Club Captain Lyndsay O’Donnell and Director of Rugby Jo Yapp were in attendance at the 2021/22 Allianz Premier 15s launch this week as Warriors Women gear-up for Saturday’s trip to Sale Sharks.
The pair joined the captains and coaches of the nine other Premier 15s sides at the Twickenham Stoop to preview what promises to be an enthralling campaign.
And with the rescheduled Rugby World Cup in New Zealand taking place at the end of the season, stars of the Red Roses as well as a string of overseas players will be keen to impress.
“It’s such an honour to have been asked to be Club Captain again,” said O’Donnell, 27.
“It will be my fifth season as captain, and I can’t wait to crack on and see what we can achieve as a team.”
Standing proud in the brand-new home kit, which will be worn by the men’s team this evening, O’Donnell liked the new look.
“I really like the new home kit and whenever you turn up at a launch event wearing the new strip, the excitement really starts to build going into matchday one,” she added.
“It’s been really good to meet all the other captains and coaches, especially given the fact that we weren’t able to do it last year.”
Overseeing real progress since taking over as Director of Rugby in the autumn of 2019, Yapp is excited at the prospect of getting the league season underway.
“The girls that have joined us have fitted in really well and everyone has been made to feel really welcome, which is great to see,” said former England Under-20 coach Yapp.
“Minori [Yamamoto] for example has come over from Japan and the girls have been supporting her as obviously there is a big change in culture for her.
“Everyone is stepping up and supporting those new recruits and it’s great to have them here.”
Back-row Alex Matthews returns to the Warriors fold having represented Team GB 7s at the Tokyo Olympics and will undoubtedly add brute strength and an abrasive defensive game.
“We are all so proud of Alex,” said Yapp.
“She has had such a tough year and her selection in the Team GB squad was fully deserved. Given that they had limited funding, it was such a great achievement to get so close to a medal and we are looking forward to having her back in the team.”
After their journey up the M6 to face Sale, Warriors host Harlequins at Sixways on Saturday September 11 before travelling to the capital to lock horns with Wasps.
The RFU are set to stream over 40 Allianz Premier 15s matches via Premier15s.com throughout the season.
All five games from the opening round including Warriors’ game at Sale will be broadcast followed by two fixtures per round for the remainder of the season.
Quality highlights packages from the three non-streamed games will also be produced ensuring that you don’t miss any of the action.
Regular commentators Nathan Middleton, Nick Heath and Johnnie Hammond will be joined by the likes of Kat Merchant, Danielle Waterman and Topsy Ojo, who will form part of regular match day presentation teams throughout the campaign.
Reporters Claire Thomas and Ashleigh Wilmot will continue their pitch side roles.