Overview
- Harlequins host Loughborough Lightning on Friday, with Trailfinders vs Exeter, Sale vs Leicester on Saturday and Gloucester-Hartpury vs Saracens on Sunday, as Bristol Bears take the opening-round bye.
- Executive chair Genevieve Shore says two years of commercial and operational preparation position the league to capitalize now, with a stated aim to sell out the Stoop.
- Attendance and TV audiences surged during the World Cup in England, and stakeholders expect that interest to carry into domestic fixtures.
- World Cup players are set to feature this weekend, with notable moves including Georgia Ponsonby to Ealing, Holly Aitchison to Sale and Aoife Wafer to Harlequins.
- A proposed R360 league targets an October 2026 launch, with unions including England and New Zealand warning players would be ineligible for internationals, and no signings confirmed.