Edinburgh Rugby women’s side to enter Celtic Challenge

5 Dec 2023

Edinburgh Rugby is pleased to announce a women’s side aligned to the club will compete in an expanded Celtic Challenge, with the side’s first match to be played against Glasgow Warriors on Saturday 30 December at Hive Stadium (kick-off 12 noon), before the men’s 1872 Cup clash at Scottish Gas Murrayfield (kick-off 3pm).

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - FEBRUARY 25: Thistle players during a Celtic Challenge match between The Thistles and the Combined Provinces XV at the DAM Health Stadium, on February 25, 2023, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Simon Wootton / SNS Group)

Following the recently announced return of the Celtic Challenge, the competition confirmed its new look line-up to feature this season, which included two Scottish teams aligned to Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors.

The alignment will see the two teams don the colours of Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors and will be based out of clubs’ respective home grounds.

Edinburgh Rugby Managing Director, Douglas Struth, said: “It’s fantastic to have a side representing the capital in the Celtic Challenge, and to see a women’s team competing under the Edinburgh Rugby banner for the first time.

“It’s a big development for the wider sport and women’s rugby in Scotland generally, and stepping stone towards semi-professional sides in the future, with the exciting prospect of our first match being part of an inter-city double header with Glasgow Warriors on the 30^th of December.

“I’d encourage the Edinburgh faithful to get behind the team and support us in our first match against Glasgow.”

The competition will adopt a new format which will be made up of five rounds, before three doubleheader play-off rounds determine this season’s Celtic Challenge champions.

Round 1 will see a derby day clash for the home Unions with their respective sides facing off for the first time.

Ahead of the 1872 Cup clash between Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors in the BKT URC, the Celtic Challenge teams will face each other at Hive Stadium, kicking off at 12 noon.

The play-offs will be made up of three rounds, with each round being hosted by a Home Union as a doubleheader event.

These fixtures, which will be determined by the regular round standings, will be the culmination of the competition’s most competitive fixtures as teams go head-to-head to be crowned this season’s winners.

Tickets for Edinburgh’s home Challenge Cup fixtures (priced £10 for adults and £5 for U16s) will be available at edinburghrugby.org from Thursday afternoon. Please note the men’s and women’s derby matches are ticketed separately. A ticket for one will not grant access to the other.