This was a fascinating but curious affair. Four candidates for each position were selected by the administrators, though they failed to allow for important distinctions: for example loose-head and tight head; blind-side and open-side. Players frequently swapped positions during the season. As postings followed one by one, we could be excused for being baffled in
A new-look Allianz Premier 15s So the most dramatic and worrying season of the Allianz Premier 15s was completed. That is a major triumph. The organisers deserve huge thanks for seeing this mammoth operation through to its final stages. In recent days it’s almost been possible to forget the dark troughs it passed through. Only
The Allianz Premier 15s Final 2021 Saracens v Harlequins Quins achieved their ultimate dream by defeating Saracens in the most thrilling advertisement for the women’s game imaginable. On a perfect summer’s day in front of a crowd and television cameras, Quins had to overcome the loss of their iconic captain Rachael Burford after only eight
Ahead of the Allianz Premier 15s final, England Rugby are launching a first magazine show all about the women’s top flight. Hosted by Laura Winter along with Red Roses’ World Cup winner Natasha Hunt and ex-England wing Topsy Ojo, All In will focus on some of the best stories from across the league as well
Now that the head coaches have announced their squads for the final, there is no need for us to change our minds about the result. It will be a third consecutive win for Saracens. By training, coaches have to focus on the plusses in their previews and ignore the minuses. So Gerard Mullen makes no
Harlequins Women Head Coach Gerard Mullen has named his matchday squad which will travel to Kingsholm aiming to win this season’s Allianz Premier 15s title this Sunday. There are two changes to the 23-player squad with Heather Cowell replacing the injured Jess Breach on the wing, with Chloe Rollie coming into the starting XV at
News that Bath RFC is planning to set up a women’s section brings whole new dimensions to the future of the Premier 15s It would add another Premiership club to those already on the inside (Bristol, Exeter, Quins, Sale, Saracens, Wasps and Worcester). Of the remaining Premiership clubs (Leicester, London Irish, Newcastle and Northampton) all
Back into the Stoop they came, some two thousand of them in all, masks on, flags fluttering as cool May showers blew through. After the long months of winter locked away, and in one of rugby’s great parishes, the parishioners were permitted for a most important occasion indeed. With a European final to come later
Two international matches masquerading as club games. The very best in English rugby was on view at two sites in London across one afternoon. But, as I suspected all along, it will be the same two sides who compete in the final at Gloucester next weekend. Harlequins v Wasps Wasps were simply not allowed to
News of London Irish RFC’s intention to set up a women’s section and apply to join the Premier 15s in 2023 is very exciting. All the more so as they’ve signed up Graham Smith to lead the onfield development. He was an unforgettable figure in the development of the England squad through to their triumph
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