News coming out of Celtic lands is quite excellent. The three unions have been collaborating to launch a new competition, a ‘Celtic Challenge’. One aim is to prepare for the Six Nations, so initially it will last from mid-January to a month before the 6N starts.
A more distant target is the 2025 World Cup, by which time pathways should be better established, and competition for places in the national squads sharpened.
This is not simply a chance for the three national squads to have an early run-out. The names of the teams alone give a flavour of what the planners have in mind: Combined Provinces XV, The Thistles and Wales Development XV.
So the emphasis if rightly placed upon development, broadening the player base, which is so vital for success at the top level.
In the long term it will help heighten the competition within the 6N. If Italy can comtinue their advance under a new management, it will give the greatest annual competition in world rugby a boost it has needed since the start.
And this step follows the provision of contracts, another essential prerequisite in raising standards for everyone involved.
Exactly who will be eligible for selection does vary from country to country.
Scotland will include test-players based at home (a small minority). Ireland will allow test-players in, but the emphasis will be on the next generation. Wales would also consider selecting esrtablished internationals, but only if they were returning from injury or needed extra game-time.
Unspoken Hopes
It’s good to see major stadiums being chosen as the venues. Scotland hasn’t yet committed to one, but must surely follow the pattern.
One big unknown is whether the planners hope to have the matches covered by TV or at least livestream. These days, they must view that as an essential extra. A big bass drum would help.
How the Scheme works
In 2023 each team will play two games at home and two away. So the first year will be essentially exploratory, (a ‘pilot’); doubling the number of teams in 2024 will only add to the excitement.
There is an admirable mixture of collaboration and individuality evident in the announcement.
Representatives of the three unions have been deciding on the groundwork, the underlying principles, but other elements are left to each nation, for example who to choose as a coaching team, and how to go about selecting and preparing the players.
The Welsh already have their coaching trio in place: Mike Hill will lead, assisted by Liza Burgess and Rhys Pritchard. No doubt Nigel Walker, the proactive Performance Director for Wales, was responsible for getting these arrangements sorted in good time.
Gillian McDarby, the IRFU’s Head of Women’s Performance and Pathways, wants above all to close the gap between pathways and the elite level. That has been a constant complaint in Irish circles. News that the national squad’s coaching team, led by Greg McWilliams, will take charge of the Combined Provinces XV shows how seriously McDarby views this initiative.
Her opposite number in Scotland, Gemma Fay, adds one fascinating detail; she refers specifically to home-based players. As I see it, that is the crux of the matter. We must see players able and willing to stay in their own country or return to it, safe in the knowledge that the coaching and support they receive is of the highest order. The introduction of the Celtic Challenge will be a big step towards improving competition. Repeating the dose at club level is bound to prove more difficult, but must come sooner rather than later.
There is one mention of longer-term ambitions, to build up to four teams each by 2025. Now that’s real talk!
Whether the weather be good…
The weather may yet prove an obstacle. One of the many reasons for delaying the 6N to its new March-April window was to avoid the worst that wintry weather could throw at it. Memories of that snowstorm at Murrayfield may still be raw. The Celtic Challenge inevitably has to take up that slot; the schedule below offers no gaps. With twice the number of matches due in 2024, the risk of unwanted cancellations increases.
But the Outlook is sunny
This good news is timely for all three nations and the players who will benefit. It’s part of World Rugby’s long-term strategy for advancing women’s rugby; we can be very optimistic about the the advances it will bring.
Celtic Challenge fixtures for 2023
The Thistles v Welsh Development XV
Saturday 21-Sunday 22 January 2023 (location TBC)
Welsh Development XV v Combined Provinces XV
Sunday 29 January 2023 – Cardiff Arms Park
Combined Provinces XV v The Thistles
Saturday 4 February 2023 – Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
Welsh Development XV v The Thistles
Saturday 11 February – Cardiff Arms Park
Combined Provinces XV v Welsh Development XV
Saturday 18 February 2023 – Kingspan Stadium, Belfast
The Thistles v Combined Provinces XV
Saturday 25 February 2023 (location TBC)
