Sitting In The Cheap Seats

With a perfect record of 16 wins from 16 games leading to their fourth promotion in as many seasons London Irish Emeralds – the women’s first 15 for London Irish Amateur RFC – have found their way into Championship 1, the top tier of the RFU women’s leagues and home to some of the most celebrated teams in the game. So how do they look back on last season and what does the future look like for them?

Battling against wind, cold and impressive opposition London Irish Emeralds continued their excellent start to the season on Sunday. Their win over Portsmouth Valkyries confirming a run of 7 victories from 7 fixtures to put them firmly atop their league.

When London Irish announced in May that they intended to put together an elite women’s team it was possibly the best news I’d heard from the club in my time following them. I’ve been keeping a close eye on proceedings and with the club holding their first talent ID day a couple of weeks back I caught up with Director of Women’s Rugby Mary Fyfe who looks after both the elite set up and the existing London Irish Emeralds, and former England Women coach Graham Smith who is leading on-field development to find out how the day went and what comes next for the team.

Huge news out of London Irish today as they have announced they are forming a women’s team with intent to bid for a spot in the Allianz Premier 15s when the league reviews it’s members in 2023!