Marlie Packer enjoyed one of the greatest nights of her rugby career in the first edition of WXV – little wonder she cannot wait for the second.
The Red Roses skipper led England to victory over New Zealand on their own patch to clinch the inaugural crown in WXV – the new international women’s rugby competition launched by World Rugby last year.
That night, she was also crowned World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year to cap off a dream trip.
Now, Packer is set to lead the Red Roses in the 2024 edition of WXV, which will take place in Canada.
England will kick off their campaign in Vancouver on September 29, taking on the USA, before games against New Zealand and hosts Canada.
In addition to those four teams, Six Nations runners-up France and WXV 1 newcomers Ireland will also take part in the competition, and Packer is raring to go.
She said: “We’re really excited about it. The tournament being over in Vancouver, it’s such a beautiful place and I’m fortunate enough to have been over and played Sevens over there. So, to be back and play in WXV, with the opening game against the USA, is very exciting.
“As the Red Roses, we want to continue our form in this tournament and go out there and put a really big performance in, rolling into the PWR season and then the Six Nations which will then finish, and we’ll be at the World Cup. So, it’s a really exciting year and to kick it off with WXV is really exciting.
“Last year, we had a change in backroom staff, new coaches in. It was the first time we started our game plan and the way that Mitch (head coach John Mitchell) and the rest of the coaches wanted us to play.
“We also went back to New Zealand. It was 12 months before that we lost the World Cup final in Eden Park. To go back to New Zealand 12 months later with a fresh-looking squad, some new faces, some old faces, some new coaches and put the performances in like we did.
“We got that first WXV win which was pretty special. It was special for me because not only we got that win over New Zealand to win the first WXV, but I was also named World Player of the Year, nights like that you can’t really write.”
The final clash between England and Canada will see the Guinness Women’s Six Nations champions up against the World Rugby Pacific Four Series winners after Canada beat the Black Ferns for the very first time.
The fixtures have also been released for WXV 2 and WXV 3, taking place in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.
Madagascar, Hong Kong China, and the Netherlands will all make their first appearances in the competition, playing in WXV 3, while there is added intrigue with six places up for grabs at the 2025 Rugby World Cup.
As the game continues to develop across the world, Packer highlighted the value of WXV in its growth.
She added: “WXV is massively important. It’s really good for the top tier teams to play each other on a more regular basis and in a tournament format. I also think that the different tiers between WXV give different teams a different challenge.
“To give teams more competitive games to learn from, then when they come up against the top-ranked teams, they have more understanding on how they want to play against us because they have overcome challenges.”
