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What to watch in women’s rugby: SVNS, Celtic Challenge and PWR finale
Fans can enjoy a bumper weekend of women’s rugby on RugbyPass TV as the Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) regular season draws to a close, Celtic Challenge heats up and HSBC SVNS 2025 continues.
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Gloucester-Hartpury host Harlequins in a blockbuster PWR encounter on Friday night as both teams look to land a psychological blow ahead of the semi-finals.
On Saturday, Gwalia Lightning will attempt to kickstart their Celtic Challenge title hopes against a Glasgow Warriors side fresh from their maiden win at this level.
And if those matches weren’t enough, this weekend also sees the return of SVNS as BC Place plays host to the best 12 teams in the shortened format.
Watch all that and much, much more live and for free via RugbyPass TV.
Quins visit Circus in PWR finale
Gloucester-Hartpury coach Sean Lynn has urged his players to enjoy the moment as they bring their regular season to a close against Harlequins on Friday night.
Lynn’s side are assured of top spot, and a home semi-final against Bristol Bears, as they prepare to run out at Kingsholm for the penultimate time under the departing Welshman.
Quins by contrast need a victory – on a ground where they lost 57-24 last season – to have any hope of overhauling second-placed Saracens and ensuring their play-off against their London rivals is staged at Twickenham Stoop.
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Back-to-back defending champions Gloucester-Hartpury lost their final regular season match in both 2023 and 2024 before going on to lift the title.
Lynn has admitted he could use Friday’s match to ensure his “whole squad have got some minutes in their legs going into the knockouts” but that does not mean standards will slip.
“We’re in a cool place, to play your final league game and you don’t need to win,” Lynn said this week. “All I want is for the girls to have a smile on their face and enjoy each other’s company and take in that Kingsholm crowd.
“It’s a special place and I think there’s not many opportunities in your career where you don’t have to be winning.
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“Look, I want us performing and I want us building into the semi-final, and we can take some really good lessons from our Harlequins piece. But the big thing I’m talking about is let’s enjoy each other’s company and play with smiles on faces.”
Emma Sing scored 10 points as Gloucester-Hartpury won the teams’ first encounter this season, 27-18 at the Stoop back in October.
Quins won their next 10 matches in a row to storm into the top four but have lost two of their last three and need to build some momentum ahead of their semi-final showdown with Saracens a week on Saturday.
Their most recent defeat came last Friday night as Bristol put a dent in their top two hopes with a 19-10 victory in front of a club record crowd of 6,780 at the Stoop.
“For us, it’s no different mindset-wise, it is about going out there and this season you try and win every game,” Quins boss Ross Chisholm said.
“You try and perform in every game. It’s the most important thing and the outcome will take care of itself.
“And actually, for us, it’s about making sure that we bounce back with a performance and making sure that we’re true to who we want to be and how we want to try and play.”
Find out who comes out on top under the lights at Kingsholm live and for free via RugbyPass TV, except in the UK, Ireland, USA and Canada.
Friday, February 21
19:45 GMT – Gloucester-Hartpury v Harlequins, Kingsholm – WATCH LIVE HERE
Will Lightning strike twice for rejuvenated Glasgow?
Glasgow Warriors welcome Gwalia Lightning to Scotstoun Stadium buoyed by their first ever Celtic Challenge victory last time out.
Warriors centre Briar McNamara scored 11 points as the hosts won the derby against Edinburgh Rugby, rearranged from round two, 36-17 in Glasgow.
The win lifted Glasgow above Brython Thunder and into fifth in the table ahead of the visit of Gwalia Lightning this weekend.
Gwalia enjoyed a week off following their 21-15 defeat at the Wolfhounds in round seven. That loss put a check on their title hopes but the Welsh side remain only four points off the top.
They will want to get their challenge for silverware back on track this Saturday, against a team they beat 31-26 when they met at Ystrad Mynach in round four.
Gwalia needed to dig incredibly deep to earn that victory, however, having trailed 26-12 in the second half before two tries from Courtney Greenway and a late score from captain Bryonie King turned the tide.
It promises to be an equalling thrilling encounter this Saturday and you can watch it live and for free via RugbyPass TV.
Saturday, February 22
13:00 GMT – Glasgow Warriors v Gwalia Lightning, Scotstoun Stadium – WATCH LIVE HERE
SVNS set for decisive round at BC Place
The SVNS circuit arrives in Vancouver for the penultimate stop of the regular season with three teams realistically left in the hunt to become League Winners.
New Zealand currently lead the way with 56 points having made all three finals so far, beating USA in the showpiece match in Cape Town in December.
However, the Black Ferns Sevens lost both finals they played against their great rivals, Australia. The most recent of those coming in Perth last month.
Australia are just two points behind the Black Ferns Sevens in second, but travelled to Canada without World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year 2024 Maddison Levi. France – bronze medallists in Dubai, Cape Town and Perth – are a further six points back in third.
Things are equally tight at the other end of the table, where eighth-placed Ireland enjoy a mere three-point cushion over Brazil in ninth, with China a point further back.
At the end of the five-round regular season the top eight teams will compete in the Grand Final in Singapore while the bottom four face the threat of relegation.
This weekend’s action gets underway at BC Place at 14:00 local time (GMT-8) on Friday, as sixth-placed Japan take on out-of-form Fiji.
Standout matches on day one include Japan’s Pool C encounter with Great Britain and USA v Ireland in Pool B.
On day two, league leaders New Zealand face USA in what is sure to be a decisive match before Australia bring the curtain down on the pool stage against hosts Canada.
The quarter-finals will be staged in Saturday’s evening session and the winners confirmed in the Cup final the following day (kick-off 17:41 local time).
Find out if Australia can make it three wins from four tournaments in 2025 and where the upsets come via RugbyPass TV, except where there is an exclusive local broadcast deal in place.
Friday, February 21
22:00 GMT – HSBC SVNS Vancouver day one, BC Place – WATCH LIVE HERE
Saturday, February 22
21:00 GMT – HSBC SVNS Vancouver day two, BC Place – WATCH LIVE HERE
Sunday, February 23
19:00 GMT – HSBC SVNS Vancouver day three, BC Place – WATCH LIVE HERE
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