New "game-changer" competition for women’s rugby unveiled

FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Rugby World Cup - World Rugby and the Japan Rugby 2019 Organising Committee hold news conference ahead of knockout matches - Tokyo, Japan - October 15, 2019. World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont speaks. REUTERS/Matthew Childs/File Photo

(Reuters) - World Rugby has launched a new annual three-tier global women’s tournament that has been described as a "game-changer" that will create a more competitive international landscape and grow the Women’s Rugby World Cup from 12 to 16 teams.

WXV will start in 2023 and has initially been supported by a 6.4-million pound investment from the global governing body for the first two years. It will be hosted in a global September-October international competition window, except in a World Cup year.