Bristol Bears Women, formerly Clifton Ladies RFC, then Bristol Ladies, is a women's

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

team based in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. They are a standalone, independent rugby club, running in partnership with the

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 1 ...

(formerly Bristol Rugby) since becoming affiliated to them in 2008 and play their home matches at Dings RFC in the

Premier 15s The Premier 15s, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Allianz Premier 15s, is the top tier of the women's English rugby union domestic league system run by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The league was created mainly from teams in ...

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 Franklin's Gardens (currently known for sponsorship purposes as cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens) is a purpose-built rugby stadium in Northampton, England. It is the home stadium of Northampton Saints. The stadium holds 15,249 people. The fou ...

in Northampton,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, which they won with thirteen international players in their side. They were the first club outside of the London clubs of

Richmond Women Richmond Women, formally Finchley RFC, is a women's rugby union team based in Richmond, London, England. They were founded in 1986 and played in the Women's Premiership. They are also the women's team of Richmond F.C. History Richmond Women we ...

Saracens Women Saracens Women ( /ˈsærəsənz/) are a women's rugby union club based in Hendon, London, England. They were founded in 1989 and currently play in the Premier 15s, the top level competition of women's rugby in the country. Saracens are the m ...

and

Wasps Ladies Wasps Women are a women's rugby union based in Acton, London, England. They were founded in 1984 and play in the Premier 15s. They are the women's team of Wasps FC, who are affiliated to Premiership Rugby team Wasps. They play their home matches ...

to win the trophy. 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. In 2012, they moved to Portway Rugby Development Centre from

Dings Crusaders Rugby Football Club Dings Crusaders RFC is an English rugby union team based in the Bristol suburb of Frenchay having previously been based in Lockleaze up until 2018. The club was relegated from National Division Two South, the fourth tier of the English rugby u ...

's ground that they were sharing with Dings Crusaders. This made them the first women's rugby club to own their own facilities.

Notable players

At the

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Dub ...

three Bristol Ladies players captained their national teams.

Sarah Hunter Sarah Alice Hunter, (born 19 September 1985) is an English rugby union player. She has represented since the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup and currently captains the team. At the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup Hunter received her 138th internat ...

, Carys Phillips and

Claire Molloy Claire Molloy is an Ireland women's rugby union international from Galway. Molloy represented Ireland at the 2010, 2014 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. At the 2014 tournament she was a member of the Ireland team that defeated New Zealand a ...

captained

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

respectively. ; internationals ; internationals ; sevens internationals *

Natasha Hunt Natasha (russian: Наташа) is a name of Slavic origin. The Slavic name is the diminutive form of Natalia. Notable people * Natasha, the subject of ''Natasha's Story'', a 1994 nonfiction book * Natasha Aguilar (1970–2016), Costa Rican sw ...

Amy Wilson-Hardy Amy Wilson-Hardy (born 13 September 1991) is an English rugby union player. She made her debut for the England women's national rugby union team in 2013. She was selected as a member of the Great Britain women's national rugby sevens team to the ...

; internationals *

Larissa Muldoon Larissa Muldoon (born 11 March 1991), from Ballybofey, Co Donegal, is a rugby union player for Railway Union, Ulster rugby and the Irish Rugby Football Union. Her first sport was ladies gaelic football which she played for Donegal at Under-14 ...

References

{{Premier 15s Women's rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1984 Rugby union in Bristol Bristol Bears