Exeter Chiefs Women

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Exeter Chiefs Women
Full nameExeter Chiefs Women's Rugby Football Club
Union RFU
Founded2019
Location Exeter, Devon, England
Ground(s) Sandy Park
Coach(es) Susie Appleby
Captain(s)Poppy Leitch
League(s) PWR
Official website
www.exeterchiefs.co.uk

Exeter Chiefs Women are a professional women's rugby union team based in Exeter, Devon, England. [1] They were founded in 2019 to take part in the Premier 15s, the top level of English women's rugby. They are based at Sandy Park and are affiliated to Premiership Rugby's Exeter Chiefs. The side is coached by Head Coach, Susie Appleby. [2] Poppy Leitch captains the side.

Contents

Creation

The creation of Exeter Chiefs Women was announced in September 2019 with former England women's national rugby union team players Susie Appleby and Amy Garnett announced as their first coaches. [1] Exeter Chiefs announced they would be spending £500,000 to set up the women's team ahead of a scheduled audit of the Premier 15s by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in the hopes they would be able to apply for a place in the league. [3] Their intent was to increase participation in rugby in Devon and Cornwall. [4]

In April 2020, as part of the review of the Premier 15s by the RFU, Exeter Chiefs Women were offered a place in the 2020-21 Premier 15s alongside Sale Sharks Women. [5] The move attracted controversy as Exeter and Sale gained their places at the expense of Waterloo Ladies and Richmond Women, [6] the latter of which was one of the most historically successful clubs in women's rugby. [5] [7] They were also criticised for not earning their place by promotion however some women's rugby analysts argued that women's rugby needed clubs that had the backing of professional men's sides in order to be viable in the long term. [7]

In their debut season, the side finished 6th in the Premier 15s. [8] In their second season, they reached the first final in their history, against Harlequins Women in the Allianz Cup.

Premier 15s

Upon announcement of the team joining the Premier 15s, player recruitment was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of internationals from various countries joined the club. [9] They played their first match in the Premier 15s against Gloucester-Hartpury. [10]

PWR and Allianz Cup

Following the change from Premier 15s to the PWR, Chiefs finished 6th in the inaugural season. The following season the finished second in the league, and beat Harlequins 57-12 in the inaugural Allianz Cup.

100 Caps

Captain Poppy Leitch became Exeter's first player to reach 100 caps in December 2024 [11] .


Squad

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

PlayerPositionUnion
Cliodhna Moloney Hooker IRFU flag.svg Ireland
Clara Nielson Hooker Flag of England.svg England
Emily Tuttosi Hooker Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada
Hope Rogers Prop Flag of the United States.svg United States
Emily Tuttosi Hooker Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada
Abby Middlebrooke Prop Flag of England.svg England
Stefania Evans Prop Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada
DaLeaka Menin Prop Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada
Charli Jacoby Prop Flag of England.svg England
Demi Swann Prop Flag of England.svg England
Flo Long Prop Flag of England.svg England
Hannah Sams Prop Flag of the United States.svg United States
Mikiela Nelson Prop Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Kate Smith Lock Flag of England.svg England
Zara Feaunati Lock Flag of England.svg England
Poppy Leitch Lock Flag of England.svg England
Linde van der Velden Lock Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands
Dorothy Wall Back row IRFU flag.svg Ireland
Ebony Jefferies Back row Flag of England.svg England
Rachel Johnson Back row Flag of the United States.svg United States
Maisy Allen Back row Flag of England.svg England
Taz Bricknell Back row Flag of England.svg England
Emily Robinson Back row Flag of England.svg England
Maddie Feaunati Back row Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa
Edel McMahon Back row IRFU flag.svg Ireland
Niamh Orchard Back row Flag of England.svg England
Kayleigh Priest Back row Flag of England.svg England
PlayerPositionUnion
[Flo Robinson] Scrum-half Flag of England.svg England
Mairi McDonald Scrum-half Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
Lucy Nye Scrum-half Flag of England.svg England
Sammy Wong Scrum-half Flag of England.svg England
Ellie Cunningham Fly-half Flag of England.svg England
Liv McGoverne Fly-half Flag of England.svg England
Taylor Perry Fly-half Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada
Gabby Cantorna Centre Flag of the United States.svg United States
Naomi Brennan Centre Flag of England.svg England
Kanako Kobayashi Centre Flag of Japan.svg Japan
Sophie Langford Centre Flag of England.svg England
Nancy McGillivray Centre Flag of England.svg England
Molly Saunders Centre Flag of England.svg England
Danielle Preece Centre Flag of England.svg England
Alex Tessier Centre Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada
Claudia MacDonald Wing Flag of England.svg England
Eilidh Sinclair Wing Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
Sabrina Poulin Wing Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada
Merryn Doidge Fullback Flag of England.svg England
Katie Buchanan Fullback Flag of England.svg England
Lori Cramer Fullback Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia
Georgina Tasker Fullback Flag of England.svg England

Notable players

The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup whilst playing for Exeter Chiefs:

TournamentPlayers selected England playersOther national team players
2021 Flag of New Zealand.svg 17 Claudia MacDonald Chloe Rollie, Eilidh Sinclair Flag of Scotland.svg , Robyn Wilkins, Abbie Fleming Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg , DaLeaka Menin, Emily Tuttosi, Gabrielle Senft, McKinley Hunt Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg , Silvia Turani Flag of Italy.svg , Charli Jacoby, Gabby Cantorna, Hope Rogers, Jennine Detiveaux, Megan Foster, Rachel Johnson, Kate Zackary (c) Flag of the United States.svg

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References

  1. 1 2 "Exeter Chiefs create professional women's rugby team". ITV. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  2. ↑ "Introduction". www.exeterchiefs.co.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  3. ↑ admin (24 September 2019). "Exeter Chiefs won't be the last club to establish women's team". The Rugby Paper. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  4. ↑ Pilnick, Brent (2 September 2019). "Women's Premier 15s: Exeter launch side in bid for league licence –". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs awarded Tyrrells Premier 15s status". The Telegraph. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.(subscription required)
  6. ↑ Orchard, Sara (6 April 2020). "Premier 15s: Sale and Exeter replace Richmond and Firwood Waterloo in women's top flight". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  7. 1 2 "Spencer column: Cruel for Richmond but the game has moved on". The Rugby Paper. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  8. ↑ "RFU". www.premier15s.com. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "Exeter Chiefs' new women's team". Rugby World. 6 October 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  10. ↑ "Two different Exeter Chiefs stories as Women make debut". Last Word on Sports. 11 October 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "Team news: Captain Poppy to become Chiefs Women's first centurion". 20 December 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2025.
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