20 September 2019

Richmond Women's head coach talks of new 'sense of belonging' at the club

Richmond Women RFU head coach Mike Panoho claims ‘sense of belonging’ culture will bring his side success ahead of the Tyrrells Premier 15s 2019/20 season.

The competition gets underway this weekend and Richmond Women are in a positive mindset following three months of pre-season including a weekend in Poland and a session with Army Rugby Union. 

Panoho said: “The team bonded really well there [Poland] which then came back to the club.

“We immersed the players into a different environment to give them a bit of an understanding and clarity around the way they want to play as well as pushing them out of their comfort zones.”

Panoho believes that the new club atmosphere will show in the new season and said: “Ultimately the first path of this was to build that culture environment for players that turn up and become better people.

“That is something we as coaches really enhanced and we wanted to make sure that players were aware that a sense of belonging is the key, creating better people and then better rugby players come from that.”

Hannah Field has been named captain for the Tyrrells season, she has five international caps and has previously played at Harlequins.

On the new season, she added: “It’s going to be a very exciting season for Richmond Women and I can’t wait to lead this team and hopefully harness the huge potential we have.”

Richmond have signed several new players over the summer including Pet Metcalfe-Jones from Harlequins, Ellie Boatman from Saracens and Rebecca Scorah from Aylesford. Sweden international Emma Ljungblom is also joining the side.

“I think the new signings have done really well, they’ve stepped up, they’ve taken their opportunities and with those opportunities come rewards. We all of a sudden have competition across the game and across each position which we haven't had before,” added Panoho.

Richmond are set to start their first match with nine of their new players.

17-year-old scrum-half Freya Aucken, who is a three-time European Champion with England Touch, will start for Richmond.

Also in the line-up is England international Rowena Burnfield, who is returning from injury whilst newbie Sadia Kabeya, who was part of the U18 England 7s, is also confirmed in the squad.

Richmond squad: Rebecca Schorah, Pat Metcalfe-Jones, Stefania Evans, Rowena Burnfield, Fiona McIntosh, Grace More, Sadia Kebeya, Libby Povey, Freya Aucken, Abi Chamberlain, Maia Daw, Siobhan Longdon-Hughes, Georgia Gray, Ellie Boatman, Emelie Hellgren.

Richmond Women play Harlequins at The Stoop tomorrow at 2pm

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