Royal London and The British & Irish Lions continue to invest in women's and girls’ grassroots rugby with latest award

The 2026 Championing Women and Girls’ Rugby Award recognises a club from each of the four Home Unions with grants of more than €11,600 (£10k)* to support their work in women’s and girls’ rugby.

Royal London, the UK's largest customer-owned pensions, protection and investment company has announced the latest winners of its Championing Women & Girls' Rugby Award, in partnership with The British & Irish Lions. The award prize includes grants to each club to demonstrate Royal London's commitment as Founding Partner of the first Lions Women's Team to invest in grassroots rugby and support the next generation of future Lions Women's players.

The Championing Women & Girls' Rugby Award, now in its third year, will provide funding to: Fethard & District RFC (Ireland), Keswick RFC (England), Caithness RFC (Scotland) and Clwb Rygbi Y Bala (Wales), who each receive a trophy and a €11,600 (£10k)* grant to invest in their rugby programmes.

The Championing Women and Girls' Rugby Award goes to a club in each Home Union that has broken down barriers for women's and girls' rugby through inclusion policies, community outreach and a desire to bring more women and girls into the game. Each of the awarded clubs have impressive programmes to grow their footprint and opportunities for women and girls to play in their local area.

Ireland winner Fethard & District RFC is working towards establishing the club’s first-ever women’s team to help build an enduring pathway that will allow girls to continue their rugby journey in the region as senior women’s players.

Having grown from 20 to over 120 players since the club’s first girls’ team was formed in 2011, Fethard & District RFC has built a strong girls rugby pathway.

To support further expansion the club’s focus is to create a clear transition from youth to adult rugby and this award will support this ambition by helping to strengthen player retention beyond U18 level, developing young female leaders through coaching and refereeing as well as supporting player welfare and athlete development.

Susie Logan, Group Chief Marketing Officer at Royal London, comments:

"This award demonstrates our commitment to women's and girls' rugby as the Founding Partner of The British & Irish Lions Women's Team. We're immensely proud to support the important work being done by clubs across the UK and Ireland to grow women and girls' rugby.

"The popularity of the award this year was phenomenal with a 56% increase in entries. The time, effort and passion being invested across women's and girls' rugby clubs by coaches, players, parents and a raft of volunteers is clear to see and is why we remain committed to playing our part in shaping the future of women's rugby.  

"Congratulations to the winners who will now have an opportunity to do even more great work in their local communities and further develop the grassroots experience for their players."

Mary Gorey, Club Registrar at Fethard & District RFC, said:

“This funding gives us the opportunity to build something much bigger than a programme for one team or one season. Our aim is to create a clear pathway for girls within Fethard & District RFC, from their first experience of rugby right through the youth age grades and ultimately into a sustainable senior women’s team. We want our girls to see that there is a place for them in our club not just now, but for years to come.”

The Championing Women & Girls' Rugby Award is a flagship element of Royal London's sponsorship as Founding Partner of the first ever British & Irish Lions Women's Team.  One winning club in each home union receives a trophy and €11,600 (£10k)*  to invest in their women's and girls' rugby programmes. Royal London is also investing £3 million into elite women's rugby across the four home unions through the 'Levelling the Playing Field Grant' to drive positive, long-term change for women's rugby through development that supports women's player and coach pathways.

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