The shortened Premiership Women’s Rugby season will present new challenges when it gets under way on Saturday, threatening to shake up the league and requiring careful management of players’ fitness.
The Saracens back-row Poppy Cleall expects it to test the strength in depth of all nine clubs and throw up a number of unexpected results with the same amount of fixtures in far less time.
Last season the league ran from November to June but the 2024-25 campaign starts in October and will end in March. The shortened schedule, which also includes rest weeks, is in place so internationals can have a rest period between the Six Nations and the 2025 World Cup, which is being hosted in England and starts on 22 August.
Cleall, who will play for Saracens against Ealing on Saturday, says: “A shortened season puts much more pressure on the players and our bodies. I think 100% it will have an impact. It is about whose squad has the biggest depth, whose physio departments are looking after and managing people’s distances, loads and minutes.
“It’s a bit of a puzzle that people are going to have to juggle more. It will definitely have an impact on some of the results, I’m sure there will be more underdog victories than there have been before and it’ll probably be down to the fact players will be asked to play a bit too much minutes in a month. But that’s good for the league, no one is complaining about it. No one is moaning about it. This is just another challenge, how can you manage your squad? How can you grow that depth?”
Saracens, who last won the league in 2021-22, have failed to reach the final in the past two campaigns after losing in the semi-finals. Cleall – who is also a voluntary assistant coach at lower-league Wasps – says falling at the penultimate hurdle both times has been disappointing and, while the ultimate goal is always the trophy, Saracens’ main focus is making it back into the final this season.
The first step towards achieving that is their game this weekend against Ealing, who are competing with a new head coach after Giselle Mather left abruptly in pre-season because of a reported power struggle with the managing director, Ben Ward. Barney Maddison has been appointed to the top job, having been the assistant coach last season. It is their second season in the top flight, finishing sixth last term.
Elsewhere in the league, Harlequins will be aiming for a better finish after coming seventh last season. The club, who won the league in 2021, have failed to make the semi-finals in the past two seasons. Quins will open their campaign against Exeter, who have been building their team well in their four years in the top flight but will want some silverware after featuring in and losing two of the past three league finals.
Last year’s finalists Bristol have made a great signing over the summer in the Scotland international Emma Orr. Her first appearance in Bristol colours will have to wait, as she is away on Scotland duty this weekend. In the first round Bristol will travel to Loughborough, who finished just outside the playoff spots last season in fifth. To round off the fixtures, the champions of the past two years, Gloucester-Hartpury, will play Leicester. Sale’s first match will come in round two because there are nine clubs in the league, meaning every round one club will have the week off.
All teams will be without their international players for the first few rounds as they are playing in the WXV. The tournaments in Canada, South Africa and Dubai and will wrap up on 12 October. Cleall was not selected for the Red Roses squad to play in WXV 1 but has been involved in England camps over the summer, and played against France in a warmup game in September.
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The match was her first game for England in 498 days and her first since John Mitchell became head coach. She did not receive a Rugby Football Union contract when they were awarded in June and has had to find a new income stream, mainly through her women’s rugby agency. Despite the recent setbacks, Cleall is determined to make the England squad for the 2025 World Cup, which she says would be her last.
How would she feel if the September game against France was her final one for England? “The whole week, the whole buildup [to the France game], the whole day I was like: ‘Will this ever happen again?’” Cleall says. “So to have that moment, that was nice. I think if it was to end there with international [rugby], that’s OK. I’m happy with that. I had quite a big setback, I was the only contracted player not to play under John Mitchell so it was a long time. So to make my way back and get back, that was nice. That isn’t the end goal. To play in that and never play again, that’s not the end goal. I want to carry on playing.”
Cleall has won six grand slam Women’s Six Nations titles, was a part of the England side which won 30 consecutive matches, and has been involved in the squad that reached two World Cup finals. She wants to add to her glittering international career but is focused on her club rugby . “If I am playing well and performing at Sarries, the rest will come.”