Jam-packed women's season on the cards for 2025

NEWS: A bumper women’s season kicks off unusually early in January next year as all eyes turn towards the World Cup in England in August and September.

The Bulls Daisies begin the defence of their Women’s Premier Division crown at the end of the first month of 2025 as SA Rugby adjusted the calendar to provide the best high-performance flight path towards the World Cup.

The country’s top eight provincial women’s teams will play the competition over a single round. The Final, to be contested by the two top teams on the log after the league phase, is scheduled for Saturday, March 28.

The early start and finish of the tournament will assist the Springbok Women in their preparations for the game’s showpiece event. In their pool matches, they will face Brazil, Italy, and France.

The team will ramp up their preparations after the domestic competition with a trip to Europe in April followed by the Africa Women’s Cup as part of next year’s international schedule.

“It’s great to have the fixtures out as that will greatly assist the teams in starting to prepare for the competition, which will be an important guideline for us in selection as well,” said Swys de Bruin, performance coach of the Springbok Women.

“We will be looking closely at each team to see if there are any players to be added to our group, while the established players are also getting valuable game time and will arrive in camp with good match fitness and conditioning.

“We want to thank SA Rugby and all the unions for their willingness to move the tournament this early, as it will boost our preparations for the World Cup.”

The Bulls Daisies, champions in 2023 and 2024, will travel to Nelson Mandela Bay for their opening round clash against the EP Queens, while the Border Ladies host the Sharks Women, Boland Dames take on the Golden Lions Women, and the runners up in the last two seasons, Western Province, face off against the Free State Women.

Fixtures for the Women’s First Division, which was won this season by the SWD Eagirls, will be confirmed in due course.

Women’s Premier Division 2025 fixtures (home sides named first, venues and kick-off times to be confirmed):

Round 1 (weekend of January 25)

Border Ladies vs Sharks Women
EP Queens v Bulls Daisies
Boland Dames vs Golden Lions Women
Western Province vs Free State Women

Round 2 (weekend of February 1)

Border Ladies vs Golden Lions Women
Bulls Daisies vs Western Province
Sharks Women v Free State Women
Boland Dames vs EP Queens

Round 3 (weekend of February 8)

Sharks Women vs EP Queens
Boland Dames vs Bulls Daisies
Western Province vs Border Ladies
Free State Women vs Golden Lions Women

Round 4 (weekend of February 15)

Border Ladies vs Boland Dames
Bulls Daisies vs Sharks Women
EP Queens vs Free State Women
Golden Lions Women vs Western Province

Round 5 (weekend of March 1)

Bulls Daisies vs Border Ladies
EP Queens vs Golden Lions Women
Sharks Women vs Western Province
Free State Women vs Boland Dames

Round 6 (weekend of March 8)

Boland Dames vs Sharks Women
Western Province vs EP Queens
Golden Lions Women vs Bulls Daisies
Free State Women vs Border Ladies

Round 8 (weekend of March 21)

Border Ladies vs EP Queens
Bulls Daisies vs Free State Women
Western Province vs Boland Dames
Golden Lions Women vs Sharks Women

Final (March 28)