Harlequins Women, formerly known as Harlequins Ladies, are a women's rugby union club based in Guildford, Surrey, England and in Twickenham, Middlesex, England. They were founded in 1995 as the women's team of Harlequin F.C. and rebranded in 2017 after merging with Aylesford Bulls. In 2017, they were selected as one of the franchises for the new Premier 15s league, but they also cater for new, aspiring and social players within their 3rd XV squad.
 | |
| Full name | Harlequins Women |
|---|---|
| Union | RFU |
| Nickname(s) | Quins |
| Founded | 1995 (reformed in 2017) |
| Ground(s) | Twickenham Stoop Surrey Sports Park |
| Coach(es) | Amy Turner & Brent Janse van Rensburg[1] |
History edit
Beginnings edit
Harlequins Ladies were founded in 1995 as the women's team of Harlequin F.C. They initially played their home games at Centaurs RFC, Grasshoppers RFC, Old Isleworthians RFC[2] and at Harlequins' previous training base at Richardson Evans Memorial Playing Fields in Roehampton. They won their first league title unbeaten and were subject of a Channel 4 documentary.[3]
In 2000, they were promoted to Rugby Football Union for Women Division 1.[4] However, they were later relegated from top flight.[5] Following the RFUW restructuring the leagues in 2007, Harlequins Ladies were placed in Championship 2 South East.[6] In 2017, they competed in the National 2 South East league.[7]
Reformation edit
In 2016, Harlequins announced a partnership with Women's Premiership club Aylesford Bulls Ladies. The agreement stated that Aylesford Bulls would become a part of Harlequins and would wear their colours[8] but initially retain their name and at first split their matches between Aylesford, Kent and Harlequins' Twickenham Stoop.[9] However the elite squad later moved to be permanently based at Surrey Sports Park at the University of Surrey in Guildford, with the 3s maintaining their links with the local area and keeping Old Isleworthians RFC as their training and playing base.[10] Although in 2021, Harlequins Women 3XV moved to Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club and formed Harlequin Amateurs Women. In 2017, Harlequins Ladies were awarded a franchise for the new Women's Super League, later renamed Premier 15s. In doing so, Harlequins fully took over Aylesford Bulls Ladies with Harlequins being confirmed for the new league in a full merger and would cease using the Aylesford Bulls name.[8][11][12][13]
In July 2019, they changed their name to Harlequins Women.[14]
Record attendance edit
On 10 March 2018, Harlequins Women played in front of a crowd of 4,545 spectators during a game against local rivals Richmond Women at Twickenham Stoop, establishing a record attendance for a British women's club rugby match.[15][16]
The following season, on 30 March 2019, they beat their own record with an attendance of 4,837 for their last regular season league match of the Premier 15s season against Gloucester-Hartpury Women.[17][16]
Ground edit
Harlequins Women play their home league matches at Twickenham Stoop
In their early years they played most of their home matches at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford, Surrey. However, each season they played an increasing number of fixtures at Twickenham Stoop with four times in the 2017–18 season and a further six times in 2019–20.[16] For the 2023-23 season, Twickenham Stoop became their home for league matches.
On 30 August 2018, it was announced that the Harlequins Women 3rd XV squad would be playing their home matches at the brand new facilities at Grasshoppers RFC.[18]
Current squad edit
The Harlequins Women squad for the 2021–22 season is:[19]
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
Club staff edit
Coaching staff edit
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Head Coach |  Amy Turner
|
| Forwards Coach |  Brent Janse van Rensburg
|
| Head of Athletic Performance |  Matthew Walston
|
| Lead Physiotherapist | Corrinn Rositter
|
| Senior Physiotherapist | Daniel Loder
|
Season summaries edit
| League | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Competition | Final position | Points | Play-offs |
| 2017–18 | Tyrrells Premier 15s | 2nd | 76 | Runners–up |
| 2018–19 | Tyrrells Premier 15s | 2nd | 77 | Runners–up |
| 2019–20 | Tyrrells Premier 15s | 2nd | 57 | Season annulled |
| 2020–21 | Allianz Premier 15s | 2nd | 73 | Champions |
| 2021–22 | Allianz Premier 15s | 4th | 61 | Semi-Final |
Gold background denotes champions
Silver background denotes runners-up
Pink background denotes relegated
Club honours edit
Harlequins Women edit
- Premier 15s
- Champions 2020–21
- Runners–Up: (2) 2017–18, 2018–19
References edit
- ^ a b "Harlequins Women unveil new Head Coach". Harlequin F.C. 18 August 2020. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- ^ "Aylesford Bulls Ladies 77–0 Harlequins Ladies". Kent Sports News. 10 October 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- ^ "Anguish? They All Had a Bawl in the Square!". The People (London, England). 24 November 1996 – via TheFreeLibrary.
- ^ "Player profile – Mel Antao". Official.sportnetwork.net. 23 April 2006. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "Harlequin Ladies Fixtures 2006/7". Rugbynetwork.net. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "How it all began: A brief history of HLFC". Official.sportnetwork.net. 2 September 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "East London women launch recruitment drive". Newham Recorder. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ a b Richard Parry (28 February 2017). "Women's Super Rugby: Harlequins Ladies offered place in the newly formed competition". Evening Standard. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ Tucker, Craig (10 June 2016). "Aylesford Bulls Ladies Rugby Club announce partnership with Harlequins and set sights on European domination". Kent Online. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "Aylesford Bulls Ladies". Women's Premiership. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "England reveal top new women's competition". Scrum Queens. 6 January 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ "Girls Rugby catching on" (PDF). SW Londonder. 1 March 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
- ^ admin (14 September 2017). "Catherine Spencer: Litchfield will get new chance to join in 2019". The Rugby Paper.
- ^ "Harlequins Ladies renamed Harlequins Women". Harlequin F.C. 30 July 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ "Harlequins 14-12 Richmond: Record crowd watches women's club game". BBC. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
- ^ a b c "Harlequins Women and Girls Rugby". Harlequin F.C. Archived from the original on 21 August 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- ^ "Tyrrells Premier 15s: Record crowd sees Quins into play-offs". BBC. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ^ "Harlequins Ladies 3rd XV set for new home". Harlequin F.C. 30 August 2018. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- ^ "Current Players". Harlequin F.C. Archived from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2020.