London Irish Women’s Premier Academy

London Irish Women’s Premier Academy is set to go from strength to strength in the New Year.

The Premier Academy will be the main pathway for the future stars of the London Irish Women’s team.

Earlier this year, London Irish declared its intention to launch a team to enter the top-flight of the women’s game. Preparations continue with a view to formally applying for a place in the Allianz Premier 15’s for the next intake of teams, due in 2023.

The Premier Academy is the natural next step forward as part of that process, recognising the growth of the women’s game worldwide and closer to home in the UK, as well as the desire to introduce a pathway to develop and nurture talent from a wide area, providing a platform for players to flourish both domestically and on the international stage.

Back in August, the first trials for the Academy took place and since then, Abi Chamberlain – the former England Roses International – has been appointed Academy Head Coach, working closely with Graham Smith, the former England Roses assistant coach who was part of the 2014 World Cup success, who will lead the development of on-field performance across the Women’s set-up.

Mary Fyfe, London Irish Women’s CEO, said: “This is an exciting development for us, as we continue on our journey towards 2023 and beyond.

“We’re enthused by the talent already in the Academy from our initial trials in the summer and are confident we can supplement that with some exciting emerging domestic and international talent in 2022.

“Abi’s arrival will benefit us hugely as we continue to grow from the Academy upwards, with her experience and knowledge adding to an already talented pool of staff within the existing set-up.”

The first Academy recruitment day of the New Year will take place at Winchester College over the weekend of January 8th / 9th 2022.

Chamberlain (Academy Head Coach) and Smith (On-Field Performance) will oversee the trials, and the former England Roses duo will be joined by fellow coach, Tyrone Matthews.

The two-day event will confirm new Academy talent, as well as prequalifying the current players within the set-up, with the aim of building a 30-40 player base for the next camp in February.

London Irish Women wish to work in partnership and support of the Women's game at Club level. We can accommodate your Club commitments by offering you a choice of January 8th or 9th to attend the trial where you have an existing Club commitment. Players who are available and wish to attend both days may be invited to do so. 

Date: January 8th / 9th 2022.

Time: 10am-4pm.

Venue: Winchester College, SO23 9PG.

To register your interest in attending the recruitment day, click HERE.