Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) is considering expanding the nine-team top flight league with clubs from outside of England and Scottish Rugby has formally lodged an expression of interest.
The PWR opened an expression of interest process for organisations interested in becoming part of the league’s future competition structure back in March.
At the time the PWR said: “The league has established a strong and expanding commercial platform and a multi-year partnership with TNT Sports together with a growing portfolio of commercial partners including Gallagher and The British Army. This reflects increasing confidence in the league’s long-term trajectory and its role within the wider sports marketplace.
“As part of this continuing growth and evolution, PWR is now inviting any women’s programmes in the UK and Ireland to register interest in joining the competition in future seasons. The process could represent a significant opportunity for ambitious organisations to become part of this dynamic, high-performance and fast-growing company.
“The expression of interest process will help inform planning for the league’s future competition structure and support the development of a model designed to sustain long-term sporting success, enhance commercial growth and strengthen the league’s position at the forefront of women’s professional sport.”
Today a spokesman for Scottish Rugby said: “Women’s rugby in Scotland continues to build strong momentum, something already demonstrated through the growth of the Celtic Challenge and as further conversations around the future of the game develop we are considering opportunities that could accelerate that progress and strengthen the sport domestically.
“Following the expression of interest, we are excited by the potential opportunity to work with PWR and our Celtic Challenge partners.
“We believe any future involvement could play an important role in advancing our long-term ambitions for women’s rugby in Scotland, supporting sustainable growth from grassroots through to the international game and creating the best possible environment for players across the country.
“We look forward to continuing discussions with the hope that Glasgow and Edinburgh could be part of an exciting future.”
The Welsh Rugby Union’s director of rugby Dave Reddin said: “Taking this official step [of expressing interest to join] allows us to understand the proposition from PWR more fully and what would be required from us to participate in any league expansion.”
And the IRFU’s head of women’s strategy Lynne Cantwell said: “The IRFU has noted the update from the PWR regarding the opening of expressions of interest for future seasons.
“It’s positive to see new ideas and opportunities emerging that support the continued growth of the women’s game.
“The IRFU has expressed its interest in the PWR process and looks forward to exploring the potential opportunity further that could enable us to grow the game.
“Any developments will be carefully considered within the context of the whole game and what best supports long-term growth for our clubs and provinces.”
The PWR is getting bigger all of the time – thanks to Premiership Women’s Rugby for the photo
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