Sarah Hirini of New Zealand and Marjorie Mayans of France after the World Cup semi-final. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
The World Champion Black Ferns will take on France as part of a double header in Wellington for their opening game of World Rugby's inaugural WXV tournament in October and November.
The match will be a repeat of last year's thrilling World Cup semi-final, which the Black Ferns won by just one point to seal their place in the final.
The WXV is a new competition with the top three finishers in both the women's Six Nations and Pacific Four Series heading to New Zealand to compete in nine tests across the three match weekends in the hope of being crowned WXV 1 champions.
The tournament kicks off in Wellington on Friday 20 October with women's Six Nations winners England up against Australia at 7pm.
Six Nations Champions England. Photo: ©INPHO/Evan Treacy, ©INPHO/Evan Treacy
This will be followed at the same ground on Saturday with Canada facing Wales at 4pm before the Pacific Four Series and World Cup winners New Zealand face France at 7pm.
Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium will host the second round of matches with England playing Canada on Friday 27 October, with the Saturday 28 October double header featuring the Black Ferns playing Wales at 4pm before Australia take on France at 7pm.
Wallaroos players. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The tournament will come to a close in a blockbuster weekend in Auckland at Mt Smart Stadium the following weekend.
Fans will get to see Australia in action against Wales on Friday 3 November followed by the final double-header on Saturday 4 November with France playing Canada before the much-anticipated repeat of last year's women's World Cup final with the Black Ferns taking on England.
The tournament will take place during the men's Rugby World Cup with match times complementing each other, ensuring fans can enjoy what is set to be a thrilling period of elite men's and women's rugby.
There will also be WXV second and third tier tournaments running at the same time in South Africa and Dubai respectively.
World Rugby Chief of Women's Rugby, Sally Horrox said: "WXV represents the start of a new era for women's rugby with the three-level tournament model providing opportunities for the best athletes around the world to show their skills on the international stage. We've seen the rapid development of the women's game in recent years and WXV will push it to another level again.
"We're really proud of the exciting array of fixtures on offer and I've no doubt we are in for a thrilling competition with some exhilarating matchups on the pitch set to follow.
"A big thank you to all our hosts. We can't wait to visit your countries and see the world's best players compete in these fantastic venues and a huge congratulations to all the teams that have qualified. The stage is now set and we look forward to many memorable moments ahead across October and November."
