Exmouth RFC girls' teams have recently had their most successful season, now with four very strong squads at U12, U14, U16, and U18. The Cockles' next step is to introduce Exmouth Rugby Women to their senior playing teams. 

The Cockles are delighted to announce Claudia MacDonald as Lead Women's Team Coach. Current Exeter Chiefs & England player, Claudia joined Exeter Chiefs Women ahead of the 2022/23 season from Wasps Women.

Her rugby journey started with Sutton & Epson RFC, then to Durham University, making her premier rugby debut with Darlington Mowden Park. Claudia was a key element in the England Red Roses side helping the team reach the final of the Rugby World Cup in 2022.

Claudia will assist with the development of the Cockles U18 girls squad through to the introduction of the newly formed Exmouth Rugby Women team, already entered into the Allianz Inner Warrior Series. This is an exciting step in the stellar career of Claudia, who has settled to life in Devon.

Claudia commented: "I am incredibly excited to get going with Exmouth Rugby. I've loved moving down to Devon and the support we have at Chiefs from local people has been immense. I'm very much looking forward to getting involved in the community game and hopefully building something special with this new women's team."

Director of Rugby Nick Smith added: "As we enter our 150th season, it is fantastic to be able to offer women's rugby again at Exmouth. Having Claudia onboard to coach both the U18 girls and women's team shows the commitment we have to grow women and girls rugby at Exmouth RFC. With our girls teams going from strength to strength in recent seasons, this now enables current players to progress into adult rugby at their club as well offering rugby to some familiar and hopefully, new faces at our club."

If you would like to find out more about our girls' and women's rugby at Exmouth, please contact Nick on [email protected].

The Cockles are hosting an introduction to women's rugby session on Tuesday 27 June. Start from 6pm. Open to all women and girls aged 16 and over. Come and join us to meet Claudia and coaching team. More details on our website www.exmouthrugby.co.uk