Chiefs Women Pre-Season Friendlies in PWR Up Series Confirmed

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 [PWR] 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 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.

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 2024-25 campaign. It will be another landmark season of women’s rugby in England.

With the Allianz PWR season concluding on Sunday, March 16, 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, September 7

2pm - Sale Sharks v Loughborough Lightning, CorpAcq Stadium

Sunday, September 8

2pm - Gloucester-Hartpury v Exeter Chiefs, Hartpury University Stadium

3pm - Trailfinders Women v Harlequins, Trailfinders Sports Club

Saturday, September 14

12pm - Harlequins v Saracens, Twickenham Stoop

12.30pm - Leicester Tigers v Sale Sharks, Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium

Sunday, September 15

2pm - Exeter Chiefs v Bristol Bears, Sandy Park Stadium

Saturday, September 21

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