A British and Irish league for women’s rugby is something that could happen down the line, but the Celtic Challenge must continue to grow in quality before the Scottish, Irish and Welsh unions have the “muscle” to discuss that prospect further with English PWR bosses.
That is the view of Scottish Rugby CEO Alex Williamson who was speaking on Thursday as he addressed numerous topics in the women’s game whilst the governing body announced their new-look annual contracting model for the 2025/26 season for the women’s game.
“I think the conversations we’ve had with PWR would certainly point to an enthusiasm to have some cross-fertilisation, whether that’s in some cup competitions or whatever else,” he stated.
“I think there’s an interest in that as a starting point and I’m very confident that if you were to bring any of the home unions into the room that there would be an agreement that, from a commercial perspective, the strongest possible outcome for the women’s game would be a consolidated league.
“But clearly, the PWR are not going to be interested in that conversation until the quality of the Celtic Challenge is at a level where they feel that we can be genuinely competitive on a weekly basis.
“And that is the responsibility of ourselves, the Irish and the Welsh to do that and that’s our focus in the short-term. We have to have the muscle to have the conversation and at the moment, we don’t have that.
“I think that there are some natural timing moments that we need to focus on. I would agree that it’s not in the next season or two, but I think that within this cycle [the period running up to the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2029], we’ll have the answer to that question.”
The six-team Celtic Challenge competition for 2025/26, featuring Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors alongside two Irish sides and two Welsh sides, will start in December and will see knock-out rugby for the first time. After the traditional 10-round league season, things will culminate in semi-finals and the inaugural Celtic Challenge final.
Following three seasons of growth, the Celtic Challenge has established itself as an important competition in the women’s rugby calendar, especially for Scottish players looking to make the step up towards the international game.
Finances and quality of the product are always an issue with these types of newish ventures, but, with Scottish Rugby keen to have as many Scotland caps based up here and playing for Edinburgh and Glasgow going forward rather than down south or in France, Williamson added: “In terms of the finance of the Celtic Challenge, we are comfortable that the commitment to Celtic Challenge from all three unions involved is there, alongside the support that continues to be there from World Rugby.
“We’re confident that that tournament is stable and is a good platform from which to both grow our players and also to grow commercial viability.
“With our focus being on delivering first qualification and then really excellent outcomes at the Rugby World Cup in 2029, with a view that the Celtic Challenge will hopefully grow to the extent that a British and Irish league is a natural consequence of that.”
Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors are pictured playing in the 2024/25 Celtic Challenge
From August 7 until September 30, GH Media will be following the Scotland World Cup journey all of the way. We will be at all of the Scotland matches down south and will be bringing you all of the interviews and news from camp as well as taking a wider look at the tournament as a whole and its impact on the women’s game. Thanks to Quirky Chocolate and other supporters for allowing this content to happen and to readers for engaging with it.