Richmond were yesterday (April 10th) crowned RFUW Premiership champions for the second successive season. The London club won 13 out of their 14 Premiership clashes this season, losing their only match of the term against Lichfield yesterday.

Richmond, who can boast an array of international stars including England’s Becky Essex, Rachael Burford and Rowena Burnfield, clinched the title ahead of Wasps who were 11 points adrift after the final rounds of games. Meanwhile Lichfield’s surprise 5-33 victory against the champions elevated them to a third place finish in the table.

Richmond Head Coach Karen Findlay said: “This has been a great season – we didn’t want to be one-hit wonders! And it has been tough because we were coming into the season on the back of the women’s rugby world cup and we had a lot of injuries from that.

“However, the squad have done a fantastic job. All the players have really stood up and I couldn’t have asked for more from them. The women’s premiership is at a fantastic level now and every weekend has been really tough, so for us to win the title for a second season is a real testament to this squad.”

At the other end of the Premiership Old Albanians prop up the table and will now play Championship 1 winners Bath for a place in the top flight next season, on Sunday. Bath won the North versus South Championship 1 clash at the weekend to secure their play-off place.