Women’s rugby has grown in popularity with a combination of England’s women winning the World Cup, 7s players becoming professional and increased coverage (albeit only by a tiny amount) on television. England Rugby has also been investing in getting more women and girls into rugby.
Now London club, Hammersmith & Fulham Ladies, are looking to increase their squad, by recruiting more players at all skill levels, if you are interested in playing rugby and live in the south London this could be the perfect opportunity to give it a go. Here is their story:
The Hammersmith and Fulham Ladies are a really friendly bunch of girls who love rugby on and off the pitch. Founded in 2003 they have gone from strength to strength in the leagues they’ve played in and squad numbers. These days the ladies boast a 1st XV and a Development team.
The Ladies 1st XV have comfortably held their own in the Championship 2 South East league for two seasons now, finishing 3rd in the league in the 2015/2016 season, their highest finish in the league so far.
The Ladies 2nd XV, aka the Development Side is where the future Hammers ladies learn the game and gain experience before they embark on their journeys into the 1st XV.
The Ladies Development team train with the Ladies 1st XV as a squad on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, and we all work together as one squad to continually learn the game and improve our skills. We have two dedicated Coaches who work with us to achieve our results.
While the 1st XV have a League and the Intermediate Cup to deal with, the Development team certainly don’t miss out as we enter the team into the RFU Junior Cup as well as the Middlesex Griffin Cup. Hammersmith and Fulham Ladies Development team won the inaugural Griffin Cup in 2014, the Griffin Plate in 2015 and were runners up in the Griffin Cup in 2016.
Next season we hope to win the Griffin Cup Back. In order to achieve this we need more ladies who are interested in playing rugby to join us. We welcome ladies of any skill level from complete beginner to seasoned player wanting to return to rugby or just change clubs. We can also accommodate those who have work schedules that restrict them to one training session a week.
