A New Voice Across the Pond: Wendy Young joins PWR as ‘play-by-play’ guest

On Saturday 14 February, Premiership Women’s Rugby will welcome a fresh voice to its airwaves. For the Trailfinders v Sale Sharks clash, PWR fans will hear the unmistakable tones of Wendy Young, one of the most respected play-by-play rugby commentators in the United States, making a one-off appearance in the league.

It’s a genuinely exciting crossover moment for Premiership Women’s Rugby. Wendy arrives not as a novelty act, but as a broadcaster of serious pedigree – someone who has lived the game from almost every angle imaginable. Player. Referee. Writer. Producer. Commentator. And now, briefly but brilliantly, PWR voice.

“I grew up as a soccer player,” Wendy explains, before laughing at the familiar rugby origin story that followed. A college flyer, a Tuesday night training session, a Saturday debut at scrum-half. “I was finally allowed to hit people and not get a yellow card,” she says. “And I instantly found my community.”

That sense of community has been the thread running through Wendy’s rugby life ever since. Injuries eventually nudged her into refereeing where she thrived, working at elite levels of the women’s game in the USA before an equally organic leap into broadcasting.

Long before women’s rugby was routinely streamed, Wendy and her wife were pioneering grassroots coverage, commentating games with little more than a camera, a microphone and an audience chatting live online.

“I think we were the first people to ever stream women’s rugby in the United States,” she says. “We didn’t have rosters, didn’t have graphics – but people just wanted to know what was going on.”

That DIY spirit, combined with deep law knowledge and meticulous self-analysis, eventually opened doors to Major League Rugby, World Rugby fixtures and USA Eagles internationals broadcast on CBS. Cold emails, bold asks and an unshakeable belief that women’s voices belong in lead commentary roles have all been part of the journey.

So why PWR? Wendy doesn’t hesitate. “It’s the Premier League. It’s the top of the world right now,” she says. “You’ve got the best athletes, strong storytelling, and voices that are raising the game up. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”

She’ll arrive in London on game day morning and leave less than 24 hours later – a transatlantic dash powered purely by love of the sport. Expect a slightly different rhythm, a subtly different lens, and plenty of fun with the language along the way. As Wendy herself puts it, the audience will probably tell her what she brings.

On 14 February, PWR fans get to find out.