The summer is now a distant memory for the stars of the 2018 Women’s Six Nations who, along with their teammates, are now fully embroiled in domestic battles all across Europe.
The Welsh and French competitions both contested their second rounds, whilst in England the Tyrrells Premier 15s now has three rounds under its belt.
For anyone who missed the action, here’s our round-up of all the key points.
Packer and Molloy come to the fore
The plot thickened in the third round of the Tyrrells Premier 15s in England, where Saracens and Loughborough Lightning maintained their unbeaten starts and Wasps kept up the pace in third.
Saracens are top of the division with three wins from three and got there in style as they recorded a 61-0 victory at DMP Sharks.
England flanker Marlie Packer helped herself to two tries while international teammate Lauren Cattell registered three conversions.
Loughborough though are just a point behind Saracens and look to have improved dramatically upon last season’s inaugural Tyrrells Premier 15s season, with a stirring 41-17 victory over last season’s runners-up Harlequins.
Fly-half Katy Daley-McLean was once again instrumental, the playmaker scored 42 points in the 2018 Women’s Six Nations and is pulling the strings for the impressive Loughborough side.
Wasps also recorded a 52-14 win over Firwood Waterloo, with Ireland forward Claire Molloy grabbing a double, while Bristol Bears and Richmond were also winners over the weekend.
Ospreys up and running Over in Wales, and after an enthralling Round One of the Women’s Regional Championships, the second weekend got underway as Dragons hosted Ospreys and Cardiff Blues travelled to take on Scarlets.
The Ospreys didn’t have a fixture last week but got their season off to a brilliant start on Sunday as they ran in nine tries against the Dragons.
The final score was 53-5 and featured a hat-trick for Siwan Lillicrap, who started all five matches for Wales in the 2018 Six Nations, and a double for Mel Clay.
Welsh skipper Carys Phillips also touched down, as did Robyn Lock, Keira Bevan and Ffion Bowen.
Cardiff Blues began their campaign last week with a 24-5 victory over Dragons and grabbed their second win in as many weeks as they edged past Scarlets 24-20 in a thrilling encounter.
Blues’ Raff Taylor remarkably scored a hat-trick inside half an hour to give her side a 17-0 advantage and Caitlin Lewis’ double got Scarlets back in it, before a last-minute try sealed things for the Blues.
Montpellier and ASM Romagnat exert power
Across the channel, the Elite 1 went into its second week of action and saw a second win for reigning champions Montpellier, who ran out 30-19 winners over Stade Rennais.
Montpellier scored five tries, with both Safi N’Diaye and former France skipper Gaëlle Mignot crossing, but have to settle for second place in the division after ASM Romagnat dispatched Lons Rugby 44-10 to take top spot.
The biggest winners of the weekend were Blagnac, who dispatched Stade Olympique Villelonguet 66-3 including a try for France second row Audrey Forlani, while in Pool 2 FC Grenoble Amazons are top and Toulouse are second – both sides undefeated.
Toulouse – last season’s runners-up – triumphed away at AS Bayonnaise 26-14 and host Ovalie Caennaise on Saturday.
