Lynne Cantwell knows exactly what a game against England's best players would mean, and she calls it "a massive opportunity." The head of women's strategy at Irish Rugby is talking about the possibility that Irish teams could someday join Premiership Women's Rugby, a nine-team league that is currently open only to English clubs. It is, she says, "the best elite domestic league in the world at the moment," and Irish eyes are fixed on it.
That hope suddenly looks very real. In April, PWR opened an expression of interest process for outside organisations that might join the competition if it grows. The Irish Rugby Football Union, along with its Welsh and Scottish counterparts, put in a combined bid — and a decision is expected within the next three to four months. If all goes well, a merger with the Celtic Challenge, the tournament that Irish, Scottish and Welsh sides currently play, could happen by the 2028-29 season at the earliest.
Why does this matter? Right now, many of Ireland's best players already leave home to play in this English league. The list is impressive: Aoife Wafer, the Harlequins captain and two-time Women's Six Nations player of the tournament; Sale Sharks back row Brittany Hogan; Exeter Chiefs forwards Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald and Dorothy Wall; and Gloucester Hartpury's Sam Monaghan, Niamh O'Dowd and Neve Jones. A future British and Irish league would let more top players train and compete at home while facing the very best in the world every week.
The bid itself was no small feat. Cantwell told Irish broadcaster RTE that the unions had to submit "a huge big data dump" covering strategy, commercials, performance plans, and stadium access and accessibility. Then came interviews with everyone involved. "That's all we have at the moment," she said. "So we're waiting to hear from them."
The wait has a reason. PWR is run by its shareholder clubs and the RFU, so any change needs layers of governance and sign-off. That is why the answer may not come for another three to four months.
Still, the excitement is hard to miss. Home teams like Munster, Connacht, Leinster and Ulster already play in an Interpro league each season, and the Celtic Challenge — running since 2023 — has been dominated by Irish sides Wolfhounds and Clovers, with the Wolfhounds winning three years running. The two Irish squads are picked from players based in Ireland.
For Cantwell, the prize is simple. A player in that league would be in a great daily environment with top training and medical care, week after week, in an intense competition. She reaches for an old proverb: iron sharpens iron, and everyone gets better. For Ireland, located so close to England, joining this league is, in her words, "exceptional." The journey, she adds, has already begun.