# Celtic Challenge

The Celtic Challenge is a cross-border women's rugby union competition that will be held annually, launched in 2023. Designed to develop players for the Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland and Wales, the inaugural pilot edition featured a double round robin between three teams, one from each participating union. From 2024 the competition will involve six teams, two from each participating union. Beginning with the 2024–25 season, the competition will maintain its six-team setup, transitioning into a full home-and-away round-robin format. The winners will be determined by standings at the end of the season.
The three participating unions fund the competition, with further development funding from World Rugby.

## Teams
### Current teams

| Team | Established | Location | Seasons | Titles (last) | Runners-up |
| Brython Thunder | 2023 | Llanelli | 2 | – (N/A) | – (N/A) |
| Clovers | 2023 | Munster & Connacht | 2 | – (N/A) | – (N/A) |
| Edinburgh Rugby | 2023 | Edinburgh | 2 | – (N/A) | 1 (2023–24) |
| Glasgow Warriors | 2023 | Glasgow | 2 | – (N/A) | – (N/A) |
| Gwalia Lightning | 2023 | Cardiff | 2 | – (N/A) | – (N/A) |
| Wolfhounds | 2023 | Leinster & Ulster | 2 | 1 (2023–24) | – (N/A) |

### Previous teams

Nine clubs have been involved in the league since its inception in the 2023 season. Below, all former clubs are listed along with the number of full seasons they've competed in.
| Team | Area | Established | Disbanded | Seasons | Titles | Runners-up |
| Combined Provinces XV | Ireland | 2023 | 2023 | 1 | 1 (2023) | – (N/A) |
| The Thistles | Scotland | 2023 | 2023 | 1 | – (N/A) | 1 (2023) |
| Wales Development XV | Wales | 2023 | 2023 | 1 | – (N/A) | – (N/A) |

## Champions

The winners and runners up of each edition are listed below:
| Season | Winner | Runner-up |
| 2023 | Combined Provinces XV | The Thistles |
| 2023–24 | Wolfhounds | Edinburgh Rugby |
| 2024–25 | Wolfhounds | Clovers |

### Summary of winners

| # | Team | Champions | Years as champions | Runners-up | Years as runners-up |
| 1 | Wolfhounds | 2 | 2023–24. 2024-25 | 0 | |
| 2 | Combined Provinces XV | 1 | 2023 | 0 | — |

## History
### 2023 competition

The first edition consisted of six matches in a double round robin:
The competition involved 3 teams:
* 1 teams from Ireland, the Combined Provinces XV.
* 1 teams from Wales, the Wales Development XV.
* 1 teams from Scotland, the Thistles.

### 2023–24 competition

In November 2023 it was announced that for the second season, the competition would expand to six teams and twenty one matches.
In December it was announced that the 2023–24 competition will run from December to March 2024 and will be contested by six teams:
* 2 teams from Ireland, the Clovers and the Wolfhounds.
* 2 teams from Wales, Brython Thunder and Gwalia Lightning.
* 2 teams from Scotland, Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors
The teams will play each other once, either home or away, across five rounds before play-offs to decide a champion in March 2024.

### 2024-25 competition

The six teams from the 2023–24 season returned for the 2024–25 season. The competition was expanded into a full double round-robin, in effect creating a Women's Celtic League competition. As a result, the end-of-season play-off was removed and standings will be decided by table standings at the end of the season. Each team will play 5 home matches and five away matches.