Melville: Premier league will support growth at elite level

THE new Women’s Premiership competition is taking shape with the announcement of the fixtures list as well as the title sponsor being confirmed this week.

Backed by crisp-giant Tyrells, the Tyrrells Premier 15s will see the ten team competing over 18 rounds on home and away fixtures.

Last season’s champions Aylesford Bulls, who have now officially been taken over by Harlequins, will begin the defence of the their title at Wasps on Saturday, September 16 while last year’s finalists Bristol will host Richmond on the Sunday.

The other three fixtures on the first round will see newcomers, Loughborough, Waterloo and Gloucester-Hartpury take on Worcester, Saracens and Darlington respectively.

The 18th and last round of the season will be on March 24, 2018 with the top four teams progressing to semi-finals played over two legs and the final on April 29, 2018.

“The Tyrrells Premier 15s competition is an important step forward for women’s rugby to strengthen the foundations of the women’s game as it continues to grow in popularity,” RFU director of professional Rugby Nigel Melville commented.

“By investing at domestic level we can build a sustainable model to support the growth of the game at elite level.

“The competition will crucially expand the playing pool of players available for international selection which will enable us to reach our long-term objective of running dual professionalised 15s and Sevens programmes and allow us to compete on all fronts at the highest level.”