Three talking points from Round 3 of the 2025/26 PWR season

Every weekend Premiership Women’s Rugby has been essential viewing in the 2025/26 season’s opening gambit.

From lesser seen draws, standout individual performance and statement wind, Round 3 offered a little bit of everything.

Here are three talking points from the latest action in the top flight of English women’s rugby…

Trailfinders click into gear in style

Two weeks on from their opening round defeat to Exeter Chiefs at home, Trailfinders Women got their season off the mark with an impressive 64-22 win against Sale Sharks on the road.

It has been well publicised how the side have seen several high profile signings in the summer. Most of whom made it over the whitewash on Saturday.

Georgia Ponsonby, Francesca McGhie and Meg Jones all dotted down, as did Abi Burton, Grace White and Rosie Inman, and both Julia Schell and Carys Cox registered a brace each.

Not only a boon to Barney Maddison after a challenging opening weekend, but it is also further confirmation that we can expect the side to seriously challenge for a top four slot this season.

Bringing in a high quantity of big name players can have its disadvantages. In the case of Trailfinders, they seem to have slotted in perfectly and added their wealth of experience to an already promising side.

Even in defeat there are some shoots of hope for Sale. They not only welcomed their captain, Georgie Perris-Redding, back to the side after a year away – first recovering from an ACL and then competing at the Women’s Rugby World Cup – but saw Rhona Lloyd score a hat-trick.

To keep the good times rolling Trailfinders will host Bristol Bears, with Scott Lawson’s team looking to get back to winning ways again.

Sarah Parry making claim for Test shirt

Even if Harlequins were 33-26 losers to Gloucester Hartpury at Sunday lunchtime, there was one player in Quarters that stood head and shoulders above her teammates.

England Under-20 centre Sarah Parry has been a mainstay in Ross Chisholm’s backline since their PWR Cup campaign. Now 20 the mid-Wales raised centre has enjoyed an electric start to the season with her lung-busting carries and astute defence.

Aged just 17 when handed her Worcester Warriors debut by Jo Yapp, the midfielder has matured well and a spot in the Red Roses squad is, surely, in her future.

A try scorer against the three-time champions on the weekend as the hosts ran up a 26-14 lead with just shy of 50 minutes on the clock, Parry’s stock has never been higher.

Even with such a positive in the form of Parry, the need for the West Londoners to get back to winning ways is significant.

Next Sunday the club will take on Exeter at Sandy Park. Steve Salvin’s team have had a similarly indifferent start to the new season and most recently drew 33-all with Loughborough Lightning.

What Round 1 loss?

Turns out a fortnight can be a very long time. When Saracens started their latest PWR campaign with a 40-14 loss on the road to Gloucester Hartpury, some hands began reaching over for the alarm bells.

It was a performance that can only be branded as uncharacteristic, but in the weeks since the North London side have been in far more familiar form.

Last week that came in the form of a 47-10 win against Harlequins. Most recently Alex Austerberry’s team put Bristol to the sword 33-12 in the West Country.

Olivia Apps, May Campbell, Alysha Corrigan, Kelsey Clifford and Bryony Field were all on the scoresheet for the club.
Such a dominant display has not only landed the club in second but proved that their opening weekend performance was nothing more than a blip.

Immediately those question marks have halted. Already vacant from the position of English champions for three years, now you have to think that their destiny is firmly in the play-off spots.