Scotland 31-17 South Africa: Lana Skeldon stars in opening match of inaugural WXV tournament in Stellenbosch

Scotland took over at the Danie Craven Stadium to open their WXV campaign with a victory; England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland will play under the tiered structure; WXV tournaments run until November 4

Lana Skeldon scored two first-half tries as Scotland beat South Africa 31-17 in their opening match of the inaugural WXV tournament in Stellenbosch.

Worcester hooker Skeldon scored twice in the space of six minutes before half-time to give her side a 17-10 lead at the Danie Craven Stadium.

Libbie Janse van Rensburg’s early penalty and Aseza Hele’s converted touchdown put South Africa 10-5 ahead after Scotland number eight Evie Gallagher scored the first try of the match.

Scotland prop Leah Bartlett’s converted score after 10 minutes gave her team a 24-10 lead and although South Africa reduced the deficit thanks to Roseline Botes’ converted try, the Scots finished strong.

British rugby sevens center Lisa Thomson scored the seventh and final try of the match, while Meryl Smith added her second successful conversion, to seal victory for Bryan Easson’s side.

Italy beat Japan 28-15 in the other Tier 2 match on Friday, while Ireland began their Tier 3 campaign with a 17-try 109-0 victory over Kazakhstan in Dubai.

Eighteen teams are competing in the new three-tier WXV competition, with the top six, including England and Wales, competing at WXV 1 in New Zealand on October 21-28 and November 4.

What is the WXV format?

There are three tiers, each with six teams: WXV 1, WXV 2 and WXV 3. Each tier is played as a standalone tournament in a different location, with WXV 1 in New Zealand, WXV 2 in South Africa and WXV 3 in South Africa. Dubai.

WXV 1: Australia, Canada, EnglandFrance, New Zealand, Wales.

WXV 2: Italy, Japan, Samoa, ScotlandSouth Africa, United States.

WXV 3: Colombia, Fiji, IrelandKazakhstan, Kenya, Spain.

This is a cross-pool format, meaning teams do not play everyone in their tier, but instead play three nations from outside their continent (with the exception of Ireland vs. Spain).

There will be no relegation from WXV 1 for the first two years, but the sixth-placed team from WXV 2 will be relegated to WXV 3 and replaced by the winner of the third tier.

The lowest ranked team in WXV 3 will risk exiting the competition and facing a play-off with the next best team according to the World Rugby women’s rankings.

Teams qualify for WXV through their various regional competitions, with a certain number of places allocated to each continent in each tier. For example, the top three European teams compete in WXV 1, and this is determined by the Six Nations rankings.