Bristol Ladies

Bristol Ladies, formally Clifton Ladies RFC, is a women's rugby union team based in Bristol, England. They are a standalone, independent rugby club, running in partnership with the Bristol Bears (formerly Bristol Rugby) since becoming affiliated to them in 2008[1] and play their home matches at Cleve RFC in the Premier 15s.[2]

Bristol Ladies
Full nameBristol Ladies
UnionRFU
Founded1984
Ground(s)Portway Rugby Development Centre

History

Bristol Ladies were founded as Clifton Ladies RFC in 1984 for what was intended as a one off match against Weston Hornets. They eventually made it into the Women's Premiership before being relegated. In 2002, they defeated Nottingham Medoc Casuals in the RFUW Rugby World National Cup Final at Franklin's Gardens in Northampton, Northamptonshire, which they won with thirteen international players in their side. They were the first club outside of the London clubs of Richmond Women, Saracens Women and Wasps Ladies to win the trophy.[3] In 2007, they were promoted back into the Women's Premiership and played one more season as Clifton RFC. In 2009, Clifton became affiliated to Bristol Rugby, who then took over the running of the team from Clifton RFC.[1] In 2012, they moved to Portway Rugby Development Centre from Dings Crusaders Rugby Football Club's ground that they were sharing with Dings Crusaders. This made them the first women's rugby club to own their own facilities.[4]

Notable players

At the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup three Bristol Ladies players captained their national teams. Sarah Hunter, Carys Phillips and Claire Molloy captained England, Wales and Ireland respectively.[5]

 England internationals
 Wales internationals
 Great Britain sevens internationals
 Ireland internationals

Source:[5][8][2]

References
  1. "Clifton Ladies". Clifton RFC. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  2. "Bristol Ladies". RFU. 2013-08-22. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  3. "Women's Cup Final". Rugbymatters.net. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  4. Bristol, The (2012-08-16). "Twelve sides line up in Robbie's memory". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  5. "Bristol Ladies Trio To Lead World Cup Efforts As Captains". www.bristolrugby.co.uk. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  6. "Waterman selected for Wales test". BBC Sport. 2008-01-31. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  7. Liza Burgess (2014-02-06). "Liza Burgess". WRU. Archived from the original on 2014-03-06. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  8. "Bristol quintet in England women's elite rugby squad". BBC Sport. 2010-10-19. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
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