Manusina XV Champions shot with VIPs

Women's Championship

Oceania Rugby Women's Championship
Senior Women's XV Tournament

Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship is the region’s pinnacle premier women’s rugby competition and was introduced in 2016.

All Member Unions with an established women's domestic competition are eligible to participate.

The Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship will return in 2024 featuring National Women's teams from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga. The event will be held over three match days 24, 29 May and 2 June in Brisbane.

The championship serves as the pinnacle of women's rugby in the Oceania region, providing an electrifying platform for these teams to showcase their skill, determination, and passion for the game. Moreover, it holds significant stakes as the direct qualifier for the 2025 World Rugby Cup in England.

The winner of the 2024 Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship will also secure one of the two (2) spots available for Oceania in the WXV 3 Division.

The runner up of the Oceania Rugby Women’s Championship will secure the second spot available for Oceania in the WXV 3 Division and will contest the final five (5) spots available from the 2024 WXV 2 – 3 Competition for qualification to the 2025 Rugby World Cup (highest 5 placed non – qualified teams across WXV 2 – 3).

Join us at Sunnybank Rugby Club, Brisbane, Australia for all the action. Tickets are available at the gate.

History

Prior to the inception of the Oceania Rugby Women's Championship international fixtures for women's XV in the region were far and few, limited to one off test matches as part of the Rugby World Cup qualification process. The absence of an international competition pathway limited women's rugby progress in the region.

The Oceania Rugby Women's Championship was established to provide regular and consistent international competition pathway for all Member Unions.

The first edition was held in 2016 in Suva between the Fiji Fijiana and Papua New Guinea Palais as a part of the Rugby World Cup 2017 qualification process. The Fijiana successfully claimed the title and moved onto an Oceania/Asia play off against Hong Kong.

In the second edition held in 2018 saw the Manusina, from Samoa, and Tonga join Fiji and Papua New Guinea in Lautoka, Fiji.

2019 saw a record 6 teams contest the title, making it Oceania Rugby biggest ever XV's tournament, with Australia and New Zealand joining their Pacific neighbours Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga in Lautoka, Fiji.

The current Oceania Rugby Women's Champions is New Zealand who claimed the title during the 2019 Oceania Rugby Women's Championship in Lautoka, Fiji. During the same tournament the Fijiana created history as the first Fiji Women's XV's team to qualify for the Rugby World Cup.

The Oceania Rugby Women's Championship has served as a Rugby World Cup qualification tournament since its inception.

Honour Board of Oceania Rugby Women's Championship
  • 2023: Samoa
  • 2022: Fiji
  • 2021: Not held - due to COVID-19
  • 2020: Not held - due to COVID-19
  • 2019: New Zealand
  • 2018: Fiji
  • 2016: Fiji