The Rise of Women’s Rugby

Since women’s rugby emerged from the pandemic, the sport has seen an unprecedented rise in participation figures, attracting record-breaking crowds to stadiums around the world. As the new season kicks off, we catch up with some of the Bristol Bears Women to find out more about the team, the sport and the future of the game…

After Covid pushed back the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand to the autumn of this year, with the tournament now running from 8 October to 12 November, rugby fans around the world have had their eyes firmly fixed on the games taking place in Auckland and Whangārei. In fact, so much so that a record-breaking crowd filled New Zealand’s iconic national stadium at Eden Park during the opening match. It was the first time in history that Eden Park had reached capacity for a women’s sports event. The attendance more than doubled the largest ever crowd for a standalone women’s sports event in New Zealand.

As 12 nations battle it out for the trophy, including Wales, Scotland and England, who are red-hot favourites to win, Bristol Bears fans will spot a number of familiar faces in the line-ups. Six Bears were chosen to represent the Wales Women and three for the Red Roses – all of whom are doing Bristol proud.

Back home, the Bears have been dominating the pitch in the first few games of the Allianz Cup, preparing for the opening match of the Allianz Premier 15s during the Women’s Weekend of Sport at Ashton Gate on 19 November.

Whether the players are currently home or away, one thing binds them together: their passion for their sport. As women’s rugby continues to grow and attract more fans, spectators and players to the pitch side, we sit down with co-captain Amber Reed and players Courtney Keight and Hollie Cunningham to find out more about the women’s rugby team we love best.

Meet Amber Reed, co-captain, centre

TBM: Tell us about your journey as a professional rugby player, the clubs you’ve played for and where your love for the sport first began?

AR: This is my 14th season at the Bristol Bears. I joined as an 18-year-old back in 2009 so Bristol has been my only Premier club. I first got the opportunity to play rugby at school when one of our teachers at Colston’s (now Collegiate) set up a girls’ team. When I first joined the Bristol Bears, I was in the England U18s and had aspirations to try and get into the U20s. For me, it was looking for the best local club in the area, which was obviously the Bristol Bears because they were playing in the Premier. I went along to a training session and managed to get selected for the team.

How has it been playing for the Bears and leading the team as co-captain?
It’s been really good. I’ve been captain since 2015. I co-captained with Clara Nielson before she left for Exeter and then I’ve been co-captaining with Abbie Ward for the first time. I’ve known her for a long time, played with her at international level and now club level and she is a fantastic leader both on and off the pitch. She’s also one of the best line-out operators in the game, men’s or women’s, so to co-captain alongside her is brilliant. We balance each other out really well in terms of what we bring to the team on and off the pitch.

Have you noticed an explosion of interest in women’s rugby over the last few months/years? What has that been like for you as a player?
Definitely. I think since Covid when we weren’t allowed any spectators for about a year and a half, there’s been an even bigger difference between pre Covid and post Covid. We were lucky enough to still be able to play without spectators and it was being streamed so it was still sparking that interest and getting people wanting to come. Even at club level our team manager said we’ve seen a 230% increase in attendance from pre Covid. Then again on international level during the Six Nations, we stepped out on to the pitch to 16,000 people at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium against Ireland. The atmosphere that that brings is incredible and that’s only going to grow. With the figures in New Zealand, people are tuning in and keeping up to date with how the teams are getting on and it will hopefully inspire people to come to local club games. The more people we can get to local club games, the more people will come to six nations games and international games, which will hopefully mean more people will come to the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England. The aspiration is to sell out Twickenham for a final. As players, we definitely appreciate the support of the crowd. When you’re on the pitch and things are happening and you hear the roar of the crowd, it’s something you can’t really describe in words, it feels incredible.

Bristol Bears strive to promote, engage and inspire girls to kick start their career in the sports industry. During the summer, the Bears became the first rugby club to partner with the #HerGameToo campaign – why is this work so important to you and the team?
I think it starts from the top down. Steve Lansdown is not only a massive advocate for the professional game but he wants to inspire the community. Every branch of Bristol Sport – the Bears, the City, the Flyers – all go out and want to win and want to put on a performance and be role models for the community. Being involved with #HerGameToo is about breaking down stereotypes, showing that rugby is accessible. It’s a big part of our role to go out and coach and do appearances and speak to young fans and players and be present – if you can see the role models that inspire you, it makes it more real. Seeing the person that you aspire to be and have the opportunity to ask them questions and be coached by them and learn from them, it just makes it a lot more powerful – we don’t just want to be on the other side of a barrier or on TV. I’m also a qualified teacher. My love for teaching is based around wanting to inspire and help children reach their potential and that fed into the Bears work really well. Some kids don’t have aspirations to play for England or Wales and that’s fine but helping them find something that they enjoy and gets them active and helps them make friends – that’s just as important as inspiring the next Red Rose.

How are you and the team preparing for the Women’s Weekend of Sport at Ashton Gate in November and what are you most looking forward to?
We’re really excited, it’s a massive weekend for Bristol Sport and that’s part of the beauty of being part of this umbrella. We have lots of different sports that we can interact with, learn from and support and it does feel like a family. You’re playing for the same community, you feel connected. To have the opportunity to play at the same venue and join up with another sport is fantastic. It doesn’t matter what sport you play but to showcase two incredible womens’ teams and the talent they both have is amazing. This is the first time the Weekend of Women’s Sport is taking place and hopefully the first of many.

For the Bears, we want to win the next few games so we can secure a home semi-final in March, which is when the cup starts again after this block.

What are your hopes for the future of women’s rugby?
The professional side of the game is still very much in its infancy, but I would love to see that grow and see more clubs have a professional set up. Even though some of us are contracted by England at the moment, I think we’re still 30 years away from having fully-paid club teams. I think the quality of coaching that young players are getting now is good and will just continue to grow. In the years to come, I would love to see more young girls in the area play for Bristol Bears at a professional level and I’ll be in the stand cheering them on.

Meet Courtney Keight, wing

Tell us about your journey as a professional rugby player, the clubs you’ve played for and where your love for the sport first began?
I started rugby quite late in life, I actually started when I went to university at the age of 18. I was told by my PE teacher to try it when I went to university so I did and I haven’t looked back. I played for my university team and then had a few games for Bon-y-maen before playing for Swansea Whites. I was picked up by the Welsh Rugby Union in a final for Swansea Whites and got selected for Wales 7’s, Osprey’s and then Wales 15’s. When Covid hit, we were encouraged to join a Premier 15’s team as Welsh rugby wasn’t going to return for a very long time, so I was fortunate enough to have a phone call with the Bristol Bears and have been there for the last three seasons.

How has it been playing for the Bears? What do you enjoy the most/what have been particular highlights for you?
I have absolutely LOVED playing for the Bears. I really enjoy the culture that comes with playing for Bristol. Everyone supports each other to be the best version of ourselves, whether that is on or off the pitch and for me personally this has developed me in so many different ways. My highlights have been playing in Ashton Gate against Quins (the crowd was incredible) and captaining the Bears team in our first cup Game this year against Sale – it was a real honour.

Have you noticed an explosion of interest in women’s rugby over the last few months/years? What has that been like for you as a player?
Absolutely, I think there is a real buzz around women’s sport at the moment, especially women’s rugby and I definitely think we have the Lionesses to thank for that. For me, I find it incredibly inspiring to see where this can go and for us to be able to leave a legacy for the young girls and boys wanting to take part in rugby would be amazing. I have noticed that more and more people are asking questions about rugby, recognising us as players, wanting to find out about our fixtures, etc. and it’s just such an exciting time to be a women’s rugby player.

Why is Bristol Bears’ community work so important to you?
This is incredibly important to me and to us as a team as the #HerGameToo campaign aims to eradicate sexism and promote equality in sport, which is something very close to all of our hearts. We are all very lucky to be a part of Bristol Bears as they truly do everything they can to promote equality. We aren’t treated as the Bears Women when we come through the doors of the High Performance Centre – we are all just the Bears and it’s massively important. I have had Pat Lam speak to me about tries I have scored, World Cup selection, my day-to-day job and that’s something I haven’t experienced before, a Director of Rugby care so much about every individual, male or female.

How are you and the team preparing for the Women’s Weekend of Sport at Ashton Gate in November and what are you most looking forward to?
From a rugby standpoint, we are training extremely hard to ensure the quality of rugby we deliver on that weekend is entertaining and keeps people wanting to come back and watch us deliver that week in and week out. We are trying to promote the game as much as possible on social media too, so that we can showcase our rugby style to as many rugby fans as possible! It is a weekend of sport as we are coming together with Bristol City and we are hoping that this will attract both rugby and football fans to both games for this weekend and for the future. The whole experience of playing at Ashton Gate in front of an incredible crowd is just so exciting so I would say I am looking forward to training hard in the run up to the game, to do my best to get a slot in that match day team.

What would you say to young girls in Bristol interested in a career in rugby – what advice would you pass down?
Firstly, I would say that you can do whatever you put your mind to, don’t ever doubt your ability. We have had people playing for Bears from every single background imaginable, there shouldn’t be any barriers that will stop you playing. We have people who have played rugby since the age of five or people who picked up a rugby ball in University (such as myself), so it’s also never too late to start. If you ever have any questions about starting rugby, then stay behind after one of our matches and talk to us (we are very friendly and would love to help).

What are your hopes for the Bristol Bear’s this season?
I hope that we build on from our incredible season last year in terms of results. We have had an excellent pre-season and first two fixtures in the Cup, so to keep taking steps forward would be the best. I really hope that we can get some more young girls and boys playing rugby too by playing well each week and showing people what we can achieve as a team.

What are your hopes for the future of women’s rugby?
Well, we have touched upon the record breaking crowds in the World Cup, the amazing #HerGameToo campaign and the Women’s Weekend of Sport in Ashton Gate and it’s all just so positive and heading in the right direction. So, my hopes are that this continues and that our support gets bigger and better, and we can keep encouraging young girls and boys to participate in rugby all across the world. We have the responsibility to do what we can now to improve the game across the board, and leave a legacy for the girls who will follow in our footsteps and I think that’s really exciting.

Meet Hollie Cunningham, second row

Tell us about your journey as a professional rugby player, the clubs you’ve played for and where your love for the sport first began?
I started playing when I was in Year 6. My primary school teacher at the time was the head coach of a local girls’ club in Bristol so my journey started there. I then played for St Mary’s Old Boys Rugby Football Club for three years and then moved to Cleve Rugby Football Club where I moved up the age groups. When I was 18, I started playing for Bristol Bears – I’m in my sixth season now.

How has it been playing for the Bears?
I love how we are as a squad, regardless of whether you’re starting every week or you are part of the wider team, we are very much like a family unit. When we’re in high pressure situations on the pitch, we always band together, whereas other teams seem to splinter. That sense of family also transfers across to Bristol City Women’s. There is a sense of competitiveness between football and rugby but at the end of the day, we are all there to play our sport and inspire the community – it’s definitely familial.

Have you noticed an explosion of interest in women’s rugby over the last few months/years? What has that been like for you as a player?
During my first season with the Bears back in 2017, we played at Cleve and I think we were lucky to get 100 people watching us. Last season, our average attendance for a game was 750 people – that leap is brilliant because not only do you get more people watching but you get more interest in the game and more players coming through and then suddenly the quality of rugby spikes. You also start to attract the interest of companies and sponsors, which is phenomenal. The game has taken off massively in the last three years and I can’t see it slowing down any time soon.

Why is Bristol Bears’ community work so important to you?
It’s really important, regardless of whether you’re male or female, that you have equal opportunities to enjoy the game. I think #HerGameToo highlights how far we have come as a sport but equally how much further we have to go. Making sure that there is recognition for the players and staff members that put a lot of time and effort in to something that is technically classed as a hobby – because we’re not all paid – is a huge step forward. It’s exciting and it’s something to look forward to. Last season, I was studying for a full-time masters, as well as working and playing for the Bears. The commitment is massive but because of the environment at the Bears, it’s definitely worth it, you are surrounded by effectively a second family.

How are you and the team preparing for the Women’s Weekend of Sport at Ashton Gate in November and what are you most looking forward to?
The Women’s Weekend of Sport highlights the calibre and the quality of the players on both the women’s football and rugby teams, but equally it is such a good opportunity for young girls to physically see where they can get to if they work hard.

In terms of the squad preparing for this season, each week there is a slow, steady but sure build in terms of performance in training and I think everyone would agree that each week we are improving on the pitch. When it comes to the first league game in November, we will have four games under our belt, and we will be absolutely flying. I don’t doubt that a really good show will be put on for those that attend Ashton Gate.

What would you say to young girls in Bristol interested in a career in rugby – what advice would you pass down?
I would say do whatever makes you happy. There’s still a stigma around girls playing rugby, we are playing a male-dominated sport and we do face criticism but we have to do what makes us happy. If running around on a muddy pitch for 80 minutes is the thing for you, then you’ve got to do it. If you work hard and enjoy yourself, you’ll get to wherever you set your heart to.

What are your hopes for the Bristol Bear’s this season?
Our focus is to be finalists and to improve on our third place finishing last year. We want to really push to be in that final this year and win the Allianz Cup – that is our main target.

What are your hopes for the future of women’s rugby?
On the back on the World Cup, I think we will see a massive increase in participation in women’s rugby. The set up in England is arguably the best in the world in terms of funding and the structures that are in place. England is currently in favour to win the tournament and I think that would be a massive incentive for young girls. Equally, I think it will interest people who might not necessarily know much about women’s rugby to tune in and think this is great, I might go down and watch the Bears play at the weekend – it’s so exciting to watch the sport grow.

Stay up to date with the Bristol Bears via their websites and social media channels: bristolbearsrugby.com | All images courtesy of Bristol Sport