Three talking points from Round 6 of the 2025/26 PWR season

With every round that passes we get to learn so much more about every Premiership Women’s Rugby club.

This weekend was no different. There are close run contests, players in the form of their lives and individual stories that warrant recognition.

Over the past two days we saw Exeter Chiefs beat Bristol Bears, Gloucester Hartpury squeezed past Trailfinders Women, Harlequins enjoyed a trip to Leicester Tigers and Saracens won their fifth game in a row as Loughborough Lightning came to town.

Here are three talking points from Round 6…

Unsung Exeter heroes running the show

All season Exeter Chiefs have impressed. Apart from, perhaps, their loss to Gloucester Hartpury at the start of November.

This weekend, in their 41-10 dismantling of Bristol Bears at Sandy Park we saw the very best iteration of Steve Salvin’s side in action to date.

To put it simply, they were magnificent and their new attacking identity installed by Oli Bishop was in full effect.

Much as she has all season Maisy Allen was a beneficiary of this in the back-row, while scrum-half Flo Robinson was a key game driver for her side.

What makes Exeter such a threat at this moment in time is their ability to flip the switch from attack to defence. And being comfortable doing both things.

A quick glance across the stats from the game and you see that Bristol had the majority of possession in the South West, but came up against a Chiefs side that made 212 tackles. Nearly 100 more than Bears.

This is before you tag in Exeter’s supremacy at the set-piece to subdue any hopes of the opposition taking the upper hand.

Now after six rounds we can definitely start to look at Devon side as top four contenders.

Their next challenge is timely too. Next Saturday at Sandy Park the side welcome second-place Saracens. Just three points behind the North Londoners, Saturday afternoon’s clash is must-watch viewing.

Trailfinders can reap rewards for close loss

Last week Emma Taylor told RugbyPass how she hoped that time training had helped Trailfinders Women find themselves. You can argue that was exactly the case on Saturday.

It has been a while since Gloucester Hartpury had been pushed to their limits.

Trailfinders arrived in the West Country with a point to prove after two wins and two losses to start the season. By the game’s end at Kingsholm Stadium the three-time champions had squeezed a 29-28 win over the Londoners.

So far as Barney Maddison’s Trailfinders can be concerned the result can be seen as a springboard for greater success in the weeks to come.

Before New Year the side will face Leicester Tigers and Loughborough Lightning. Wins against fellow contenders for the top four will prove to be invaluable by the end of the regular season.

The confidence that can be taken from this tight loss is immeasurable. Even if they did not enter half-time with the lead, Trailfinders threw the first punch when Alana Borland dotted down with 10 minutes on the clock and enjoyed much the better of the second half as Vicky Laflin, Borland and Niamh Gallagher all registered scores.

At the full-time whistle the side even celebrated the achievement of picking up two bonus points from a loss.

Kolev comeback queen as Harlequins back to winning ways

When Harlequins announced their squad for Round 6 there was a return for Amelia Kolev (nee Harper).

 

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Her last appearance for the West London club came in June 2024. In the time since, the flanker has recovered from an ACL injury and given birth to her son. As stories go it is not a bad one.

To then make her comeback in a 56-28 win against Leicester Tigers and win a first game since Round 1, it all contributed to a rather memorable day at the office.

The 25-year-old won all four of her England caps at the 2020 Women’s Six Nations.

Things at Mattioli Woods could not have gone better as Harlequins ended a run of three losses in a row in the East Midlands.

It took just a minute for Ross Chisholm’s Harlequins to open the scoring through Sarah Parry.

Over the next 79 minutes Carys Phillips scored a hat-trick, Connie Powell crossed the whitewash twice, while Freya Aucken and Ellie Kildunne finished off the contest.

The win has helped Harlequins catapult up to fifth in the PWR table, reignited their top four ambitions and offered Kolev the opportunity to play in front of her son for the first time.