{"id":502777,"date":"2026-06-16T16:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/502777\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T16:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:29:12","slug":"ireland-to-face-us-and-japan-in-first-wxv-games-before-history-making-tests-in-cape-town-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/502777\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland to face US and Japan in first WXV games before history-making Tests in Cape Town \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland\u2019s<\/a> fixtures in the inaugural WXV Global Series will take them to Tallaght and Galway before the team makes history by going to Cape Town where they will face South Africa<\/a> in two Test matches. <\/p>\n

It is a busy autumn schedule, as Scott Bemand\u2019s side turn their attention to World Rugby\u2019s new WXV Global Series, which will see the top 12 teams in the world compete in a home-and-away touring model within the September and October international window.<\/p>\n

Ireland open their campaign against the United States<\/a> at Tallaght Stadium, a first for the Dublin<\/a> venue, before taking on Japan<\/a> at the Dexcom Stadium, Galway<\/a>, the following weekend.<\/p>\n

Bemand\u2019s side will play an additional Test against Japan, but outside the WXV Global Series window, at Virgin Media Park, Cork<\/a>, on October 3rd before departing for South Africa.<\/p>\n

Cape Town\u2019s Athlone Stadium will then host the first women\u2019s Test series between South Africa and Ireland as the sides go head-to-head on consecutive weekends. The two teams have met only once, with Ireland winning 37-0 at the 2006 Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re delighted to have our autumn schedule confirmed, with five Test matches forming an important part of our ongoing development and growth as we look to build on the Guinness Women\u2019s Six Nations<\/a> campaign and continue to grow our Green Wave,\u201d Ireland head coach Bemand said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really excited by the opportunities these fixtures present for the squad. To have three home matches across Tallaght Stadium, Dexcom Stadium and Virgin Media Park gives us the chance to connect with our supporters across the country again and build momentum as a group heading into the season ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cJapan and the USA are quality international teams who will challenge us in different ways. Those experiences are invaluable as we continue to grow and develop. We look forward to welcoming them to Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur autumn programme then culminates in a two-Test series against South Africa in Cape Town, which will provide another excellent challenge in a demanding environment and is exactly why the addition of the WXV Global Series is invaluable for us.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kick-off times and broadcast details for Ireland\u2019s home matches in Dublin, Galway and Cork are to be confirmed at a later date.<\/p>\n

Ireland fixtures<\/p>\n

WXV Global Series: September 20th: Ireland v USA, Tallaght Stadium. September 27th: Ireland v Japan, Dexcom Stadium.<\/p>\n

Test Match: October 3rd: Ireland v Japan, Virgin Media Park.<\/p>\n

WXV Global Series: October 24th and 31st: South Africa v Ireland, Athlone Stadium, Cape Town (kick off: 2pm Irish time for both fixtures).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s fixtures in the inaugural WXV Global Series will take them to Tallaght and Galway before the team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[46,615,4500,61,60,1449,1254,582,43,3654,2447,11288,115,123979],"class_list":["post-502777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cork","tag-dublin","tag-galway","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-ireland-womens-rugby","tag-japan","tag-news","tag-rugby","tag-scott-bemand","tag-south-africa-rugby","tag-united-states","tag-women-s-six-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}