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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 | |
2023–24 | 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 |
Gloucester-Hartpury Women's Rugby Football Club are an 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.
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, the 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]
Ahead of the 2022-23 Premier 15s season, Gloucester Rugby announced a significant increase in funding to Gloucester-Hartpury by almost 500%, matching an enhanced contribution from Hartpury University. It was also announced that both the men's and the women's team would wear the same design kit. [10] [11] Former Gloucester player and Gloucester-Hartpury coach James Forrester was appointed CEO of the team in 2023. [12]
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. [13] The final was held at Kingsholm Stadium, renamed 'Queensholm' for the occasion. [14] The final drew a crowd of over 9,600 spectators, setting a new record and tripling the finals attendance of the previous season. [15]
Premier 15s rebranded as Premiership Women's Rugby for the 2023–24 season onwards. [16] Gloucester-Hartpury improved their form from the previous season winning 15 out of the 16 regualar season games. Gloucester-Hartpury went on to win the final against Bristol Bears 36–24 becoming the second team after Saracens to win two titles in a row. [17]
The Gloucester-Hartpury squad for the 2023–24 season is: [18] [19]
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
Name | From | To | P | W | D | L | Win % | Honours | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 2014 [N 1] | January 2020 [N 2] | 67 | 45 | 2 | 21 | 66.18 | 2016–17 Women's Championship Midlands 2 | [20] |
![]() | January 2020 [N 2] | 89 | 62 | 1 | 26 | 69.66 | 2022–23 PWR 2023–24 PWR | [21] [22] |
Notes
League | Cup | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Competition | Final position | Points | Play-offs | Competition | Performance |
2015–16 | Women's Championship Midlands 2 | 2nd [23] | 56 | - | No competition | N/A |
2016–17 | Women's Championship Midlands 2 | 1st [24] | 58 | - | ||
2017–18 | Tyrrells Premier 15s | 4th | 60 | Semi-final | ||
2018–19 | Tyrrells Premier 15s | 5th | 50 | - | ||
2019–20 | Tyrrells Premier 15s | Season Annulled | ||||
2020–21 | Allianz Premier 15s | 5th | 50 | - | ||
2021–22 | Allianz Premier 15s | 6th | 51 | - | Allianz Cup | 5th |
2022–23 | Allianz Premier 15s | 1st | 79 | Champions | Allianz Cup | 4th |
2023–24 | Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby | 1st | 76 | Champions | Allianz Cup | 3rd |
Gold background denotes champions
Silver background denotes runners-up
Season Records 2015–2024 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | P | W | D | L | Ref |
2015–16 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 3 | [25] |
2016–17 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 1 | [26] |
2017–18 | 19 | 11 | 1 | 8 | [27] |
2018–19 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | [28] |
2019–20 | Season annulled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||
2020–21 | 18 | 10 | 0 | 8 | [29] |
2021–22 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 | [30] |
2022–23 | 25 | 20 | 0 | 5 | [31] |
2023–24 | 24 | 21 | 0 | 3 | [32] |
Notes | |||||
* Season still in progress Updated to matches played on or before 22 June 2024 |
The following table details the past performance of Gloucester-Hartpury against different opponents in Premiership Women's Rugby, between the start of the 2017-18 season and the end of the 2022–23 season. [33]
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) |
Below is a non-exhaustive list of former players for the club who have been particularly notable during their time at the club.
The following are players who have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup whilst playing for Gloucester-Hartpury:
Tournament | Players selected | ![]() | Other national team players |
---|---|---|---|
2021 | 17 | Zoe Aldcroft, Connie Powell, Alex Matthews, Tatyana Heard, Maud Muir | ![]() ![]() |
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