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?

It’s Inter-Services time again, one of my favourite periods in the rugby calendar and as I can’t get along to any of the games in person this year I decided I was long overdue in giving them some publicity. I caught up with some members of the Royal Navy women’s team ahead of them taking on the RAF in Ealing this weekend. It’s clear from the off that there’s a lot of excitement about the game. “I’m really excited” scrum half Olivia Critchley-Peddle exclaims. “It’s been three years since we’ve played this fixture, so nobody knows what to expect!” The score line three years ago favoured the RAF but there’s a distinct change to this year’s tournament as winger Abi Ashby explains “For the first time in a few years it’s almost a level playing field. The Army and RAF have lost their international players to the Six Nations so for the first time the Navy will be able to step up and show what we can do against a similar opposition.” LH Rose Dixon will lead the @RNRugby Senior Women against ...

The Game Changer, Harlequins Women ’s annual showpiece event is probably the biggest league game in the Allianz Premier 15s . Certainly it comes with more hype and fanfare than any other standalone women’s game. This year will be no different as Quins face off against Saracens Women at the Stoop tomorrow.

Bristol Bears Women have been lighting up the Allianz Premier 15s this season with their swashbuckling attacking play and battling attitude. It’s propelled them up the table and if they continue on this trajectory will see them push into the top four come the playoffs too.

Rugby fans talk a lot about the sports vaunted values. Every time the All Blacks are pictured sweeping a dressing room or unloading their own bags social media erupts in a self-righteous frenzy of folk proclaiming the greatness of the sport we love. I think rugby’s great too, but not because a big team do some nice things when a camera is nearby. For me rugby is great because even in the face of insurmountable score lines teams dig in and give it their all. It’s special because people volunteer their time and impact their careers travelling for hours to training and losing whole weekends to go and play games that they know they are not expected to win. Despite all that, players band together, become closer and show all the values of teamwork, respect, and effort that we look for in our heroes. No team encapsulates that better than DMP Durham Sharks and that’s why I’m delighted to kick off a new series diving into every Premier 15s team with these inspiring women!

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.

In front of a noisy, excited crowd at Kingsholm the Remembrance Rugby fixture between UK Armed Forces and Rugby for Heroes promised to be an exciting game even before the first whistle had blown. The UKAF team was without some of their big names, though Josh McNally did travel up to present the team their jerseys, but the Rugby for Heroes squad was littered with familiar names from Premiership and international rugby. Julian Salvi and Jordan Crane in the back row are both familiar faces for rugby fans and Delon Armitage & Tom Varndell might both be retired but they give up their time for so many charity fixtures they still look match fit. Their captain Mike Tindall led from the front and it’s clear he still doesn’t know how to give anything other than his all. Read all about the game over at the UKAF website: https://www.ukafrfc.co.uk/match-report-ukaf-men-v-rugby-for-heroes/

The Allianz Cup kicks off this week, a new cup competition to sit alongside the Premier 15s and give players who aren’t called up for international games some competitive rugby when the league would normally be paused. The format sees the league split into two groups, with the top two teams from each going on to play-offs and eventually a cup final in late April. Ahead of the first round we caught up with Harlequins Women scrum half Emma Swords to find out how preparations are going.

The autumn internationals are upon us and England head coach Simon Middleton has named his England squad ahead of fixtures against New Zealand, Canada and USA. Middleton has named eleven uncapped players in his squad which also includes a number of returning faces. Versatility is the keyword for Simon as players like Maud Muir , Flo Robinson and Holly Aitchison add not only their undoubted skill but also the ability to cover multiple positions. Alex Matthews and Helena Rowland return to the fold after their time with GB7s and are joined by Aitchison whose rangy runs and kicking game could well see her slot into the 12 shirt. Bombastic props Sarah Bern and Hannah Botterman are also back after time out injured and scrum half Leanne Riley is included despite having been injured herself for some time. Other notable inclusions include impressive Gloucester-Hartpury full back Emma Sing and a deserving call up for the ever-impressive Heather Cowell of Harlequins. Check out our video ...

LONDON-BASED grassroots rugby platform  Fill Your Boots  has launched a brand-new social network, designed to help clubs across the UK find players, fixtures and resources – bringing together the grassroots rugby community like never before.

It’s been a long wait for the return of forces rugby, with inter services games suspended for the last two years due to Covid we’ve missed out on some great matchups, so it was somehow fitting for the return of military women’s rugby to come in the form of a UK Armed Forces match up against Equipe de France Militaire Féminine.

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.

The days are warming up (allegedly), crowds are returning to stadiums and for the Allianz Premier 15s it’s play off time! The top four teams across the league face off on Saturday with the two winners travelling to Gloucester the following weekend where one team will be crowned league champions. In previous seasons Harlequins Women have played the bridesmaids to Saracens Women but both teams will fancy their chances and with home advantage this weekend they’ll be hoping to fend off Wasps Ladies and Loughborough Lightning respectively. I caught up with four forwards from across the teams for an insight into the games this weekend.

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!

I’ve been covering women’s rugby for a couple of years now, interviewing players and attending the odd international but, until this weekend, there was a glaring hole in my coverage. I’d never been to a Allianz Premier 15s game, a combination of my availability and the looming shadow of Covid meaning that my trip to watch Wasps Ladies this week became my Premier 15s debut.

London Irish are sat comfortably in the top half of the Premiership Rugby table and, despite losing in the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup last week, it’s a time of huge positivity at the club. We caught up with long serving prop Ollie Hoskins to find out what the mood in camp is this week.

With a strong win against Scotland in their pocket and a trip to Italy coming up at the weekend, it seemed like an ideal time to check in and find out the mood in the England Women camp. On Tuesday I jumped onto Zoom for a chat with Leanne Riley and Amy Cokayne , the Harlequins Women pair gave some great insight into preparations.

The Women’s Six Nations is back and, though we might not be getting the full complement of games, there’s still plenty to talk about so today, and every Sunday throughout the tournament, we’ll share a few of our own thoughts after watching the weekends action.

In their recent run of wins a lot of light has been shone on London Irish ’s superstars and their academy graduates. But there’s an equally important, and often overlooked, factor to consider too. Their starting props, both signed from the Championship, have shown there is more than one route to success. I caught up with fan favourite Lovejoy Chawatama to get his view on the season.

2021 has been good to London Irish . Six games played, one loss, two draws (including an impressive fight back against Bristol) and a trio of wins have left rugby fans, writers and pundits reflecting on the Exiles’ place in the Gallagher Premiership hierarchy as they evolve from a team who everyone likes to one that opponents increasingly fear to line up against.