We have a gap of less than a month to recover from the exhilaration of the RWC, before the start of the new 2025-26 version.
How do things look?
The good news
TV/media coverage is increased. The BBC will stream one match per week, in addition to TNT’s pay-walled coverage.
Overseas players keep streaming (back) into the league. For the first time three current Black Ferns (Amy Rule, Exeter Chiefs) and Alana Borland and Georgina Ponsonby, Trailfinders), will form part of the show.
It means that all four RWC semi-finalists will have been represented in the league.
Standards of play are likely to be higher than ever.
The less good news
We still await a public declaration of the PWR board’s strategy.
The crucial elements include:
a. The drive to increase professionalism. Will it continue? Is it sustainable? It certainly isn’t in the men’s version.
Take for example the fate of a player offered a 1 or 2-year contract. If it isn’t renewed, what then? Back to the Job Centre?
How closely aligned will the financial standings of the nine clubs be? The more professional the league becomes, the more the prosperous ones will flourish while the rest flounder.
Gloucester-Hartpury take the biscuit with 28 players involved in the RWC. Try comparing that with other clubs.
b. Which brings us directly to Leicester Tigers.
They finished 8th out of 9 last season, only Sale Sharks below them.
Since then Sharks have increased their playing strength inordinately, led by Amy Cokayne and Holly Aitchison, while Tigers look as though the zookeeper inadvertently left the cage-door open. Players (and the head coach) have left in droves.
Good luck to Sharks!
A recent loss to Saracens 68-7 in the PWR Cup is merely a foretaste of what I fear will happen through the coming season. I can’t see them winning a single match.
We can find a parallel in Worcester Warriors’ fate. They went for nearly two seasons without a win and were eventually ousted through lack of funds.
That cannot possibly be the reason at Leicester, so why this perilous position?
The league was reduced from 10 to 9 clubs; one more loss would look like something other than bad luck.
c. The balance between EQPs (England qualified) and others remains a central issue. It’s a tribute to English rugby that so many NEQPs want to join in.
But where does it stop? At present 13 of every squad of 23 have to be EQPs. Is that a reasonable figure? It means that only five starters need to be potential Red Roses; the rest can be consigned to the bench.
It lowers the chances of younger English prospects getting game-time – and with the odd number of clubs the wretched bye-week is retained.
Equally, every NEQP in the PWR weakens her native league or further delays its establishment (an exception being the southern hemisphere players).
It would be a relief to hear precisely what the board have in mind for the coming season. So much depends on their deliberations.
