Rivals prepare for warm-up matches
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 October 5.
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 backto-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.
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 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 2024/25 campaign.
With the Premiership Women’s Rugby season concluding on Sunday
March 16, this gives the Red Roses a five-week rest period before the 2025 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)