Throughout the remaining days of May and early days of June, Leicester Tigers supporters will be introduced to the 25/26 women's squad.
This page will be updated with every announcement, which will be available to see on the @TigersWomens Instagram and Twitter as they happen! Make sure you're following to stay up-to-date.
Led by new Women's Director of Rugby Fraser Goatcher, the squad includes a host of new names as well as some familiar faces from the club's first two seasons in Premiership Women's Rugby.
Speaking about his squad, Goatcher said: "Our key focus this year is around player development. The age profile of the squad skews younger as a result, as we look to focus on building stars from within rather than importing from elsewhere."
"That is what Leicester Tigers have always been about, and we want to ensure that every player that trains and plays here becomes the very best rugby player they can be".
Jenny Maxwell has re-signed with Leicester Tigers ahead of the 2025/26 season.
Joining in the summer of 2024 from Loughborough Lightning, Maxwell made 16 appearances in her debut season, including captaining the side on her first start, against Exeter Chiefs in Premiership Women's Rugby.
The scrum half brings a wealth of experience to Mattioli Woods Welford Road, earning 40 test caps internationally with Scotland, representing Lightning in the PWR as well as Edinburgh Rugby after starting her rugby journey at nearby Leicester Forest.
On the re-signing of Maxwell, Goatcher said: "We're delighted Jenny has committed to the club.
"With two young scrum halves joining the club, we have someone who can add invaluable experience and nous in a critical position for us.
"Her extensive CV speaks for itself and I can't wait to work with her ahead of 25/26."
Rowann Sinclair, Danielle Solly and Samantha Williams have joined the club earlier today, with all three joining from Lichfield and featuring across the pack.
Williams will be most familiar to Tigers fans as a permanent fixture of the Championship North 1 team, starting 16 matches across that inaugural season and scoring six tries. In her time at Lichfield, Williams has played across across the front-row, in both prop positions and at hooker.
Sinclair joined the club last year but only featured in the season's opening fixtures, against Gloucester-Hartpury and Exeter Chiefs. As well as Lichfield, the back-row has also represented the Royal Navy in Armed Forces competition.
Solly, finally, is an experienced forward who has played all across the pack but now resides predominantly at prop. Solly joins from Lichfield but has also Loughborough Lightning, Leicestershire and even has experience playing at Mattioli Woods Welford Road having started at No. 8 for Loughborough Town when they faced Tigers in the Championship.
Abbie Lamb and Alicia Watkins were announced as new signings earlier today.
The former is a midfielder who joins the club from Bath Rugby, where she represented their women's 7s team, having also played at Bath University, Bath Rugby Ladies, Hartpury and Lichfield.
The latter is a hooker who joins from Cheltenham Tigers, having also spent time at Trailfinders Women on loan where she played in the PWR Up series and against Loughborough Lightning in Premiership Women's Rugby. Watkins initially broke through at Worcester Warriors, coming through their academy before featuring in Premier 15s (now the PWR).
The duo are the fourth and fifth young stars to sign with the club over the last couple of days, with Katherine Baverstock, Abileigh Priestnall and Eneka Labeyrie announced yesterday.
The former pair are up and coming talents in the PWR and join from Loughborough Lightning and Gloucester-Hartpury respectively.
Baverstock is a loosehead prop who has 11 appearances for Lightning, was a part of the BUCS squad that reached two successive finals in 2024 & 2025 and England Under-20s and has recently been called into the senior Wales set-up as part of an extended training squad ahead of the World Cup.
Priestnall joins from Gloucester-Hartpury after coming through the Hartpury system. The hard carrying centre made her debut for the league champions in October, scoring against Bristol Bears in the PWR Up series.
Laberyie, meanwhile, is a France Under-20 international joining the club from Lou Rugby in Lyon and is capable of playing scrum half or fullback.
In last summer's U20 Six Nations Summer Series Labeyrie featured in all three of France's matches, starting against Wales and England and coming off the bench against Scotland in a half-hour cameo that included a try almost instantaneously.
This tournament also saw Labeyrie score Les Bleus sixth try in their 72 - 21 demolition of England as the side recorded 31 tries across their three matches.
On the signings, Goatcher added: "We're delighted to confirm so many exciting young talents for next year's squad.
"Abbie and Alicia have both been on the periphery of the top level and we believe both are ready to make the step up and continue their progress.
"Katherine adds great power to our back, has proven her talent at the top level and her hard work has been rewarded with her recent call-up to the Wales squad.
"Abileigh is a highly skilled centre who has proven she can progress from the University system through to senior rugby and we're excited to see how she continues to develop."
On the signing of Labeyrie, Goatcher said: "We're thrilled to welcome Eneka to Leicester.
"She's demonstrated immense potential both on the domestic and international stage, where she's already operating at a high level across multiple positions.
"Already in conversations we've had we can see the energy and passion she has for the game and we know she's going to be a fan favourite at Tigers".
Alana Bainbridge, Clodagh Dunne and Nadine Vincent have re-signed with the club - all three play in each position of the front-row, at hooker, loosehead and tighthead respectively.
Bainbridge joined the club from Wasps ahead of the side’s inaugural season in Premiership Women’s Rugby, making 23 appearances in that time.
Dunne and Vincent, meanwhile, both joined during the 2024/25 season.
Dunne joined from Leinster Rugby in January 2025, where she will again compete in this summer’s All Ireland League before heading to Leicester for pre-season, having also represented her nation in Rugby League.
Vincent, meanwhile, joined Tigers after coming through the same Hartpury system that helped develop teammate Jordan Russell, making 15 appearances as a stalwart of last year’s side.
Monday saw Kristin Bitter join Leicester ahead of 25/26.
Bitter has represented the senior USA team on five occasions having been a fixture at age-grade level.
Coming through the Dartmouth University system, the same collegiate system that helped develop new Tigers teammate Emily Henrich, where she was presented the Class of 1976 Award for the most outstanding female student-athlete of the year.
A fly half who can also play at centre, Bitter is a dual threat both with the boot and with ball in hand.
On the acquisition of Bitter, Goatcher said: "We're delighted to welcome Kristin to the club.
"This is a really exciting signing for us - Kristin has shown how she's able to really drive a game and we're excited to see how she continues to develop in her first experience in Premiership Women's Rugby.
"She joins a fantastic group of players that also represent the USA so we know she'll settle right into the group here."
Bitter was the third midfielder to pen a deal that day, as Sarah Nicholas and Ellie Turner re-signed in the morning.
Nicholas first joined the club midway through the 2023/24 season, the side’s first in Premiership Women’s Rugby, joining from Warriors Women. Adept at fly half and centre, Nicholas has made 20 appearances in her two seasons at Tigers.
Turner, meanwhile, re-joins the club after being a part of the side’s inaugural season in 2022/23. The fly half made 12 appearances for the side that year, including starting in the Championship play-off final at Twickenham (now Allianz Stadium).
Last Friday, May 30, saw Deni Ross join the club ahead of the new season.
The lock joins the club from Queensland Reds, having been instrumental in the club reaching the Super Rugby Women’s Final, where they narrowly lost out to six-time champions NSW Waratahs.
Ross is a contracted Wallaroo but is yet to make her international debut.
Asked about the signing of Ross, Goatcher said: “We’re delighted to welcome Deni to the club.
“She is another standout from Super Rugby Women’s and we’ve seen her enjoy an exceptional season for the Reds.
“We believe Deni has a high ceiling in this game and we can’t wait to see her continue her upward trajectory in Leicester.”
Ross joins fellow newbies Grace Deane and Lucy Weaver who joined the club on Thursday.
Both Deane and Weaver join from Loughborough Lightning, after studying at the University.
The former is an all-rounder of a centre and has also played at Cheltenham Tigers and at Bury St Edmunds, while the latter is a classic sniping scrum-half who made 17 appearances for Lightning and also has extensive 7s experience.
On the signing of the pair, Goatcher said: “Both exemplify our approach for this year – hard-working, talented young players with bags of potential who we believe can have high ceilings in Premiership Women’s Rugby.”
Tuesday’s announcement saw Jordan Russell commit to the club ahead of the new season.
The flanker, who can also cover hooker, joined the club last summer from Gloucester-Hartpury after coming through their pathway system. The 22-year-old made 14 appearances in her debut campaign for Tigers and will be bringing her physicality on both sides of the ball back to Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
Two new signings announced last weekend were Easter Savelio and Jemima McCalman.
Lock Savelio joins the club from the ACT Brumbies, having spent several years at Melbourne Storm.
A Samoan international, she has represented her nation in WXV 2 and 3 and will be hopeful of making the squad ahead of the 2025 Rugby World Cup where the Manusina battle Australia, the USA and England having qualified for their first World Cup in 10 years.
McCalman, meanwhile, is a dynamic wing who can also play centre having starred domestically for the ACT Brumbies and in Europe as well as internationally for the Wallaroos.
With test five caps to her name, McCalman first burst onto the scene in 2022 when she won the Super W Most Outstanding Young Talent award in her first season with the Brumbies.
This season McCalman has made the move to France, featuring 17 times for Blagnac Rugby Féminin scoring six tries.
The wing helped the side to second place in Élite 1 Féminine and started in a tight loss to Toulouse this weekend.
Forwards Leah Heath and Tiana Gordon both re-signed last Thursday.
Both play in the back-row and were picked up summer of 2024 having starred in the Championship for Kenilworth and Cheltenham Tigers respectively.
Heath made six appearances, with three starts and three appearances from the replacements, before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury before the turn of the year while Gordon featured on 10 occasions last season and also has Premiership experience for DMP Sharks and Gloucester-Hartpury.
On Wednesday, Ali Coleman and Beth Cregan both signed for Leicester Tigers. The pair join the club from Melbourne side Power House RFC after time playing at the top level across multiple continents.
Coleman is a versatile forward capable of playing at lock or back row and is known for her physicality in the loose. Having also featured for Blackrock College and Leinster, she scored 11 tries in just nine appearances in Australia this season.
Cregan, meanwhile, is also capable of covering across the pack having began her career in the back row before moving to hooker. A true leader, Cregan has captained her side in Melbourne after skippering Ulster for a number of years. In that time she lead the side to their first inter-provincial victory over Connacht in 11 years, scoring and being awarded Player of the Match in a historic 14 – 36 win.
Pack members Morgan Richardson, Ellie Smith and Kat Turner have also all agreed new deals that will see them back at Mattioli Woods Welford Road ahead of 2025/26 season.
Richardson has been a stalwart of the squad since it’s formation three years ago – her 54 appearances are the second most of any woman in history. At just 22 years old, Tiger #009 has already made 30 appearances in Premiership Women’s Rugby and is adept on either flank.
Smith, meanwhile, joined the club last summer after impressing at partner club Lichfield. The prop, who was recently called into the England Under-20s squad for the first time, made eight appearances in her debut season at the top level.
Finally, Turner is a versatile forward able to play at lock or anywhere in the backrow. Having joined ahead of the club’s debut season, Kat featured 19 times for Tigers, scoring five tries. However, an ACL injury suffered right before Tigers’ first ever PWR game kept her out of action for over 14 months.
They join new signings Amber Shonert and Karolina Kacirkova as well as the returning Tess Feury, Emily Henrich, Charlotte Daley and Zoë Evans.
Shonert is a powerful tight head prop who has set weight records in powerlifting and joins the club from Sale Sharks. She is also an experienced international and has six test caps for her native South Africa.
Kacirkova has experience in top flight women’s rugby having also representing Loughborough Lightning and DMP Sharks in Premiership Women’s Rugby (formerly Premier 15s). Able to play anywhere across the back three, Kacirkova also has extensive 7s experience as well as international caps for Slovakia.
Daley joined Tigers in December 2023 - since then she has made 16 appearances in all competitions, scoring four tries including a stellar score in the 2024 PWR Up series victory against Loughborough Lightning.
Evans has been with the club since the inception of the women’s programme, scoring 14 tries in 27 appearances - with heritage number #006, the wing scored the club’s first ever competitive try, touching down in a Championship match away at Bishop Auckland.
Feury joined the club in the summer of 2023 ahead of the club’s debut Premiership Women's Rugby campaign, making 27 PWR appearances in that time, the fourth most of any player at the club, scoring 50 points.
An experienced international, she has made 32 Test appearances for the USA and featured in both the 2017 and 2021 Women's Rugby World Cups.
Finally, having joined the club in the summer of 2024, Emily Henrich scored four tries from 13 starts in her debut season in Premiership Women's Rugby.
With 21 caps for the USA to her name, she is adept at both centre and wing.
Current Squad List
Props: Clodagh Dunne, Nadine Vincent, Amber Shonert, Ellie Smith, Danielle Solly, Samantha Williams
Hookers: Alana Bainbridge, Beth Cregan, Alicia Watkins
Locks: Ali Coleman, Deni Ross, Easter Savelio
Back-rows: Tiana Gordon, Leah Heath, Morgan Richardson, Jordan Russell, Rowann Sinclair, Kat Turner
Scrum-halves: Eneka Labeyrie, Jenny Maxwell, Lucy Weaver
Fly-halves: Kristin Bitter, Ellie Turner
Centres: Grace Deane, Emily Henrich, Abbie Lamb, Sarah Nicholas
Back-three: Charlotte Daley, Zoë Evans, Tess Feury, Karoline Kacirkova, Jemima McCalman
25/26 Women's Season Tickets are on sale now! Play Your Part with the best possible way to support the team and help to grow the women's programme.
Available for only £28, a Women’s Season Ticket includes entry to all eight Premiership Women’s Rugby home games at Mattioli Woods Welford Road - working out at just £3.50 per match!
All Under-16s Women’s Season Tickets are FREE in 25/26 and Family Women’s Season Tickets are available for just £50, offering up an affordable and enjoyable day out together for parents and children.
You can find out more about 2025/26 Season Tickets HERE.
New in 25/26, Women’s Season Tickets will not only support the PWR programme, players and growth of the women’s game but you can also make a difference in the community through our Pay It Forward Scheme.
This initiative offers Women’s Season Ticket Holders the opportunity to fill their seat in the stands, should they be unable to make the game. Find out how this works HERE.
