S4C to air all Wales’ matches at the WXV rugby tournament

S4C is to live broadcast all of Wales’s matches at the WXV rugby tournament in New Zealand.

Launching this month, the WXV is World Rugby’s new women’s international 15s competition. The annual tournament is split into three different tiers, based on the nations’ recent performances.

After finishing in third place in this year’s Women’s Six Nations, Wales will be one of six teams in the top tier, WXV1.

Its first opponents will be Canada, on 21 October at the Sky Stadium, Wellington, before the team travels to Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin to face the home side New Zealand on 28 October.

Wales will then face Australia at the Go Media Stadium, Auckland, on 3 November.

Every Wales game will be broadcast live on S4C Clic and S4C’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

S4C will also replay the matches in their entirety later on match days, as the games will kick off in the early hours of the morning.

Presenter Catrin Heledd said: “The investment that has been put into this competition shows how much women’s rugby has grown in popularity in the world.  The competition itself gives more purpose for the teams – to play better and bring more competitiveness to the sport.

“As for Wales’s chances in the competition this year, it’s going to be tough sharing the group with Australia, Canada and New Zealand – three nations in the top 5 World ranking, but Wales are number 6 in the world, their highest ever, and they want to play the best there is.”

Welsh Rugby Union interim CEO Nigel Walker added: “S4C’s continued commitment to Welsh rugby over the men’s World Cup in France and following Wales Women to New Zealand for WXV is greatly appreciated. The mantra that ‘you have to see it to be it’ has never been more relevant to participation in rugby at all levels in Wales and we are hugely grateful to S4C for the visibility they continue to give to our international stars as well as for their direct investment into our game.”

Graham Davies, head of sports commissioning at S4C, said: “We are delighted to be broadcasting all of Wales’ games in the new WXV competition. We’re proud of our continued commitment to Women’s sport on S4C; Women’s rugby is growing in popularity, and we want to give the sport and the players the best possible platform and the exposure they deserve.”