Women's Elite Rugby
| Most recent season or competition: 2025 Women's Elite Rugby season | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| First season | 2025 |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Country | United States |
| Most recent champion | Denver Onyx (2025) |
| Official website | womenseliterugby.us |
Women's Elite Rugby (WER) is an annual semi-professional women's rugby union club competition at the top level of the United States rugby union system. It is contested by six clubs, owned by the league and operated by investor-operators, who play two round robins for spots in a championship-determining playoff tournament. It began play in the 2025 season, superseding the amateur Women's Premier League (WPL). Its current champions are the Denver Onyx.
The league was founded by WPL executives in 2023, as the final stage of their efforts to professionalise American women's rugby union. A growth in the game was anticipated ahead of an Olympic tournament and World Cup to be hosted in the United States, which the league sought to capitalise upon by offering a professional league to American players that would otherwise take on professional opportunities abroad, such as in England's Premiership Women's Rugby. All front office staff are paid full-time wages.