The Melbourne Rebels Women will start the inaugural season of Super W on the road after Rugby Australia released the fixture for the new national women’s competition on Friday.
The new five-team round robin competition will kick-off on Saturday 10 March 2018 before the league concludes with the first Super W Grand Final between the top two sides on the weekend of 20 April 2018.
The Rebels Women will open their season on the road with consecutive away games to the Western Force Women and Queensland Women before they return home to play host the Brumbies Women and NSW Women in the final two weeks.
The club will host its first ever men’s and women’s double header in the fourth round of Super W when the Rebels Women host the Brumbies Women before the Rebels take on the Hurricanes on Saturday 30 March at AAMI Park.
“We recognised that it’s going to be a big ask to start the season on the road to Western Australia followed by the reigning Brisbane Global Rugby Tens champions in Brisbane but we’re excited by the challenge,” Melbourne Rebels Women’s Head Coach Alana Thomas said.
“The double header with the Rebels at AAMI Park will be a thrill for our players and a wonderful opportunity to showcase women’s rugby.
“After playing the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens, we know that we’ve got plenty of hard work ahead of us before the start of the Super W season but we’ve got a committed and dedicated group of players hungry to make Victoria proud.”
The kick-off of Super W will be just the second time ever that the Rebels have fielded men’s and women’s teams concurrently in national competitions following the Brisbane Global Rugby Tens tournament.
Rugby Australia also announced on Friday that construction firm Buildcorp has been confirmed as the official naming rights partner for the inaugural Buildcorp Super W.
Buildcorp will continue as the naming rights partner of the Buildcorp Wallaroos, cementing its position as the number one supporter of women’s XVs Rugby in the country.
The news comes after the announcement that FOX SPORTS will be the home of the Buildcorp Super W with all matches to be broadcast via FOX SPORTS channels.
One match per round will also be streamed LIVE on RUGBY.com.au.
Melbourne Rebels Women 2018 Super W draw:
Round 1 - Sunday 11 March v Western Force Women, Perth, 3.00pm
Round 2 – Bye
Round 3 – Sunday 25 March v Queensland Women, Brisbane, 1.30pm
Round 4 – Friday 30 March v Brumbies Women, AAMI Park, Melbourne, 5.00pm
Round 5 – Saturday 7 April v NSW Women, Box Hill Rugby Club, Melbourne, 3.00pm
*all times local
