Women's BUCS Super Rugby to launch this season as student game continues to evolve
Hartpury reigned supreme in the Women's National League after clinching three successive titles
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The top level of women's university rugby will be under a new guise this season after the league was rebranded to 'Women's BUCS Super Rugby.;
The seven-team competition is an evolution of the Women’s National League (WNL) and joins the top level of Men’s student rugby as BUCS’ second ‘Super’ level of competition.
Women’s BUCS Super Rugby will provide an enhanced platform to aid female players at institutions in England, Wales and Scotland as they aim to develop their game alongside pursuing higher education.
Women’s BUCS Super Rugby will also see the introduction of a three-team set of match officials to each fixture, increased access to live stream coverage whilst more resources have been directed towards profiling the impact BUCS' institutions, their players and practitioners have on the professional game.
BUCS has worked in close partnership with England Rugby, Scottish Rugby and the Welsh Rugby Union to shape the programme, which aims to significantly add to the 26 players who have graduated to senior international rugby after competing in the WNL.
Cardiff University, Cardiff Met University, Durham University, The University of Edinburgh, The University of Exeter, Hartpury University and Loughborough University will compete in the inaugural season.
Will Roberts, BUCS CEO said: “I’m thrilled that Women’s BUCS Super Rugby will take place for the first time this coming season, illustrating our efforts as an organisation to strive for equality in our competition.
“This has been the realisation of years of hard work to create a competition which attracts some of the best young rugby talent to take part in university sport and is in line with our strategic theme of driving participation through high-quality, co-designed and inclusive competitions."
Over 90 female players so far have come through the Women’s National League system and gone on to play in top-flight competition (Premiership Women’s Rugby and Celtic Challenge), including Emma Sing (Hartpury), Gwen Crabb (Cardiff Met) and Meryl Smith (Edinburgh).
The Women’s BUCS Super Rugby competition gets underway on Friday 13 September with a showpiece fixture between Edinburgh and defending three-time champions Hartpury at The Hive, Murrayfield.
BUCS will stream the fixture for free through a new BSR-focused YouTube channel, and you can continue to follow both the Men’s and Women’s competitions throughout the 2024-2025 season on TRU and BUCS' social media.
