Scotland and Ireland claimed the inaugural WXV 2 and WXV 3 titles on the third weekend of the competition.
England are now the only undefeated side in WX 1 after a win over Canada while Italy ended their campaign unbeaten with a 30-8 win over the USA as they missed out on the WXV 2 title on points difference.
France lost out to Australia as Wales fell to defeat to the hosts New Zealand in Dunedin, but both have the chance to end WXV 1 on a high next weekend.
Scotland made to wait for WXV 2 title
Scotland secured a 38-7 win over Japan on Friday to claim their third bonus-point victory of WXV 2.
Rachel Malcolm’s side were behind early on after Iroha Nagata crossed for Japan before Scotland drew level with a penalty try on the stroke of half-time.
Emma Orr streaked past the Japanese defence after the restart as Scotland kicked into gear with Coreen Grant dotting and Lana Skeldon earning Scotland a bonus point.
Sarah Bonar’s breakaway try secured her side’s fifth and there was time for one more Orr score to make certain of the victory.
With both Italy and Scotland starting the weekend on 10 points, Scotland’s bonus-point win meant Italy needed to also score four tries and win by a margin of 25 points to knock their TikTok Women’s Six Nations rivals off top spot.
They fell agonisingly short despite a 30-8 win over the USA, with Giordana Duca opening the scoring for the Azzurre.
Italy stretched their lead just before the break as Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi was on the end of a slick attacking move.
The bonus point come through tries from Sofia Stefan and Alyssa D’Inca either side of a USA score.
Elisa Giordano dotted down for a fifth try as Michela Sillari kicked a penalty to put Italy three points away from the title.
A late Laura Gurioli try was scratched off for obstruction to give Scotland the overall win by just three points in Cape Town.
Ireland leave it late
Ireland headed to the final weekend of WXV 3 in Dubai in pole position after two bonus-point wins, but they faced the also undefeated Spain in a straight shootout for the title.
And it was Spain who took a 13-3 lead into half-time before Ireland worked themselves back into the game through a try from Grace Moore but with nine minutes on the clock, they still trailed Spain by three.
Captain Sam Monaghan chose not to kick for points and the gamble came off when Neve Jones touched down in the 72nd minute to seal the victory.
Ireland’s triumph secures promotion to WXV 2 for the sixth European team in WXV, with placings for next year’s tournament to be determined during the 2024 TikTok Women’s Six Nations
England on top ahead of final rematch
There is one week remaining of the top-flight WXV 1, and the reigning Women’s Six Nations champions England are the front-runners for the title.
Lark Atkin-Davies became the first hooker to score four tries in a women’s test match as England defeated 45-12 Canada in their second bonus-point win.
Ellie Kildunne opened the scoring for the Red Roses before Atkin-Davies scored two in three minutes to end the half, reaching the record of four tries in 58 minutes.
Jess Breach and Claudia MacDonald rounded out the comprehensive win that sees England hold a four-point cushion over next week’s opponents New Zealand.
The Black Ferns bounced back from their defeat to France in week 1 with a 70-7 win over Wales as Abbie Fleming scored the solitary Welsh score in a bruising encounter with the reigning world champions.
Wales will face Australia in their final game of WXV 1 as they look to end their tournament with a win.
France will take on Canada in Auckland in a repeat of last year’s bronze medal match at the Rugby World Cup which saw Les Bleues come out on top.
This week, they tasted defeat to Australia in a thrilling game which saw Eva Karpani score a hat-trick for the Wallaroos in a 29-20 win.
Karpani kicked off the game with a try under the posts before Emilie Boulard levelled the scores only for Georgina Friedrichs to move Australia in front again.
Prop Karpani’s final two tries came either side of an Arabella McKenzie penalty which put the game just out of reach of France despite late scores from Élisa Riffoneau and Gabrielle Vernier.
Wales gets the final weekend underway on Friday in Auckland with France and England following on Saturday.
