Premiership Women’s Rugby is embarking on its first ‘Super Weekend’ and Emily Scarratt is delighted to return just in time to play a part in it.
The England centurion and World Cup winner returned last Friday for Loughborough Lightning’s defeat to Bristol Bears, having been out for 15 months due to neck surgery.
Scarratt, 34, has been at Loughborough Lightning since 2018 and is chomping at the bit for PWR’s focus weekend. She hopes with no Six Nations or Premiership action on, that viewing figures and attendances will be healthy across the four games.
Scarratt told The Rugby Paper: “Having every game directly shown on TNT or streamed on a platform is really exciting and should show a spotlight on our league. If we’re trying to keep younger people involved in rugby then social media is great in doing that through platforms like TikTok.
“I’m eager to contribute after my time on the sidelines. Looking forward to being back home at Franklin’s Gardens.”
A repeat of the 2023 Premier 15s final sees Gloucester-Hartpury and Exeter Chiefs kick off an unforgettable weekend where the kick off times have been staggered to ensure fans can watch every game.
Following the meeting at Kingsholm that is live on TNT Sports, attention turns to west London and the Trailfinders Stadium, where Giselle Mather’s Trailfinders entertain Bristol Bears, who are fourth.
The first game on Sunday is in north London where second-placed Saracens host Leicester Tigers, followed at 3pm when TNT Sports show their second game of the weekend, Loughborough Lightning entertaining Sale Sharks at cinch stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
Scarratt added: “I’m looking forward to playing against Sale, it’s a big game for us in terms of where we’re trying to get to but the Gloucester – Exeter game is a huge one with it being a re-run of last year’s final. Gloucester are still going really well, Exeter have had a few tough results and tighter wins than they would have liked, so hopefully they’ll be right up for this game and showcase the very best of our league.”
Having had a close eye on the game whilst on the sidelines, Scarratt has observed clear growth in the division and thanks TNT Sports for their weekly coverage of the league.
He said: “Having the TNT contract in place is massive for us but we’ve also seen the quality of the league go up in recent years in terms of the speed and athleticism of the game. We have so many professional players part of the league because of the various nationalities they represent but as a whole the standard is getting stronger and stronger.
“There’s so many competitive games, last year we saw so many washouts but this year we haven’t seen so many. There’s been tough competitive games every weekend which has been great to see.”
Written by Ben Jaycock
Catch the #SuperPWRWeekend live on TNT Sports and streaming on discovery+, starting with Gloucester-Hartpury v Exeter Chiefs at 14:45 on Saturday 2nd March
