A new era of international women’s rugby begins this weekend.
The WXV Global Series 2026 kicks off Saturday with three major matchups across Europe: world champions England host Australia, Scotland welcome 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup finalists Canada, and France renew their rivalry with New Zealand.
It is the beginning of a redesigned WXV competition that looks very different from the centralized tournaments rugby fans saw under the previous WXV format.
The top 12 nations will now play a home-and-away, cross-regional touring schedule during an eight-week international window running from September 12 through October 31.
And for American rugby fans, the road eventually leads to the United States.
The Women’s Eagles enter the competition next weekend before returning home for two Tests against Italy and a major October 30 matchup with world champions England in New Jersey.
First, though, six of the biggest names in women’s rugby get the new competition underway Saturday.
What Is the WXV Global Series?
The broader WXV Global Series structure features 18 national teams across two competitions.
The top 12 — Australia, Canada, England, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, USA and Wales — compete in the main home-and-away, cross-regional touring series.
Another six nations — Brazil, Fiji, Hong Kong China, Netherlands, Samoa and Spain — compete in the centralized WXV Global Series Challenger.
More than 100 international matches are planned across the three-year cycle from 2026 through 2028, with the competition forming part of the qualification pathway toward Women’s Rugby World Cup 2029 in Australia.
The first main-series window features 36 matches spread across the globe.
Saturday gives us the first three.
By the Numbers
The records, rivalries and scale behind the opening of the new WXV Global Series.
England vs. Australia
Saturday, September 12
Greater Manchester, England
The honor of opening the new competition belongs to the reigning world champions.
England enter their first Test since completing another Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam riding a remarkable 38-match winning streak.
The Red Roses have won 68 of their last 69 Tests, with their last defeat coming against New Zealand in the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 final, played in November 2022.
Their dominance continued during the 2026 Women’s Six Nations.
England won an eighth consecutive title and fifth consecutive Grand Slam while scoring a championship-record 283 points. They also finished with a 92.7% lineout success rate and 94.7% scrum success rate — the only team above 90% in both areas.
Australia now gets the first opportunity to stop them.
England Has Never Lost to Australia
The history of this matchup is remarkably one-sided.
England and Australia have played eight Tests.
England have won all eight.
The Red Roses have outscored the Wallaroos 284–66, and every England victory has come by double figures.
More recently, the gap has grown.
England have won the last four meetings by at least 35 points and scored at least 40 in each of them.
Their most recent meeting came during the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Australia actually struck first, with Adiana Talakai crossing after six minutes, before England took control and ran out 47–7 winners in Brighton.
England eventually went on to lift the World Cup.
The Wallaroos Need a Response
Australia arrive in England trying to reverse a difficult run.
The Wallaroos have won only one of their last eight Tests, with that victory coming against Fiji in March.
Their 2026 Pacific Four Series ended without a competition point after losses to Canada, the United States and New Zealand.
The Women’s Eagles defeated Australia 33–12 in Kansas City.
Australia then suffered a 66–19 loss to New Zealand in August.
There are changes for Saturday.
Amelia Whitaker is set to make her Test debut on the wing, while Caitlyn Halse returns from injury at fullback. Georgina Friedrichs and Faliki Pohiva return to the starting lineup, and Pia Tapsell makes her first start at blindside flanker.
Jemma Bemrose could also make her debut from the bench.
England have made five changes from the starting XV that completed the Six Nations Grand Slam against France.
Holly Aitchison returns at fly-half for her 50th Test, while Tatyana Heard and Natasha Hunt return from injury.
Bryony Field could make her England debut from the bench, while Hannah Botterman is in line for her first appearance since the 2025 World Cup final.
For Australia, this match is about more than producing one of the biggest upsets in recent women’s rugby.
The Wallaroos will host the 2029 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Every opportunity to face the current world champions provides another measurement of how far the program has progressed — and how much ground remains to be closed.
Scotland vs. Canada
Saturday, September 12
Hive Stadium — Edinburgh, Scotland
Canada begins its Global Series campaign carrying a different kind of expectation.
The Canadians reached the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup final, where England defeated them 33–13.
They enter this weekend ranked third in the world, while Scotland sits seventh.
That creates an opportunity for the Scots in both competitive and rankings terms. According to World Rugby’s pre-match calculations, Scotland would gain significant rankings points by beating the higher-ranked Canadians, while Canada cannot improve its rating with a victory.
History, however, favors Canada.
Canada have won seven of the eight previous meetings between the nations.
Scotland’s only victory came in the shield final of the 1994 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Canada Brings a Different Look
Canada have rotated their team for the opener.
World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year Sophie de Goede starts among the replacements rather than in the XV.
Gabrielle Senft starts at No. 8, Alexandra Tessier captains the team and Olivia Apps starts at scrum-half.
There is also an intriguing crossover from Canada’s sevens program.
Two-time Olympian Charity Williams has earned her first Canada 15s call-up and starts on the wing.
Savannah Bauder is also set to make her debut, while Sophie McDonald could earn her first cap from the bench.
Scotland welcome Rachel Malcolm back into the starting side after she missed their final three matches of the Women’s Six Nations.
Ceitidh Ainsworth and Katie Buchanan could make their Scotland debuts from the bench.
Beating the 2025 World Cup finalists would be an immediate statement from Scotland at the beginning of the new competition.
France vs. New Zealand
Saturday, September 12
Matmut Stadium de Gerland — Lyon, France
The third match may be the most intriguing of Round One.
France and New Zealand meet again after the Black Ferns defeated Les Bleues in the bronze final of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
But Saturday is only the beginning.
France and New Zealand are scheduled to meet four times during the 2026 WXV Global Series, creating an unusual extended series between two of the leading teams in the women’s game.
France have brought significant sevens influence into their lineup.
Kelly Arbey and Léa Murie start on the wings, while Lili Dezou is set to make her 15s international debut alongside Teani Feleu in midfield.
Pauline Bourdon Sansus captains France, while Gabrielle Vernier returns from injury among the replacements.
France also have an inexperienced second row, with Julia Grosz set for her debut alongside six-cap Siobhan Soqeta.
The Black Ferns Make Six Changes
New Zealand have made six changes from the side that defeated South Africa 52–20.
Among the most significant is the return of Layla Sae following an ACL injury.
Alena Saili is also in the matchday squad and could make her first Black Ferns appearance since 2018.
There are immediate rankings implications as well.
France enter the weekend ranked fourth and New Zealand second.
A French victory by more than 15 points would increase France’s rating from 84.59 to 87.15 while dropping New Zealand from 91.60 to 89.05.
It is only Round One, but France-New Zealand already has the feel of a series within the series.
Three Matches, Three Different Questions
Each opening match provides a different test.
For England, the question is whether anyone can interrupt one of the most dominant runs in international rugby.
For Australia, it is how much progress can be made against the benchmark of the women’s game with a home World Cup three years away.
For Canada, it is whether reaching the 2025 World Cup final can become the foundation for sustained success.
Scotland have an opportunity to make an immediate statement against those World Cup finalists.
And France and New Zealand begin an extended four-match battle between two nations trying to close the gap on England.
That’s exactly the type of cross-regional competition the redesigned WXV structure is intended to create.
The USA Angle: The Women’s Eagles Are Coming
American fans will not have to wait long for the Women’s Eagles to enter the competition.
The USA begins its Global Series campaign against Ireland at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin on Sunday, September 20.
Six days later, the Eagles face Wales in Cardiff.
Then the series comes to the United States.
The Women’s Eagles host Italy on October 17 at Texas Health Mansfield Stadium in Texas, followed by another meeting with Italy on October 24 at GEODIS Park in Nashville. World Rugby’s current officiating schedule confirms both fixtures.
And then comes one of the biggest home Tests on the American calendar.
On Friday, October 30, the USA hosts world champions England at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.
That gives Saturday’s England-Australia opener additional relevance for American fans.
England aren’t simply the dominant team beginning another international campaign overseas.
They’re coming to America.
Every England performance between now and October 30 provides another look at the team the Women’s Eagles will eventually have to face on home soil.
Why the New WXV Format Matters
The significance of the redesigned competition extends beyond this weekend.
Women’s international rugby has historically had fewer opportunities for regular cross-regional Tests than the men’s game.
The new structure is designed to provide more certainty and more meaningful competition between World Cups.
Across the entire WXV structure, 18 nations are involved.
The top 12 compete through the touring model, while teams ranked 13–18 compete through the centralized Challenger competition.
World Rugby plans more than 100 internationals between 2026 and 2028, and the system is integrated into the qualification pathway for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2029.
For established powers, it means more regular tests against high-level opposition.
For programs trying to close the gap — including the United States — it creates more opportunities to measure progress against the teams they ultimately need to beat.
RFC Analysis: What to Watch in Round One
England remain the benchmark.
A World Cup championship, a 38-match winning streak and another Six Nations Grand Slam have left little doubt about which team everyone else is chasing.
The question isn’t simply whether Australia can beat England.
It’s whether the Wallaroos can make England uncomfortable enough to reveal something that Canada, New Zealand, France — and eventually the USA — can use later in the series.
France-New Zealand may tell us even more.
With four meetings scheduled between the teams, Saturday establishes the first reference point in what amounts to a mini-series between two genuine contenders.
Canada is another team worth watching closely.
Reaching the 2025 World Cup final raised expectations considerably. Scotland now gets the first opportunity of this new cycle to test whether Canada can sustain that level.
For American fans, all three matches provide context.
The Women’s Eagles are part of this same competition.
And before the end of October, the world champions will be playing on American soil.
A New Era Starts Saturday
WXV was originally created to give women’s international rugby more meaningful matches.
The Global Series takes that idea further.
Instead of concentrating the leading nations in short centralized tournaments, teams will travel across regions and hemispheres through an extended international window.
England, Australia, Scotland, Canada, France and New Zealand get the first opportunity to show what that new structure can produce.
The USA joins them next weekend.
And by the end of October, the Women’s Eagles will have measured themselves against European opposition and welcomed the world champions to New Jersey.
Round One isn’t simply the start of another international window.
It is the beginning of a new chapter for global women’s rugby.
Follow the WXV Global Series
Follow the latest WXV Global Series fixtures, match details and results throughout the 2026 international window.
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