The Allianz Cup will get underway this weekend as Exeter Chiefs kick-off their title defence against Worcester Warriors at Sixways Stadium on Friday night.
Chiefs stormed to a 29-19 triumph over Saracens in last season’s final, but they will be looking to set the record straight against Warriors, who beat them in the group stage.
Warriors and Chiefs are joined by Bristol Bears, Leicester Tigers and Sale Sharks in Pool A, while Saracens, Harlequins, Gloucester-Hartpury, Loughborough Lightning and Ealing Trailfinders will battle it out in Pool B.
Each round sees two clubs presented with a ‘bye’, so the campaigns of Bristol Bears and Trailfinders Women start next weekend. The pool stages run through September and October before the Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby competition starts in November.
From the two Allianz Cup pools, play-off places will emerge with all sides fighting it out again in April when a new Allianz Cup winner will be decided, and sides will be ranked 1-10.
And as Chiefs embark on their bid to make it a hat-trick of Cup victories, head coach Susie Appleby insists her side’s performances will be as important as their results.
“We want to win, but we know our performance is the most important thing each week,” said Appleby.
“We just want to start the season well, as I said, we’re still defining ourselves. We’re having meetings and setting new standards.
“We’re very much in the early stages of the season and pre-season, whereas some other clubs are probably four or five weeks into their process.
“We just think it’s all about performance and looking at ourselves as individuals, making sure we’re improving as individuals.
“And then if we improve as individuals on and off the field, then hopefully the results will start to take shape.”
Chiefs’ opponents under the Friday night lights, Warriors, will be hoping to build on an impressive fifth-place finish in the Allianz Cup last term.
The Sixways side have an abundance of young stars ready to take centre stage in the Allianz Cup this season, and head coach Jo Yapp has told fans to keep an eye on England Under-18 hooker Lucy Calladine.
“It is exciting for a front-row player, she plays beyond her years,” said Yapp. “She is going to get a real opportunity to learn and develop, which is good to see.
“We have always approached the Allianz Cup as a real opportunity to develop players, it is a playing opportunity for them.
“When you have got 12 to 14 players away on international duty, you are looking at that next group of players.
“It is an opportunity for them to put their hands up in senior rugby, so for us going into Friday we have got of young players involved who are going to be taking part in their first competitive senior game of rugby.
“It is going to be exciting to see what they do.”
The other clash in Pool A will see Leicester Tigers make their Allianz Cup debut away at Sale Sharks on Saturday, with Sharks looking to better last season’s fourth-place pool stage finish.
In Pool B, last year’s defeated finalists Saracens will get their campaign underway with a mouth-watering London derby against Harlequins at StoneX Stadium.
Saracens also failed to successfully defend their Allianz Premier15s league title last term and head coach Alex Austerberry is itching to get his hands back on some silverware while also bringing through the next generation.
“You’re not in professional sport to come second,” he said. “To win the Allianz Cup is certainly the aim but we don’t want to miss development opportunities along the way.
“Your performances will look after the results, and at the end of the season, it would be brilliant to be sat there with two trophies in the cabinet instead of one.
“It is a great start to the season; we know it is going to be unbelievably competitive against our London rivals and there is a rich recent history between the two clubs. We are going to find out exactly where we are right from the off and you would not want it any other way.”
The other match in Pool B will see last season’s defeated semi-finalists Gloucester-Hartpury face Loughborough Lightning, who will have intentions of improving on a sixth-place finish last time out.
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