PWR UP Series to kick off new women's rugby season
PWR UP Series fixtures announced
Fixtures for the innovative PWR Up Series have been confirmed ahead of its debut this September.
Three weekends of fixtures will act as a warm-up for all nine Premiership Women’s Rugby clubs before their launch into league action on Saturday 5 October.
Clubs have been grouped together into regional pools of three and will play one another once across three weekends.
It will be an opportunity to see how league champions Gloucester-Hartpury fare as they prepare to defend back-to-back titles and how Bristol Bears bounce back from being league and Allianz Cup runners-up.
The PWR Up Series will also deliver full-blooded local rivalries in every fixture, culminating in a triple-header Super Saturday on 21 September, with matches at Shaftesbury Park, StoneX Stadium and cinch Stadium at Frankin's Gardens.
PWR Up Series fixtures confirmed 🔋
Tap below to see who your team are kicking off their season against 👇#PWR | #PoweredDifferently | @allianzuknews— Premiership Women's Rugby (@ThePWR) July 16, 2024
Belinda Moore, Chief Executive Officer of PWR, said: “Ahead of what promises to be another fantastic Premiership Women's Rugby season we are playing a three-week regional warm-up series in September. This will ensure our players and clubs are ready to go for the start of the PWR season on 5 October.
“Our clubs are starting to develop some strong local rivalries and we believe this is just what our players and clubs need before the eagerly awaited 2024-25 league season kicks off.”
In Round 1 Trailfinders will play host to their west London rivals Harlequins at the Trailfinders Sports Club and a week later Harlequins will be centre of attention yet again when they welcome Saracens to the Twickenham Stoop.
Leicester Tigers will travel to East Midlands adversaries Loughborough Lightning in the third round of the PWR Up Series.
Hosted at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens, the two teams will write a new chapter in their already competitive rivalry.
The PWR Up Series will provide clubs the opportunity to get out on the pitch after a pre-season fine-tuning their craft for the 202425 campaign.
With the Premiership Women's Rugby season concluding on Sunday 16 March, this gives the Red Roses a five-week rest period before the 2025 Guinness Women’s Six Nations and extra preparation for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup hosted on home soil.
Pool A: Leicester Tigers, Loughborough Lightning and Sale Sharks
Pool B: Bristol Bears, Exeter Chiefs and Gloucester-Hartpury
Pool C: Harlequins, Saracens and Trailfinders Women
Fixtures
Saturday 7 September
2pm - Sale Sharks v Loughborough Lightning
CorpAcq Stadium
Sunday 8 September
2pm - Gloucester-Hartpury v Exeter Chiefs
Hartpury University Stadium
3pm - Trailfinders Women v Harlequins
Trailfinders Sports Club
Saturday 14 September
Noon - Harlequins v Saracens
Twickenham Stoop
12.30pm - Leicester Tigers v Sale Sharks
Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium
Sunday 15 September
2pm - Exeter Chiefs v Bristol Bears
Sandy Park Stadium
Saturday 21 September
2pm - Bristol Bears v Gloucester-Hartpury
Shaftesbury Park
2pm - Saracens v Trailfinders Women
StoneX Stadium
3pm - Loughborough Lightning v Leicester Tigers
cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens