Gloucester-Hartpury Women

Gloucester-Hartpury Women's Rugby Football Club are an English women's rugby union club based in Hartpury, Gloucestershire. They are the unified women's team of Gloucester Rugby and Hartpury University R.F.C. They were founded in 2014 and since 2017 they have played in Premiership Women's Rugby.

Gloucester-Hartpury Women

Full name	Gloucester-Hartpury Women's Rugby Football Club
Union	Gloucestershire RFU
Nickname(s)	The Circus Cherry and Whites
Founded	2014; 10 years ago (2014)
Ground(s)	4ED Hartpury Stadium, with Vodafone[1] Kingsholm Stadium
CEO	James Forrester
Coach(es)	Sean Lynn
Captain(s)	Natasha Hunt Zoe Aldcroft
League(s)	Premiership Women's Rugby
2023–24	1st (Champions)
Home kit
First match
Gloucester-Hartpury 36–22 Worcester Warriors Women II (Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester) 13 September 2015
Largest win
Birmingham Moseley Ladies 0–95 Gloucester-Hartpury (Billesley Common, Moseley) 11 September 2016
Largest defeat
Gloucester-Hartpury 0–62 Saracens Women (The ALPAS Arena, Hartpury) 7 April 2018 Harlequins Women 62–0 Gloucester-Hartpury (Twickenham Stoop, Twickenham) 30 March 2019
Official website
www.gloucesterrugby.co.uk/gloucester-hartpury-women-home

History

2014–2017: Formation & Early Years

In 2014, Gloucester Rugby and Hartpury College came together to found a women's team to be run under the jurisdiction of Gloucester Rugby to capitalise upon the popularity of women's rugby in the area. Hartpury College already had a women's team competing in the BUCS rugby union leagues.^[2]

In their first year, Gloucester-Hartpury only played friendly matches, some of which were at Gloucester Rugby's home ground Kingsholm Stadium,^[3] whilst the Rugby Football Union decided which league to place them in. The team started with numbers as low as 4 and grew into a much bigger squad. The first captain was Stacy Payne (Hardie) and the vice-captain was Jessica Morgan. The team won the Junior Cup in their first season.^{[citation needed]}

In 2015, the RFU placed them in National 2 South West.^[4] In their first season they finished second in the league.^[5] The following season, they were unbeaten.^[6]

2017–2023: Premier 15's

In 2017, to take advantage of an increase in women's rugby participation following England's victory in the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup,^[7] it was announced that Gloucester-Hartpury Women were awarded a franchise in the new women's top flight, the Premier 15s, as part of a reorganisation of women's rugby in England, despite never competing in the Women's Premiership or Women's Championship and moving up two leagues as a result. This was controversial as, despite the franchises being awarded by an independent body,^[8] Gloucester-Hartpury Women were awarded the position in top flight at the expense of Lichfield Ladies who had been competing in the top flight of English women's rugby for 15 years.^[9] There was speculation that this was due to geographical considerations.^[10]

2022–2023: Increased funding & Premier 15's success

Ahead of the 2022-23 Premier 15s season, Gloucester Rugby announced a significant increase in funding to Gloucester-Hartpury by almost 500%, matching an enhanced contribution from Hartpury University. It was also announced that both the men's and the women's team would wear the same design kit.^[11][12] Former Gloucester player and Gloucester-Hartpury coach James Forrester was appointed CEO of the team in 2023.^[13]

In 2023, the team won the Premier 15s by beating Exeter Chiefs Women. By doing so, Gloucester-Hartpury became the first team based outside of London to win.^[14] The final was held at Kingsholm Stadium, renamed 'Queensholm' for the occasion.^[15] The final drew a crowd of over 9,600 spectators, setting a new record and tripling the finals attendance of the previous season.^[16]

2023–Present: Premiership Women's Rugby

Premier 15s rebranded as Premiership Women's Rugby for the 2023–24 season onwards.^[17] Gloucester-Hartpury improved their form from the previous season winning 15 out of the 16 regualar season games. Gloucester-Hartpury went on to win the final against Bristol Bears 36–24 becoming the second team after Saracens to win two titles in a row.^[18]

Club honours

• Premiership Women's Rugby
  • Champions: (2) 2022–23, 2023–24
• Women's Championship Midlands 2
  • Champions: (1) 2016–17
  • Runners-up: (1) 2015–16

Current squad

For player movements before or during the 2023–24 season, see List of 2023–24 Premiership Women's Rugby transfers § Gloucester-Hartpury.

The Gloucester-Hartpury squad for the 2023–24 season is:^[19][20]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union Amy Dale Hooker England Kelsey Jones Hooker Wales Neve Jones Hooker Ireland Kathryn Buggy Prop Ireland Mackenzie Carson Prop England Abbey Constable Prop Wales Oliva Constable Prop England Laura Delgado Prop Spain Ellie Gilbert Prop England Cerys Hale Prop Wales Maud Muir Prop England Evie Roach Prop England Ranni Samuda Prop Jamaica Sisilia Tuipulotu Prop Wales Zoe Aldcroft Lock England Carmen Castelucci Lock Spain Trudy Cowan Lock England Gwen Crabb Lock Wales Steph Else Lock England Sam Monaghan Lock Ireland Lola Whitley Lock England Sarah Beckett Back row England Georgia Brock Back row England Tabitha Copson Back row England Bethan Lewis Back row Wales Alex Matthews Back row England Jordan Russell Back row Jamaica Kate Williams Back row Wales

Player Position Union Bianca Blackburn Scrum-half England Natasha Hunt Scrum-half England Caity Mattinson Scrum-half Scotland Lleucu George Fly-half Wales Lizzie Goulden Fly-half New Zealand Charlie Mai-Manns Fly-half England Tatyana Heard Centre England Hannah Jones Centre Wales Kerin Lake Centre Wales Rachel Lund Centre England Abbie Priestnall Centre England Nel Metcalfe Wing Wales Cath Richards Wing Wales Ellie Rugman Wing England Kelly Smith Wing England Sophie Tandy Wing England Lucia Scott Fullback England Emma Sing Fullback England Mia Venner Fullback England Pip Hendy Utility back England

List of head coaches

As of 22 June 2024

Name	From	To	P	W	D	L	Win %	Honours	Ref
Susie Appleby	2014[N 1]	January 2020[N 2]	67	45	2	21	66.18	2016–17 Women's Championship Midlands 2	[21]
Sean Lynn	January 2020[N 2]		89	62	1	26	69.66	2022–23 PWR 2023–24 PWR	[22][23]

Notes

1. Results from the 2014–15 season are not included as no record was kept.
2. Although Appleby left her role in January 2020, no results from the 2019–20 season are included as the season was annulled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, while Lynn joined part-way through the 2019–20 season, results start from the 2020–21 season.

Season records & summaries

Season Summaries

	League				Cup
Season	Competition	Final position	Points	Play-offs	Competition	Performance
2015–16	Women's Championship Midlands 2	2nd[24]	56	-	No competition	N/A
2016–17	Women's Championship Midlands 2	1st[25]	58	-
2017–18	Tyrrells Premier 15s	4th	60	Semi-final
2018–19	Tyrrells Premier 15s	5th	50	-
2019–20	Tyrrells Premier 15s	Season Annulled
2020–21	Allianz Premier 15s	5th	50	-
2021–22	Allianz Premier 15s	6th	51	-	Allianz Cup	5th
2022–23	Allianz Premier 15s	1st	79	Champions	Allianz Cup	4th
2023–24	Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby	1st	76	Champions	Allianz Cup	3rd

Gold background denotes champions
Silver background denotes runners-up

Season Records 2015–2024
Season	P	W	D	L	Ref
2015–16	14	11	0	3	[26]
2016–17	16	15	0	1	[27]
2017–18	19	11	1	8	[28]
2018–19	18	8	1	9	[29]
2019–20	Season annulled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	18	10	0	8	[30]
2021–22	22	11	1	10	[31]
2022–23	25	20	0	5	[32]
2023–24	24	21	0	3	[33]
Notes
* Season still in progress Updated to matches played on or before 22 June 2024

Results per opposition

The following table details the past performance of Gloucester-Hartpury against different opponents in Premiership Women's Rugby, between the start of the 2017-18 season and the end of the 2022–23 season.^[34]

Premiership Women's Rugby
Opposition	Span	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win%	Points for	Average PF	Points against	Best points difference	Worst points difference
Bristol	2017–2023	11	8	0	3	72.73%	305	27.72	170	46 (2018–19)	-38 (2018–19)
DMP Sharks	2017–2023	10	9	0	1	90.00%	561	56.1	69	84 (2021–22)	-14 (2018–19)
Exeter Chiefs	2020–2023	7	5	0	2	71.43%	172	24.57	164	20 (2020–21)	-39 (2022–23)
Harlequins	2017–2023	10	3	0	7	30.00%	226	22.6	308	53 (2022–23)	-62 (2018–19)
Loughborough Lightning	2017–2023	10	3	1	6	30.00%	288	28.8	286	29 (2017–18)	-19 (2018–19)
Richmond	2017–2019	4	3	1	0	75.00%	126	31.5	56	46 (2018–19)	0 (2018–19)
Sale Sharks	2020–2023	6	6	0	0	100.00%	194	32.33	66	34 (2022–23)	3 (2020–21)
Saracens	2017–2023	12	1	1	10	8.33%	250	20.83	432	46 (2022–23)	-62 (2017–18)
Wasps	2017–2023	9	3	0	6	33.33%	250	27.78	198	64 (2022–23)	-17 (2018–19)
Waterloo	2017–2019	4	4	0	0	100.00%	168	42	62	34 (2017–18)	7 (2017–18)
Worcester	2017–2023	10	10	0	0	100.00%	413	41.3	80	80 (2017–18)	3 (2021–22)
Overall	–	93	55	3	35	59.14%	2953	31.75	1891	84 vs DMP Sharks (2021–22)	-62 vs Saracens (2017–18) & vs Harlequins (2018–19)

• Data includes all regular season and play-off matches (semi-finals and finals).
• The 2019–20 season is excluded due to it being abandoned because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• All fixtures added from 2017–18 to 2022–23.
• Excludes Allianz Cup results.

Notable players

Below is a non-exhaustive list of former players for the club who have been particularly notable during their time at the club.

• Zoe Aldcroft, 2021 World Rugby Women's 15s Player of the Year and played in 2021 Rugby World Cup final both while at Gloucester-Hartpury.^[35][36]
• Alex Matthews, played in 2021 Rugby World Cup final while at Gloucester-Hartpury.^[36]
• Maud Muir, played in 2021 Rugby World Cup final while at Gloucester-Hartpury.^[36]
• Tatyana Heard, played in 2021 Rugby World Cup final while at Gloucester-Hartpury.^[36]

Rugby World Cup

The following are players who have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup whilst playing for Gloucester-Hartpury:

Tournament	Players selected	England players	Other national team players
2021	17	Zoe Aldcroft, Connie Powell, Alex Matthews, Tatyana Heard, Maud Muir	Wales – Lisa Neumann, Bethan Lewis, Kelsey Jones, Gwen Crabb, Kerin Lake, Lleucu George, Cerys Hale, Hannah Jones, Cara Hope, Siwan Lillicrap (C), Sisilia Tuipulotu  United States – Maya Learned

References

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