2023–24 Celtic Challenge

The 2023–24 Celtic Challenge was the second season of the Celtic Challenge, a cross-border women's rugby union competition with teams from Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. The enlarged six team tournament featured a single round robin fixture series, after which the table was split in two. This was followed by three further 'play-off' rounds in a set of three double-header fixtures. Each team played a seven match season.

2023–24 Celtic Challenge
Countries	Ireland Wales Scotland
Number of teams	6
Champions	Wolfhounds (1st title)
Runners-up	Edinburgh
Matches played	21
Official website
celticrugbycomp.com
← 2023 2024–25 →

Teams and locations

In December 2023, the six teams were confirmed.^[1][2][3][4]

Team	Country	Coach / Director of Rugby	Stadium	Location	Capacity
Brython Thunder	Wales	Ashley Beck[5]	Parc y Scarlets	Llanelli	14,870
			Eirias Stadium	Colwyn Bay	6,080
Clovers	Ireland	Denis Fogarty[6]	Donnybrook Stadium	Dublin	6,000
			Musgrave Park	Cork	8,008
Edinburgh Rugby	Scotland	Claire Cruikshank[7]	Edinburgh Rugby Stadium	Edinburgh	7,800
Glasgow Warriors	Scotland	Chris Laidlaw[8]	Scotstoun Stadium	Glasgow	9,708
Gwalia Lightning	Wales	Catrina Nicholas-McLaughlin[5]	Cardiff Arms Park	Cardiff	12,125
Wolfhounds	Ireland	Neil Alcorn[6]	Musgrave Park	Cork	8,008
			Ravenhill Stadium	Belfast	18,196
			Donnybrook Stadium	Dublin	6,000

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Wolfhounds	7	6	1	0	238	130	+108	38	22	6	0	32
2	Edinburgh Rugby	7	4	2	1	160	134	+26	26	22	5	0	25
3	Clovers	7	3	1	3	142	147	−5	23	23	2	1	17
4	Gwalia Lightning	7	3	0	4	164	134	+30	20	22	3	2	17
5	Brython Thunder	7	3	0	4	113	137	−24	20	22	3	1	16
6	Glasgow Warriors	7	0	0	7	87	222	−135	13	29	0	1	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: After Round 5, the table is split in two for the final two play-off rounds.^[9]

Regular season

The fixtures were announced on 5 December 2023.^[1][2][3][4]

Round 1

29 December 2023 13:00

Wolfhounds	21–15	Clovers (1 BP)
Try: Linda Djougang 63' c Sarah Delaney 69' c Eimear Corri 77' c Con: Nikki Caughey (3) 63', 69', 77' Cards: Keelin Brady 74' to 80'	Report	Try: Beth Buttimer 38' m Ailsa Hughes 58' m Clara Barrett 80+1' m

Musgrave Park, Cork Referee: Joy Neville

30 December 2023 12:00

(1 BP) Edinburgh Rugby	28–12	Glasgow Warriors
Try: Bell, McNamara (2), Fletcher Con: Marlow (4)	Report	Try: McMillan, Tucker Con: MacRae

Edinburgh Rugby Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 1,934 Referee: Hollie Davidson

1 January 2024 14:00

Gwalia Lightning	20–5	Brython Thunder
Try: K Williams, C Richards (2) Con: Metcalfe Pen: Metcalfe	Report	Try: M Davies

Rodney Parade, Newport[10]

Round 2

6 January 2024 14:00

Edinburgh Rugby	17–27	Wolfhounds (1 BP)
Try: Emma Orr (2), Cieron Bell Con: Briar McNamara	Report	Try: Sarah Delaney, Natasja Behan, Aoife Wafer (2), Brittany Hogan Con: Dannah O’Brien

Edinburgh Rugby Stadium, Edinburgh Referee: Michael Todd

6 January 2024 14:00

Clovers	20–5	Brython Thunder
Try: Ailsa Hughes, Ruth Campbell, Sadhbh McGrath Con: Méabh Deely Pen: Méabh Deely	Report	Try: Alex Callender

Donnybrook Stadium, Dublin Referee: Michael Forrestal

7 January 2024 13:30

Gwalia Lightning	36–19	Glasgow Warriors
Try: Hopkins (2), Richards, Hughes, Constable, Jones Con: Metcalfe (3)	Report	Try: Bogan, Tucker (2) Con: Macrae (2)

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff

Round 3

13 January 2024 14:30

Glasgow Warriors	12–40	Wolfhounds (1 BP)
Try: Phaedra Snailham, Louise McMillan Con: Lucy MacRae Cards: Phaedra Snailham 75' to 80'	Report	Try: Sarah Delaney, Linda Djougang, Sophie Barrett, Katie Whelan, Katie Corrigan, Brittany Hogan Con: Dannah O’Brien (2), Nikki Caughey (3)

Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow Referee: Sam O’Neil

14 January 2024 13:00

Clovers	19–17	Gwalia Lightning (1 BP)
Try: Kate Flannery, Clare Gorman, Róisín Ormond Con: Kate Flannery (2) Cards: Alana McInerney 33' to 43', Beth Buttimer 52' to 62'	Report	Try: Gwennan Hopkins, Molly Reardon, Tess Evans Con: Sian Jones

Musgrave Park, Cork Referee: Kevin Coffey

14 January 2024 13:30

(1 BP) Brython Thunder	17–22	Edinburgh Rugby (1 BP)
Try: Wakely, Tromans, A Williams Con: A Williams Cards: E Tromans	Report	Try: Muzambe, Mattinson, Walker, Bell Con: Marlow

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli

Round 4

27 January 2024 14:00

Glasgow Warriors	10–29	Clovers (1 BP)
Try: Izzy Hannay, Beth Blacklock	Report	Try: Méabh Deely, Dorothy Wall, Beth Buttimer, Ivana Kiripati, Brianna Heylmann Con: Kate Flannery (2)

Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow Referee: Ciaran Stark

27 January 2024 19:30

(1 BP) Wolfhounds	41–10	Brython Thunder
Try: Brittany Hogan, Sarah Delaney, Katie Corrigan (4), Niamh Marley Con: Nikki Caughey (3)	Report	Try: Chloe Thomas-Bradley, Sioned Harries

Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast Referee: Andrew Munce

28 January 2024 13:30

(1 BP) Gwalia Lightning	19–20	Edinburgh Rugby (1 BP)
Try: Jones (2), Thicker Con: Wilkins (2)	Report	Try: Whitehouse, Bell, Fletcher, Muzambe

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff

Round 5

3 February 2024 12:30

(1 BP) Edinburgh Rugby	35–21	Clovers
Try: Molly Poolman, Millie Whitehouse, Emma Orr, Sarah Denholm, Lisa Thomson Con: Nicole Marlow, Briar McNamara Pen: Nicole Marlow, Briar McNamara	Report	Try: Alana McInerney, Niamh O’Dowd, Chisom Ugwueru Con: Kate Flannery (2), Méabh Deely

Edinburgh Rugby Stadium, Edinburgh Referee: Rob McDowell

3 February 2024 14:30

(1 BP) Wolfhounds	36–24	Gwalia Lightning (1 BP)
Try: Katie Heffernan, Katie Corrigan (3), Niamh Marley, Christy Haney Con: Nikki Caughey (3)	Report	Try: Katie Thicker, Jenna De Vera, Caitlin Lewis, Rebecca De Filippo Con: Robyn Wilkins (2)

Donnybrook Stadium, Dublin Referee: Max Weston

3 February 2024 14:30

(1 BP) Brython Thunder	22–12	Glasgow Warriors
Try: Callender (2), Williams, Singleton Con: Wilkinson	Report	Try: Fraser (2) Con: Ainsworth

Eirias Stadium, Colwyn Bay

Play-offs

Unlike the inaugural competition, the 2023–24 competition will have a play-off stage. This involves splitting the teams into 2 tiers after the initial set of 5 rounds, the top 3 and the bottom 3. The teams will play the teams in their tier once more. The points from the all matches will count.^[1][11][12]

Round 6

17 February 2024 13:00

(1 BP) Edinburgh Rugby	26–26	Wolfhounds (1 BP)
Try: Emma Orr (2), Cieron Bell, Alex Stewart Con: Nicole Marlow (3)	Report	Try: Ellen Boylan, Christy Haney, Linda Djougang, Katie Corrigan Con: Nikki Caughey (3)

Edinburgh Rugby Stadium, Edinburgh Referee: David Young

17 February 2024 16:30

(1 BP) Glasgow Warriors	17–24	Brython Thunder (1 BP)
Try: McLaren, Fraser Con: MacRae (2) Pen: MacRae	Report	Try: Harries,Thomas-Bradley, Wakely, Webb Con: Wilkinson (2)

Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow

Round 7

24 February 2024 12:30

(1 BP) Gwalia Lightning	43–5	Glasgow Warriors
Try: King, Wilkins, M Davies, Constable, Reardon, K Davies, Parry Con: Wilkins (4)	Report	Try: Anderson

Kingspan Stadium, Belfast

24 February 2024 16:30

(1 BP) Wolfhounds	47–26	Clovers (1 BP)
Try: Katie Corrigan (3), Kelly McCormill, Hannah O’Connor, Katie Whelan (2) Con: Nikki Caughey (6)	Report	Try: Róisín Ormond, Beth Buttimer, Maeve Óg O’Leary, Brianna Heylmann Con: Kate Flannery (2), Nicole Fowley

Kingspan Stadium, Belfast Referee: Andrew Mitchell

Round 8

3 March 2024 12:30

Clovers	12–12	Edinburgh Rugby
Try: Gorman, Barrett Con: Flannery	Report	Try: McNamara, Lloyd Con: Marlow

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli Referee: Jenny Davies

3 March 2024 15:30

Brython Thunder	30–5	Gwalia Lightning
Try: Tromans, A Williams, Wakely, Harries, Morgan Con: Wilkinson Drop: Harries	Report	Try: M Davies

Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli

Notes