Premiership Women's Rugby launched to replace Premier 15s

Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) has been launched to replace Premier 15s, the top tier of the women's domestic league system, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) said on Tuesday, announcing a 10-year strategy for women's rugby in England.

Premiership Women's Rugby will manage the Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby club competition which starts in the autumn, the RFU said, when a new, 10-team league will be launched in a partnership with the RFU and the clubs.

"Our ambition is to transform the league into the world's most competitive, progressive, and sustainable domestic rugby competition," said PWR chief executive officer Belinda Moore.

"Elite women's rugby in England has never been in a stronger place. We have just seen Gloucester-Hartpury win the Allianz Premier 15s with a thrilling victory over Exeter Chiefs, in front of a record crowd at the newly-named Queensholm.

"The final was the culmination of a season which has confirmed that we have strong player talent depth as the foundation to grow the league over the next decade."

The launch of Premiership Women's Rugby comes after England won the Six Nations Grand Slam by beating France at Twickenham in April before a world record crowd of 58,498 for a women's rugby game.