IRFU confirms interest in PWR expansion

The Irish Rugby Football Union [IRFU] have confirmed that Irish clubs could play in the Premiership Women's Rugby [PWR] in the future.

The PWR opened an expression of interest process in April for organisations who may join the nine-team competition if it expanded.

The closing date for clubs around the UK and Republic of Ireland to submit their expressions of interest was 30 April.

Currently, Munster, Connacht, Leinster and Ulster play within an Interpro league, while Clovers and the Irish Wolfhounds represent Ireland in the Celtic Challenge alongside clubs from Scotland and Wales.

In the most recent Celtic Challenge, Wolfhounds retained their crown for a third year in a row after a 50-29 win over Clovers.

There are 11 players within the Ireland Six Nations squad who play within the PWR, including four who play for reigning Champions Gloucester-Hartpury.

"The IRFU has noted the update from Premi­er­ship Women's Rugby (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," IRFU head of women's strategy Lynne Can­t­well said.

"Women's rugby is mov­ing for­ward quickly, and the IRFU is already engaged in substantial work to accel­er­ate the devel­op­ment of the game in Ire­land as part of our cur­rent women's strategy. This includes our ongo­ing invest­ment in the Celtic Chal­lenge, changes to the domestic club com­pet­i­tion, and other key path­ways ini­ti­at­ives, which remain central pri­or­it­ies for us.

"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.

"Our focus remains on build­ing a strong, sus­tain­able future for women's rugby across the island."