Saracens Women ( /ˈsærəsənz/) are 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 its m ...

club based in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 ...

. They were founded in 1989 and currently play 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 t ...

, the top level competition of

women's rugby Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Rugby was originally a men's sport, and women's rugby has become p ...

in the country. Saracens are the most successful team in the history of the Premier 15s, having won the league a record three times – in 2017–18, 2018–19 and 2021–22. They are also the women's team of Saracens Amateurs, who themselves are affiliated to

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

team,

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

History

Saracens Women were formed in 1989, starting in and winning the second division in its first season and making it to the Women's Premiership for the 1990–91 season. They have rivalries with fellow London sides,

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 were ...

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 ...

. In 2006, Saracens won the Women's Premiership. In 2007 they retained their title by going unbeaten through the league season. In 2005, Saracens Ladies II had points deducted for fielding an underage and unregistered player. In 2007, Saracens Ladies II finished second in the league after losing their final game against Bath Ladies after having been unbeaten until that match. In more recent times, Saracens Women have achieved success in the Premiership and Cup. Until 2014, Saracens Women played their home games at Bramley Sports Ground and occasionally at

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cassi ...

– the home of

Watford FC Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. They play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club’s original foundation is 1881, aligned with that of its antecede ...

, when the Saracens men's team, to whom they are affiliated, moved home games there in 1997. In 2014, Saracens Women agreed with the Saracens team that they could play home matches at the men's home ground, StoneX Stadium, in

. That continues to be their home ground for Allianz Premier XVs and A League games. Saracens Women have won the

competition in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. The club currently field two teams – the First XV in the Premier 15s, and the Development XV in the Premier Development league.

Current squad

This is the Saracens Women squad for the 2022–23 Premier 15s season:

Club officials

The current Saracens senior management and coaching staff is as follows:

Notable players

Saracens Women have provided players to the

England women's national rugby union team The England women's national rugby union team, also known as the Red Roses, represents England in women's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Women's Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. E ...

including founder England players Sam Robson, Emma Mitchell, Janis Ross, Jane Mitchell, Fiona Barnet and Welsh international

Liza Burgess Liza 'Bird' Burgess (born 24 March 1964) is a former Welsh women's rugby union player who was a member of the 2018 World Rugby Hall of Fame class of inductees. Nicknamed Bird, her career spanned three decades, which included participating in the ...

. England's most capped hooker,

Amy Garnett Amy Garnett (born 31 March 1976) is an English rugby union player who plays for Women's Premiership team Saracens Women as a hooker. She was the first player to earn 100 caps for the England women's national rugby union team. Career Garnett ...

played for Saracens.

Maggie Alphonsi Margaret Alphonsi (born 20 December 1983) is an English former women's rugby union, rugby union player who played as a Flanker (rugby union), flanker for Saracens W.R.F.C. and England women's national rugby union team, England before retiring i ...

, who also was awarded a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for services to rugby, played for Saracens Women until her retirement, after winning a league and cup double, in 2015.

Lee Adamson Lee Adamson (born 27 June 1946) is a former Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier ...

coached Saracens Women before leaving to coach the

Scotland women's national rugby union team The Scotland women's national rugby union team represents Scotland in women's international rugby union and is governed by the Scottish Rugby Union. The team competes in the annual Women's Six National Championship and has competed in five of t ...

in 2007.

Rugby World Cup

The following players have been selected to represent their national teams at the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

while at Saracens (winners are listed in bold):

Club captains

The following players have held the position of Saracens Women club captain: * 1989–1992 -

* 1993–1995 - Katie Ball * 1995–1997 - Janis Ross * 1997–1998 - Janice Byford * 1998–2002 - Claire Frost * 2002–2004 -

Helen Clayton Helen Clayton (born 17 June 1971) is a former English female rugby union player born in Billinge Higher End near Wigan. She represented at the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup. She retired after the 2006 World Cup. She is currently the manager of H ...

* 2005–2007 - Leslie Cripps * 2007–2009 -

* 2010–2012 - Louise Horgan * 2012–2015 -

* 2015–2017 - Sonia Green * 2017–''present'' -

Lotte Clapp Charlotte “Lotte” Clapp (born on the 13 January, 1995) is an English-born rugby union player who plays internationally for the United States, she previously represented England. She plays for Saracens in the Premier 15s. Rugby career Clapp ...

Personnel honours and records

World Rugby Awards

The following Saracens players have earned recognition at the

World Rugby Awards The World Rugby Awards are given out annually by World Rugby (until November 2014, known as the International Rugby Board), the worldwide governing body for rugby union, for major achievements in the sport. The idea of rewarding excellence in rug ...

(presented annually since 2001):

Premier 15s Awards

The following Saracens players have been named in the annual

awards:

End-of-season club awards

The following Saracens players have earned recognition at the club's annual Big Bash end-of-season awards:

Club honours

Saracens Women

Women's Premiership The Women's Premiership, also called the RFUW Premiership was the top level of women's rugby union in England until 2017. It was formed in 1990 and was run by the Rugby Football Union for Women. It was superseded in the 2017/18 season by Premier ...

**Champions: (5) 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2014–15 **''Runners–Up: (5) 2003–04, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2015–16'' *

**Champions: (3) 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22 **''Runners–Up: (1)

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Saracens Women IIs

* Premier 15s Development League **Champions: (2) 2017–18, 2018–19

Saracens Women 7s

* Singha Premiership 7s **Champions (1):

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Season summaries

Gold background denotes champions
Silver background denotes runners-up
Pink background denotes relegated

Notes

References

{{Premier 15s Women's rugby union teams in England Rugby clubs established in 1989 Women's sports teams in London Saracens F.C.