"Bristol Ladies Rugby was established at the start of the 2008/09 season, when Clifton Ladies affiliated with Bristol Rugby. We were initially established as a Ladies club in 1984, and we are currently one of the leading women's rugby clubs in the country. Since the 1990's our first XV have played in the Premiership, the top league in the country, and over recent years, the club has been National Premiership League Winners (2004), National Cup Winners (2002) and National Cup Runners up (2001, 2003). This season kicks off with Bristol Ladies Rugby 1st XV playing in the Premiership once again after finishing 6th during the 2009/2010 season. They play alongside our 2nd XV who continue their campaign in the Championship 1 - South West after finishing 5th during their first season in a competitive league in 2009/2010.
Recruitment of new Head Coach Mark Hawkes, who is an RFU Coach Educator and until the recent re-structure of the RFUW regional set-up, was Head Coach of the South West Women's Squad, will fit in well with assistant coach Liza Burgess, who played at Bristol ladies until her retirement in 2009 and is now the Welsh Women's Forwards coach, and Paul Shepherd, who coaches at the Bristol School of Rugby and is Head Coach of Bristol University Women's Squad , all three will bring a wealth of coaching knowledge to the club. The club also has an impressive repertoire of international honours, with two English, one Irish and four Welsh Women's 2010 World Cup Squad members, with an additional 10 players who play for English and Welsh Development or U20's sides. We also start this season with feeder relationships into local Universities Bristol, Exeter and UWE to develop talent and engage more women to compete at higher levels. All this purports to an exciting start to the season ahead!
The clubs aspirations for the 2010/2011 season are for the 1st XV to finish within the top three of the Premiership and for the 2nd XV to win the Championship 1 - South West. Pre-season training is well underway, having started in June and with three pre-season warm-up matches in September we are all chomping at the bit to get playing!
The club is heavily involved with the local community; this year sees the start a number of our girls coach young age groups at Dings RFC, we also have a strong relationship with PROPS (a local charity for young adults with learning difficulties), aswell as a number of our players coaching at Bristol School of Rugby and setting up after school girls rugby sessions in a number of schools throughout the Bristol Community.
We welcome new players to our club all year round. Whether you are new to rugby or have been playing for years, there are opportunities for everyone to play.
Bristol Ladies train on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7- 9pm, at Dings RFC. Email
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