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There will be a celebration of Welsh women’s rugby on Saturday from 11am at Principality right through to 8pm at Cardiff Arms Park.

First up will be the latest finals in the ‘Go Compare Road to Principality 2026’ series with Bala taking on Machynlleth in the WRU Women’s Bowl Final (11.00am) before Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd tackle Seven Sisters in the WRU Women’s Plate Final (1.15pm).

The attention will then switch to next door at the Arms Park, where Sean Lynn’s Wales side will continue their Guinness Women’s Six Nations campaign against France (3.35pm). Then the Wales U21 team will face the French (6.15pm) in a double header.

The ever-expanding base to the women’s game will be very much in evidence in the two cup finals, with new teams Bala and Machynlleth marching on the Welsh capital in their first full season of non-friendly fixtures.

The cup final will be the first of two crucial meetings between the two clubs, who are scheduled to meet in the North Wales League on Sunday 26 April. With only one point separating them at the top of the table there is much at stake across the two weekends.

Bala won the first meeting between the two sides, 43-0 at home, but will be taking nothing for granted in their next two outings.

“Like Machynlleth, this is only our second year as a team and our first in the leagues. Things have gone pretty well so far and we are unbeaten in the league and cup,” said team manager Diane Jones.

“We played 10 friendly games in our first season and while this will be the first occasion for the team to play at Principality Stadium, 18 of our squad have played there before at different age levels.

“A lot of that is down to the fantastic work done over more than a decade by Euros Jones when he was the Hub Officer in our area. My own daughter, Cara, has played there four times already.

“Earlier this season Madi Edwards, Alice Jones and Eiri Thomas were in the local Hub team that played in the U18 final. They are now old enough to play senior rugby and so they will be making a return to Cardiff.”

One of their rising stars, Saran Jones, is down as a travelling reserve for Wales U21, Eva Jones made the Wales U18 training squad and Kate Davies won a Wales U20 cap against Canada.

While Machynlleth don’t have any internationals as yet, their captain Ceris Hughes used to play for the Scarlets. She is a 20-year veteran of the women’s game and has played with the likes of Elen Evans and Rachel Taylor.

“We call Ceris and our No 8 Alaw Davies-Jones the ‘brutal sisters’ for the way they approach the game together. Ceris is our captain and her husband, Berwyn, is the head coach,” explained team co-ordinator Jess Jones.

“Training sessions can often descend into domestic disputes between coach and captain, and Berwyn always comes down hard on Ceris. We are all Mach girls, and we kicked things off by playing in the Aber Sevens a few years ago.

“This is our first year in the full league system and things have gone from strength to strength. Fllur Jones, a farmer, is our top try scorer and she is our human wrecking ball.

“She usually plays in the forwards, but she picked up an injury, so we put her on the wing. She scored a hat-trick in the semi-final win over Porthcawl.”

Both Plate finalists have been to Principality Stadium before and the game will be a re-run of last year’s final, which Seven Sisters won 25-15. For Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd, it will be a fourth year in a row they have reached a final.

While they were beaten last year in the Plate final, they were victorious in 2024 when they beat Old Penarthians 34-21 in the Bowl final. That made up for the heartbreak of losing 20-17 to Haverfordwest in the same final in 2023.

While they were successful last year, Seven Sisters, who will once again be led by the indefatigable Beth Howell, have also experienced the other side of the coin in a major final. Two years ago, they reached the main Cup final and were beaten 85-7 by a rampant Llandaff North.

CRCC still have 52-year-old Anwen Hopkins, mother of Welsh international Gwennan and one of the founders of the team a decade ago, at the heart of their pack and they have added the considerable strength of former Commonwealth Games silver medalist Carys Parry to their back row.

As well as being one of Wales’ greatest hammer throwers, she is also Wales Strongest Woman in the Masters category. Outside half Alaw Hughes is the captain and recently married full back Mirain Jones is hovering around 100 appearances for the club.

BOWL TEAMS

Bala: Siwan Davies; Cara Jones, Kate Davies, Erin Evans, Alys Jones; Mali Thomas, Ela Evans; Emma Evans, Beca Roberts (captain), Lois Hughes, Ffion Jones, Gwenith Williams, Lliwen Jones, Efa Jones, Sara Jones
Reps: Grisial Ifan, Hana Roberts, Tesni Roberts, Madi Edwards, Leah Roberts, Sioned Evans, Eiri Thomas, Anest Roberts

Machynlleth: Emma Fletcher; Fllur Jones, Sara Lewis-Jenkins, Sian Lewis, Gwenllian Mason; Elen Williams, Sian Breese-Griffiths; Stacy Roberts, Gwenno Williams, Nerys Fychan, Ceris Hughes (captain), Mari Elin Williams, Miriam Davies, Louisa Scannell, Alaw Davies-Jones
Reps: Jordan-Lee Snape, Mirain Evans, Shauna Chambers, Steph Owen, Meia Meredydd, Mared Ingram, Jess Jones, Angharad Davies

ROAD TO THE FINAL – BOWL

22 March 2026 – Semi Final
Bala 39 – 36 Treorchy
Porthcawl 30 – 41 Machynlleth

18 January 2026 – Quarter Final
Newcastle Emlyn 5 – 45 Bala

11 January 2026 – Quarter Final
Machynlleth 29 – 19 COBRA

14 December 2025 – Round 2
Morriston 7 – 54 Machynlleth
Wrexham 10 – 74 Bala

PLATE TEAMS

Seven Sisters: Cerys Bowden; Caitlin Moffatt, Holly Cooper; Caris Llewelyn, Heledd Lewis; Rachel Rees, Hannah-Mâi Nation; Emma Powson, Jenna Dyckhoff, Bethan Howell (captain), Emily Preedy, Poppy Thomson, Jessica Thomas, Melissa Gnojek, Alicia Demery-Goatson
Reps: Cari Lewis, Joy Hall, Seren O’Neill, Naomi Rosser, Chloe Roberts, Siobhan Packer, Victoria Morgan, Leah Griffiths

CRCC: Mirain Jones; Lydia Marsh, Rhi Gower, Sophie Longland, Nikki Harris; Alaw Hughes, Beth Evans; Meleri Daniel, Beth Kenure, Elin Davies, Laura Satterly, Anwen Hopkins, Charlie Cornwall, Carys Parry, Lily Snape
Rep: Erin Benjamin, Leah Coombes, Georgina Wren, Danielle Hargan, Georgia Cummings, Molly Webster, Cara Ottaway, Morgan Hodgkins

ROAD TO THE FINAL – PLATE

22 March 2026 – Semi Final
Cymry Caerdydd 24 – 14 West Swansea Hawks
Seven Sisters 31 – 5 Caernarfon

14 December 2025 – Quarter Final
Seven Sisters w/o v Llantwit Fardre

7 December 2025 – Quarter Final
Whitland 12 – 12 Cymry Caerdydd (won on away team rule)

23 November 2025 – Round 1
Old Penarthians 5 – 31 Seven Sisters

PREVIOUS WOMEN’S FINALS

2025
Cup: Burry Port 34 – 24 Bonymaen
Plate: Seven Sisters 25 – 15 Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd
Bowl: Senghenydd 57 – 14 Taffs Well

2024
Cup: Llandaff North 85 – 14 Seven Sisters
Plate: Bonymen 32 – 26 Haverfordwest
Bowl: Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd 34 – 21 Old Penarthians

2023
Cup: Pontyclun Falcons 20 – 7 Llandaff North
Plate: Whitland 38 – 34 Burry Port
Bowl: Haverfordwest 20 – 17 Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd

2022
South Wales Cup Final: Llandaff North 24 – 7 Bonymaen
South Wales Plate Final: Lampeter Ladies 38 – 22 Blackwood
North Wales Cup Final: Caernarfon 45 – 10 COBRA