuesday unveiled the pools and action-packed match schedule for the highly anticipated return of the women's 15s competition, which promises thrilling encounters across all three levels in Vancouver, Cape Town and Dubai with the final six Women's Rugby World Cup 2025 places up for grabs.

Kicking off on Friday, 27 September and scheduled to run across three weekends through to Saturday, 12 October, the three-level tournament will see 27 fixtures played across the globe. Dubai (WXV 3) and South Africa (WXV 2) are returning hosts having each welcomed six teams in 2023 with Canada the new host of WXV 1 in 2024.

SA Rugby's High-Performance Manager for Women's Rugby, Lynne Cantwell, said the announcement brings reality to the Springbok Women's ambitions and will be the start of their Rugby World Cup 2025 cycle, to be played in England next September.

"We were actively building up our squad depth since the previous World Cup in New Zealand and this tournament will be the start of the cycle towards England next year," said Cantwell.

"We had some focus on our women's sevens programme in this time as well, getting them to qualify for the Olympic Games and HSBC SVNS circuit and those players also added to our depth, which is great.

"All the matches in WXV 2 will be very competitive and as 12th ranked team, we will face sides ranked 11th, ninth and fifth in the world, so it will be a huge challenge for us.

"This will be a perfect opportunity though to get our squad ready for the Rugby World Cup next year and we are super excited about this. Playing at home will also be a huge boost for the players."

Sally Horrox, World Rugby's Chief of Women's Rugby, said: "We are delighted to reveal the fixtures for what is set to be an incredibly exciting and important second edition of WXV.

"With six Women's Rugby World Cup places up for grabs, teams will be vying to secure qualification by ranking as highly as possible at the end of the tournament. No doubt, there will be some exhilarating matches, some new match ups and star players that will captivate fans around the world."

Springbok Women WXV 2 fixtures

South Africa v Japan

Date: Friday, 27 September

Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town

Kick-off: 16h00

South Africa v Australia

Date: Saturday, 5 October

Venue: Athlone Stadium, Cape Town

Kick-off: 17h00

South Africa v Italy

Date: Saturday, 12 October

Venue: Athlone Stadium, Cape Town

Kick-off: 14h00

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