Ahead of the start of World Rugby’s new annual global women’s 15s competition, players representing the 12 nations competing in WXV 2 gathered in Cape Town.
It is hoped that WXV, World Rugby’s new three-level annual global women’s 15s competition, can help supercharge the test game by giving national teams access to more top-level matches.
That was certainly a sentiment echoed by the players who gathered in Cape Town on Wednesday to take part in the captains’ photocall for each tournament.
Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm will lead her side out against the hosts at Danie Craven Stadium on Friday in the second match of WXV 2 2023 and she believes it will be another important staging post in the evolution of the women’s game.
"I think it’s incredibly important,” Malcolm said. “It’s probably the biggest step forward in the women’s game to get more exposure to high-level rugby and to get women’s rugby out there and inspire little girls and let them know that there are opportunities like this out there is really important for us.
"But I think in terms of developing the game, it’s important for all of these teams to get the opportunity to play different styles of rugby.
“We don’t play teams like South Africa very often so it’s a massive opportunity for us to play them, and to play USA and Japan, which are teams not in the Women’s Six Nations. It will be a completely different challenge for us, and it will help us push on as a team as a result.”
Babalwa Latsha is excited by the prospect of captaining the WXV 2 hosts over the next three weeks and hopes to inspire future Springbok Women in the process.
“We’re exceptionally proud and excited to be hosting the world [on] our shores. I think it’s a brilliant opportunity for South African women’s rugby and women’s rugby globally to be able to showcase our talents in such a broad platform,” Latsha said.
“It’s quite exciting for me to lead my side in such a fantastic spectacle of women’s rugby. Leadership is something that’s close to my heart.
“Our goal is to represent our brand of rugby the best that we can with the hopes of inspiring the next generation of young South African women rugby players and this is really fantastic for women’s rugby as a whole.”
WXV 2 will kick off at 14:00 local time (GMT+2) on Friday when Italy take on Japan at Danie Craven Stadium before Latsha’s South Africa meets Malcolm’s Scotland at 16:30 local time.
On Saturday, the USA and Samoa will get their campaigns started as they face each other at 14:00 local time in Stellenbosch.