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The Premiership Women’s Rugby season begins at the Stoop on Friday, just across the road and almost a month on from England’s Rugby World Cup victory against Canada in the final at Twickenham.
One of the most famous images of that day was the Red Roses captain, Zoe Aldcroft, jumping around with the trophy, an image her teammate Meg Jones has now had tattooed on her leg, and the Gloucester-Hartpury lock will be aiming to replicate the pictures if her club side defend the title they have won for the past three seasons come the PWR final on 28 June.
Women’s rugby fever gripped England throughout the tournament with all 16 teams well supported before the Red Roses’ crowning moment. Attendance numbers and TV viewership was unlike anything the sport had enjoyed before and the hope is that interest will translate to the PWR. On an international level, the interest has not dimmed, with more than 30,000 tickets sold for England’s Six Nations opener against Ireland at Twickenham in April.
For the PWR’s executive chair, Genevieve Shore, who won the 1994 World Cup with England, harnessing the moment is crucial.
“We’ve been working on this for two years now,” she said. “A lot of the functional boring stuff you have to do to be ready for this, like having ticketing in place, building a database, telling the stories about the athletes, getting the clubs ready, get partners on board, have a TV deal, all of those things we have been building towards.
“We really are homing in on ‘you saw them at the World Cup, here they are now’, making those easy customer journeys. I think we are going to see some big-step-change numbers this weekend on viewing figures and attendances.”
Alongside attendance numbers, plenty will have their ears to the ground about the breakaway R360 league. Many internationals have been contacted about joining, but there is no official confirmation that any players have been signed up.
The league is scheduled to begin in October 2026 but several countries, including England and New Zealand, have released a statement saying any player who joins will not be able to play internationals. Canada, who have several players competing in the PWR, were not among those to sign.
Shore said: “Competition is good, we are all competitive animals. We all want to win. I don’t want to be protectionist about it. New ideas are good, if there is innovation, great, let’s have it, let’s talk about it. What does it look like?
“I don’t think I am worried about it [R360]. I am conscious of it, but that is a normal part of running a business. I need to know what our competitors are doing.
“I am looking forward to them breaking cover and giving us some more information. Then we will really know what we are up against.”
Now to the action on the pitch. While the World Cup was being played, those not involved competed in the PWR Cup with Saracens retaining the title after beating Harlequins in the final.
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The PWR has nine teams, so every weekend one side will have a break, which means for the opening round Bristol Bears will not be in action. World Cup players from all nations are expected to play in the opening round.
There has been a lot of player movement with the most high‑profile signings including the Black Ferns international Georgia Ponsonby moving to Ealing, the Red Roses’ Holly Aitchison signing for Sale and Ireland’s Aoife Wafer joining Harlequins.
All will be seeking a place in the final at the Stoop, the same venue as the opening game between Harlequins and Loughborough Lightning. By then, the league may face questions about why it did not choose a bigger venue, with the Stoop’s capacity only 14,800. Shore says the PWR does have the ambition to host its showpiece game over the road.
“Our aim is we sell out the Stoop. I would really like the problem of people sending me an email saying: ‘I couldn’t get a ticket.’ I would be fine with that.
“Where we host the final next year is a really big decision and thereafter – what is our strategy for that? We are talking about that now. I don’t see why not [it being hosted at Twickenham in future]. Of course we are going to have the ambition to sell out massive stadiums, why wouldn’t we?”
