Gloucester-Hartpury take early lead in the PWR following thrilling opening round

The PWR is back for another blockbuster season with eight of the nine sides having taken to the field for the opening round of the campaign.

Harlequins will aim for a top-four finish in the Premiership Women’s Rugby this season, says wing Lisa Neumann, who spoke after her club narrowly lost to Exeter Chiefs in the opening round.

Quins, who finished in seventh last campaign after an underwhelming season, dominated the game but fell to defeat with a last-minute penalty from Liv McGoverne sealing an 8-7 victory.

Injuries to Izzy Mayhew and Nicole Wythe also blighted Quins’ afternoon, updates on how serious both of those injuries are have not yet been provided by the club.

Neumann, capped with Wales, told RugbyDump: “I don’t think Exeter got into our 22 that often so for them to come away and steal it at the very end is gutting for us. But we have just got to go away, reflect and make sure that doesn’t happen again.

“Our goal is to make the top four. I do think we have built on our performances from last season. You can definitely see that. It is just [having] to be clinical in the right areas and actually convert points when we get into their 22.”

Exeter also have top-four ambitions and McGoverne said the club were “stoked” to get a win to open their PWR season account.

“I think it is nice to have these challenges and be able to win in that way,” she said. “We know we can come in clutch at the end and that will probably come in handy later in the season to know we can win those games.”

Elsewhere in the league, back-to-back champions Gloucester-Hartpury got their title defence underway with an impressive 57-29 win over Leicester Tigers. Saracens beat Trailfinders 38-29 and last season’s finalists Bristol Bears started with a 46-19 win against Loughborough Lightning.

Sale Sharks had a bye week in round one and so get their season underway against Saracens on 12 October.

Written by Sarah Rendell.