Gloucester-Hartpury face Saracens in 'blockbuster' PWR opener

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Media caption,

Gloucester-Hartpury beat Saracens to win the 2024-25 PWR title. BBC Sport will show one semi-final and the final of the forthcoming season

BBC Sport rugby union news reporter

Champions Gloucester-Hartpury will face Saracens in a re-run of last season's final on the opening weekend of the 2025-26 Premiership Women's Rugby campaign.

The two teams will meet at Kingsholm on Sunday, 26 October.

Gloucester-Hartpury closed out their third successive title with a 34-19 victory at the Stonex Stadium in March.

Their success drew them level on PWR titles with Saracens - both teams have won the competition three times since it began eight years ago.

The first round of action begins on Friday, 24 October when Harlequins host Loughborough Lightning at the Stoop.

That match will be shown live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app as part of a new deal between PWR and BBC Sport.

With TNT Sports also showing one game from each round and the other two matches being streamed on YouTube, the forthcoming campaign will be the first from which every PWR game is broadcast live.

Saracens play London rivals Harlequins, who finished third in the 2024-25 table, in the second round of fixtures, before taking on Bristol Bears, who were fourth, in the third.

After this year's final was brought forward to maximise England's preparations for the Rugby World Cup, the 2025-26 showpiece returns to a more familiar slot in the calendar on Sunday, 28 July.

The start of the 2025-26 season has been pushed back three weeks to allow star players to recover and be reintegrated after the World Cup, which concludes on 27 September.

Organisers hope the momentum from the tournament, which has sold more than 300,000 tickets already, can boost the nine-team top tier.

"The upcoming Women's Rugby World Cup presents PWR with a huge opportunity to raise the awareness of women's rugby and our incredible athletes," said Genevieve Shore, the league's executive chair.

"When putting together the fixtures, we were conscious of needing to start our season with a bang and keep those new fans engaged. The early weeks of the season are filled with blockbuster matchups and will undoubtedly provide a showcase of elite talent and top-quality rugby.

"The growth of attendances at PWR matches is right at the top of our priority list for this coming season and we're really hopeful that after a home World Cup, people will head along to our clubs and experience the excitement of a game in person."