Celtic Challenge

Celtic Challenge

Current season, competition or edition: 2024–25 Celtic Challenge
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	2023;2 years 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. ^{[1] [2]} 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. ^[3]

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

Teams

Current teams

Team	Established	Location [a]	Seasons	Titles (last)	Runners-up
Brython Thunder	2023	Llanelli [4]	2	– (N/A)	– (N/A)
Clovers	2023	Munster & Connacht [5]	2	– (N/A)	– (N/A)
Edinburgh Rugby	2023	Edinburgh [6]	2	– (N/A)	1 (2023–24)
Glasgow Warriors	2023	Glasgow [7]	2	– (N/A)	– (N/A)
Gwalia Lightning	2023	Cardiff [8]	2	– (N/A)	– (N/A)
Wolfhounds	2023	Leinster & Ulster [9]	2	1 (2023–24)	– (N/A)

Previous teams

Nine clubs have been involved in the league since its inception in the 2023 season. Below, all former clubs are listed along with the number of full seasons they've competed in.

Team	Area	Established	Disbanded	Seasons	Titles	Runners-up
Combined Provinces XV	Ireland	2023	2023	1	1 (2023)	– (N/A)
The Thistles	Scotland	2023	2023	1	– (N/A)	1 (2023)
Wales Development XV	Wales	2023	2023	1	– (N/A)	– (N/A)

Champions

The winners and runners up of each edition are listed below:

Season	Winner	Runner-up
2023	Combined Provinces XV	The Thistles
2023–24	Wolfhounds	Edinburgh Rugby
2024–25

Summary of winners

#	Team	Champions	Years as champions	Runners-up	Years as runners-up
1	Combined Provinces XV	1	2023	0	—
	Wofhounds		2023–24

History

2023 competition

Main article: 2023 Celtic Challenge

The first edition consisted of six matches in a double round robin: ^{[10] [11]}

The competition involved 3 teams:

• 1 teams from Ireland, the Combined Provinces XV.
• 1 teams from Wales, the Wales Development XV.
• 1 teams from Scotland, the Thistles.

2023–24 competition

Main article: 2023–24 Celtic Challenge

In November 2023 it was announced that for the second season, the competition would expand to six teams and twenty one matches. ^[12]

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. ^[13]
• 2 teams from Wales, Brython Thunder and Gwalia Lightning. ^[14]
• 2 teams from Scotland, Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors ^[15]

The teams will play each other once, either home or away, across five rounds before play-offs to decide a champion in March 2024. ^[16]

2024-25 competition

Main article: 2024–25 Celtic Challenge

The six teams from the 2023–24 season returned for the 2024–25 season. The competition was expanded into a full double round-robin, in effect creating a Women's Celtic League competition. As a result, the end-of-season play-off was removed and standings will be decided by table standings at the end of the season. Each team will play 5 home matches and five away matches.

Notes

1. Team base location

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. "Brython Thunder". Celtic Challenge. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
5. "Clovers". Celtic Challenge. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
6. "Edinburgh Rugby". Celtic Challenge. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
7. "Glasgow Warriors". Celtic Challenge. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
8. "Gwalia Lightning". Celtic Challenge. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
9. "Wolfhounds". Celtic Challenge. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
10. "Celtic Challenge – Rugby" . Retrieved 20 November 2023.
11. "Celtic Challenge kicks off this weekend". ScrumQueens.com. 18 January 2023. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
12. "Celtic Challenge to expand in second year". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
13. "Fixtures and Team Names for Celtic Challenge Announced". Irish Rugby. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
14. "Two new teams to represent Wales in expanded Celtic Challenge". Welsh Rugby Union. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
15. "Celtic Challenge competition format confirmed alongside alignment of Scottish sides to Edinburgh Rugby & Glasgow Warriors". Scottish Rugby. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
16. "Thunder and Lightning set for Celtic Challenge". BBC Sport. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.