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Celtic Challenge

Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 Celtic Challenge
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	2023; 1 year ago (2023)
No. of teams	6
Country	Ireland  Wales  Scotland
Most recent champion(s)	Wolfhounds (1st title)
Most titles	Combined Provinces XV Wolfhounds (one title)
Official website	https://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. 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.

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

Teams

Current teams

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

All time

A total of 9 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	Brython Thunder	2023–24
1	Clovers	2023–24
1	Edinburgh Rugby	2023–24
1	Glasgow Warriors	2023–24
1	Gwalia Lightning	2023–24
1	Wolfhounds	2023–24
1	Combined Provinces XV	2023
1	The Thistles	2023
1	Wales Development XV	2023

History

2023 competition

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

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

The first edition consisted of six matches in a double round robin:

Matchday	Home team	Score	Away team	Venue	Date	Ref
1	The Thistles	27–29	Wales Development XV	Scotstoun Stadium	22 January 2023
2	Wales Development XV	26–27	Combined Provinces XV	Cardiff Arms Park	29 January 2023
3	Combined Provinces XV	45–12	The Thistles	Kingspan Stadium	4 February 2023
4	Wales Development XV	7–21	The Thistles	Cardiff Arms Park	11 February 2023
5	Combined Provinces XV	19–0	Wales Development XV	Kingspan Stadium	18 February 2023
6	The Thistles	26–33	Combined Provinces XV	DAM Health Stadium	25 February 2023

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	T	TB	LB	Pts
1	Combined Provinces XV (C)	4	4	0	0	124	64	+60	18	3	0	19
2	The Thistles	4	1	0	3	86	114	−28	14	1	2	7
3	Wales Development XV	4	1	0	3	62	94	−32	9	0	1	5

2023–24 competition

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

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.
• 2 teams from Wales, Brython Thunder and Gwalia Lightning.
• 2 teams from Scotland, Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors

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

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. ^ 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.

• Women's rugby union competitions in Europe
• World Rugby competitions
• Recurring sporting events established in 2023
• Celtic Challenge