Gloucester-Hartpury Women
Gloucester-Hartpury Women's Rugby Football Club are a English women's rugby union club based in Hartpury, Gloucestershire. They are the unified women's team of Gloucester Rugby and Hartpury University R.F.C. They were founded in 2014 and since 2017 they have played in Premiership Women's Rugby.
| Full name | Gloucester-Hartpury Women's Rugby Football Club |
|---|---|
| Union | Gloucestershire RFU |
| Nickname(s) | The Circus Cherry and Whites |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Ground(s) | The Hartpury Arena Kingsholm Stadium |
| CEO | James Forrester |
| Coach(es) | Sean Lynn |
| Captain(s) | Natasha Hunt Zoe Aldcroft |
| League(s) | Premiership Women's Rugby |
| 2023–23 | 1st (Champions) |
| First match | |
| Gloucester-Hartpury 36–22 Worcester Warriors Women II (Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester) 13 September 2015 | |
| Largest win | |
| Birmingham Moseley Ladies 0–95 Gloucester-Hartpury (Billesley Common, Moseley) 11 September 2016 | |
| Largest defeat | |
| Gloucester-Hartpury 0–62 Saracens Women (The ALPAS Arena, Hartpury) 7 April 2018 Harlequins Women 62–0 Gloucester-Hartpury (Twickenham Stoop, Twickenham) 30 March 2019 | |
| Official website | |
| www | |
History Edit
In 2014, Gloucester Rugby and Hartpury College came together to found a women's team to be run under the jurisdiction of Gloucester Rugby to capitalise upon the popularity of women's rugby in the area. Hartpury College already had a women's team competing in the BUCS rugby union leagues.[1]
In their first year, Gloucester-Hartpury only played friendly matches, some of which were at Gloucester Rugby's home ground Kingsholm Stadium,[2] whilst the Rugby Football Union decided which league to place them in. The team started with numbers as low as 4 and grew into a much bigger squad. The first captain was Stacy Payne (Hardie) and the vice-captain was Jessica Morgan. The team won the Junior Cup in their first season.[citation needed]
In 2015, the RFU placed them in National 2 South West.[3] In their first season they finished second in the league.[4] The following season, they were unbeaten.[5]
In 2017, to take advantage of an increase in women's rugby participation following England's victory in the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup,[6] it was announced that Gloucester-Hartpury Women were awarded a franchise in the new women's top flight, initially known as Women's Super Rugby and now as Premier 15s, as part of a reorganisation of women's rugby in England, despite never competing in the Women's Premiership or Women's Championship and moving up two leagues as a result. This was controversial as, despite the franchises being awarded by an independent body,[7] Gloucester-Hartpury Women were awarded the position in top flight at the expense of Lichfield Ladies who had been competing in the top flight of English women's rugby for 15 years.[8] There was speculation that this was due to geographical considerations.[9]
In 2023, the team won the Premier 15s by beating Exeter Chiefs Women. By doing so, Gloucester-Hartpury became the first team based outside of London to win.[10] The final was held at Kingsholm Stadium, renamed 'Queensholm' for the occasion.[11] The final drew a crowd of over 9,600 spectators, setting a new record and tripling the finals attendance of the previous season.[12]
Club honours Edit
- Premiership Women's Rugby
- Champions: (1) 2022–23
- Women's Championship Midlands 2
- Champions: (1) 2016-17
- Runners-up: (1) 2015-16
Current squad Edit
The Gloucester-Hartpury squad for the 2023–24 season is:[13][14]
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
Season Summaries Edit
| League | Cup | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Competition | Final position | Points | Play-offs | Competition | Performance |
| 2015–16 | Women's Championship Midlands 2 | 2nd [15] | 56 | - | No competition | N/A |
| 2016–17 | Women's Championship Midlands 2 | 1st [16] | 58 | - | ||
| 2017–18 | Tyrrells Premier 15s | 4th | 60 | Semi-final | ||
| 2018–19 | Tyrrells Premier 15s | 5th | 50 | - | ||
| 2019–20 | Tyrrells Premier 15s | 4th | 39 | Season Annulled | ||
| 2020–21 | Allianz Premier 15s | 5th | 50 | - | ||
| 2021–22 | Allianz Premier 15s | 6th | 51 | - | Allianz Cup | 5th place play-off |
| 2022–23 | Allianz Premier 15s | 1st | 79 | Champions | Allianz Cup | 3rd place play-off |
| 2023–24 | Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby | Allianz Cup | ||||
Gold background denotes champions
Silver background denotes runners-up
Pink background denotes relegated
Notable players Edit
Below is a non-exhaustive list of former players for the club who have been particularly notable during their time at the club.
- Zoe Aldcroft, 2021 World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year and played in 2021 Rugby World Cup final both while at Gloucester-Hartpury.[17][18]
- Alex Matthews, played in 2021 Rugby World Cup final while at Gloucester-Hartpury.[18]
- Maud Muir, played in 2021 Rugby World Cup final while at Gloucester-Hartpury.[18]
- Tatyana Heard, played in 2021 Rugby World Cup final while at Gloucester-Hartpury.[18]
Rugby World Cup Edit
The following are players who have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup whilst playing for Gloucester-Hartpury:
| Tournament | Players selected | England players | Other national team players |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 17 | Zoe Aldcroft, Connie Powell, Alex Matthews, Tatyana Heard, Maud Muir | Wales — Lisa Neumann, Bethan Lewis, Kelsey Jones, Gwen Crabb, Kerin Lake, Lleucu George, Cerys Hale, Hannah Jones, Cara Hope, Siwan Lillicrap (C), Sisilia Tuipulotu United States — Maya Learned |
Premiership Women's Rugby Record Edit
Results per opposition Edit
The following table details the past performance of Gloucester-Hartpury against different opponents in Premiership Women's Rugby, between the 2017-18 and 2022–23 seasons.[19]
| Premiership Women's Rugby | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition | Span | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win% | Points for | Average PF | Points against | Best points difference | Worst points difference | ||
| Bristol | 2017–2023 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 72.73% | 305 | 27.72 | 170 | 46 (2018–19) | -38 (2018–19) | ||
| DMP Sharks | 2017–2023 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 90.00% | 561 | 56.1 | 69 | 84 (2021–22) | -14 (2018–19) | ||
| Exeter Chiefs | 2020–2023 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 71.43% | 172 | 24.57 | 164 | 20 (2020–21) | -39 (2022–23) | ||
| Harlequins | 2017–2023 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 30.00% | 226 | 22.6 | 308 | 53 (2022–23) | -62 (2018–19) | ||
| Loughborough Lightning | 2017–2023 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 30.00% | 288 | 28.8 | 286 | 29 (2017–18) | -19 (2018–19) | ||
| Richmond | 2017–2019 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75.00% | 126 | 31.5 | 56 | 46 (2018–19) | 0 (2018–19) | ||
| Sale Sharks | 2020–2023 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 194 | 32.33 | 66 | 34 (2022–23) | 3 (2020–21) | ||
| Saracens | 2017–2023 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 8.33% | 250 | 20.83 | 432 | 46 (2022–23) | -62 (2017–18) | ||
| Wasps | 2017–2023 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 33.33% | 250 | 27.78 | 198 | 64 (2022–23) | -17 (2018–19) | ||
| Waterloo | 2017–2019 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 168 | 42 | 62 | 34 (2017–18) | 7 (2017–18) | ||
| Worcester | 2017–2023 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 413 | 41.3 | 80 | 80 (2017–18) | 3 (2021–22) | ||
| Overall | — | 93 | 55 | 3 | 35 | 59.14% | 2953 | 31.75 | 1891 | 84 vs DMP Sharks (2021–22) | -62 vs Saracens (2017–18) & vs Harlequins (2018–19) | ||
- Data includes all regular season and play-off matches (semi-finals and finals).
- The 2019-20 season is excluded due to it being abandoned because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- All fixtures added from 2017–18 to 2022–23.
- Excludes Allianz Cup results.
References Edit
- ^ "Gloucester & Hartpury join for women's rugby". Severn Sport. 21 April 2014. from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ Burrows, Tom (5 July 2016). "Gloucester-Hartpury Ladies Team confirm fixtures for the 2016–17 season". Gloucester Rugby. from the original on 25 August 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ . Womens Club Rugby. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
- ^ "The history of rugby through its competitions". Rugbyarchive.net. from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "Lichfield Ladies left out of new premier women's rugby competition". ITV. 10 March 2017. from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "Gloucester-Hartpury grab one of ten places as Women's Premiership rugby reinvents itself". Hartpury.ac.uk. from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "Rugby Football Union announces 10-team Women's Super Rugby competition". ESPN. 28 February 2017. from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "Lichfield Ladies left out of new premier women's rugby competition". ITV. 9 March 2017. from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ^ Tomas, Fiona (28 February 2017). "Women's rugby: Chronicle columnist Fiona Tomas examines the RFU's controversial changes to the women's game". Reading Chronicle. from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "Gloucester-Hartpury 34-19 Exeter Chiefs: Cherry and Whites win Premier 15s final at 'Queensholm'". BBC Sport. 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- ^ "Home of Gloucester Rugby becomes Queensholm this week". Gloucestershire Live. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- ^ "Gloucester-Hartpury triumph in enthralling Premier 15s final". The Daily Telegraph. 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- ^ "Squad List". Gloucester Rugby.
- ^ "WXV squads revealed". Gloucester Rugby.
- ^ "Gloucester-Hartpury Women's RFC Table 2015-2016". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ "Gloucester-Hartpury Women's RFC Table 2016-2017". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ "Zoe Aldcroft and Antoine Dupont named World Rugby's players of the year for 2021". Sky Sports. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ a b c d "England Women's Rugby World Cup final will be extra special for Gloucestershire". soglos.com. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
- ^ "Gloucester-Hartpury Women's RFC Results". RFU. Retrieved 28 August 2023.