| Date of birth | 20 February 1995 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | Heemskerk | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 184 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 92 kg (203 lb; 14 st 7 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Linde van der Velden (born 20 February 1995) is a Dutch rugby union player. She plays for the Netherlands at an international level and for Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership Women's Rugby competition.
Van der Velden started playing rugby at 17. [1] She works as an assistant architect for Bailey Partnership, a construction consultancy firm. [2] She also helps the Chiefs marketing team. Her sister and former team-mate, Inge van der Velden, died from cancer aged 30 in January 2023. [3] [4]
Van der Velden played for Castricumbe in the Netherlands and for Toulouse in France before joining Exeter Chiefs. [5] [6] She captained the side in their debut Premier 15s season, and scored the club's first-ever Allianz Premier 15s try against Gloucester-Hartpury in the opening round of the 2020–21 season. [2] [7] She helped the Chiefs to two Premier 15s finals and winning the Allianz Cup twice. [8] [9]
She played her 50th game for the club in the 2023–24 season. [8] [2] She signed a new contract with Exeter Chiefs in July. [8]
Van der Velden has represented Netherlands in both fifteens and sevens. [5] [6] In 2016, she made her international debuts just four years after starting to play rugby. [1] She scored her first World Series try for the Netherlands at the Langford 7s in 2017 and was also named Dutch Player of the Year for 2019.
Van der Velden is currently captain of the Netherlands fifteens side and recently helped the Netherlands qualify for the 2024 WXV 3 tournament in Dubai. [9] [10]
Saracens Women (/ˈsærəsənz/) are an English women's rugby union club based in Hendon, London. They were established in 1989 and currently play in Premiership Women's Rugby, the top-level competition of women's rugby in the country.
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.
Premiership Women's Rugby, officially known as Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby or The Allianz PWR, is an annual semi-professional women's rugby union club competition at the highest level of the English rugby union system, and is run by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). It is contested by nine clubs who play two series of round-robin matches to determine the four participants of a single-elimination tournament. It began play in the 2017–18 season, superseding the former Women's Premiership, and introducing elements of professionalism in the sport's highest level. In its first six seasons, the competition was known as the Premier 15s. Gloucester-Hartpury are the current champions, while Saracens have won the most championships (3).
Hope Rogers is an American rugby union player who plays for Exeter Chiefs in the Allianz Premier 15s. She has competed for the Eagles in three consecutive Rugby World Cup's, at the 2014, 2017 and the delayed 2021 tournament.
The Netherlands competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, between 9 and 25 February 2018. Speed skater Jan Smeekens was appointed as flag bearer for the opening ceremony, which was attended by King Willem Alexander, Queen Máxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also observed the sporting events that featured Dutch competitors.
The 2020–21 Premier 15s is the 4th season of the Premier 15s, of the top flight of English domestic women's rugby union competition and the first to be sponsored by Allianz.
Exeter Chiefs Women are a professional women's rugby union team based in Exeter, Devon, England. 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. Kate Zackary and Poppy Leitch operate as co-captains of the side.
Lisa Neumann is a Welsh Rugby Union player who plays wing for the Wales women's national rugby union team and Harlequins. Neumann made her international debut in 2018, and represented the Wales squad at the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.
The 2021–22 Premier 15s is the 5th season of the Premier 15s, of the top flight of English domestic women's rugby union competition and the second to be sponsored by Allianz. Incorporated in the season also was the inaugural Allianz Cup, a women's equivalent of the Premiership Rugby Cup.
Charli Jacoby is an American rugby union player. She plays Prop for the United States internationally and for Exeter Chiefs in the Premier 15s.
Jennine Detiveaux is an American rugby union player. She is a Winger for the United States and for Exeter Chiefs in the Premier 15s.
The 2023–24 Premiership Women's Rugby is the seventh season of Premiership Women's Rugby, the top-flight domestic women's rugby union club competition in England. Sponsored by Allianz for the fourth consecutive season, it is the first season under the rebranded banner of Premiership Women's Rugby, succeeding six seasons under Premier 15s branding.
Mackenzie Carson is a Canadian-born rugby union player, who currently plays for Gloucester-Hartpury in Premiership Women's Rugby, the top-flight women's rugby union competition in England, and for the England national team at international level, having previously represented Canada three times.
Jodie Ounsley is an English former rugby union player who played for Premier 15s side Exeter Chiefs Women as a winger. In 2019 she became the first deaf female rugby player to play for a senior England side and the world's first-ever deaf female rugby sevens international. She is also a former British Brazilian jiu jitsu champion. She also appeared as "Fury" in the 2024 BBC One reboot of Gladiators and has worked as an interviewer for Channel 4's coverage of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
The Allianz Cup is an English women's rugby union knockout cup competition for teams that compete in Premiership Women's Rugby. It was created in 2021 to act as Premiership Women's Rugby, then Premier 15s, equivalent to the men's Premiership Rugby Cup. It typically takes place in the international windows, giving more opportunities to inexperienced players.
The 2024–25 Premiership Women's Rugby is the eighth season of the top-flight domestic women's rugby union club competition in England, and the fifth to be sponsored by Allianz. It is the second season to be branded as Premiership Women's Rugby.
Fiona McIntosh is an English-born Scottish rugby union player, who currently plays as a lock for Saracens Women in Premiership Women's Rugby, the top-tier competition of women's rugby union in England, and the Scotland national team.
Samantha Monaghan, is an American-born Irish rugby union player who plays second row for Gloucester-Hartpury in Premiership Women's Rugby, as well as the Ireland national team.
Laura 'Bimba' Delgado Dueñas is a Spanish rugby union player. She plays as a Prop for the Spanish women's team internationally and recently joined English club, Harlequins, for the 2024–25 season of the Premiership Women's Rugby competition.
