The Hunter Women’s Rugby Union was formed in 1997 and as such was the first autonomous women’s rugby union competition in Australia.

Its weekly competition draw comprises of teams from University, Wanderers, Hamilton, Merewether Carlton and Singleton Army.

The weekend welcomed the opening round of competition.

Merewether Carlton played Wanderers in a highly contested match held at Gibbs Brothers Oval in Merewether.

Wanderers were victorious in a game that went down to wire finishing with 34-17.

Both teams displayed finely tuned skills with a low penalty count ensuring the game was completed with a total of 9 tries scored.

Undefeated 2008 premiers University defeated Hamilton 29-5 at Passmores Oval in a game that turned into a battle of the forward packs.

Despite being pelted with rain during parts of the game, it was a gutsy performance by University who returned to season 09 with a very new team consisting of numerous players with little or no experience.

Singleton Army had a bye.

This week’s lineup sees Singleton Army v Wanderers at Singleton Army Base and Merewether Carlton v Hamilton in what will be a thriller at Townson Oval.

Games kick off at 4.45pm Saturday.

Go to the official website http://hunter-women.rugbynet.com. au for all teams and draw information.