Leicester Tigers can confirm the signings of Alana Bainbridge, Georgie Grimes, Catha Jacobs, Amanda Swartz and Amelia Tutt ahead of the 2023/24 season.
The quintet are all international players, representing a variety of nations; Bainbridge and Grimes from England Under-20’s, Jacobs from South Africa, Swartz from Sweden and Tutt from Wales. What unites them is their desire to forge a career at the top level of the women’s game and that all have a point to prove.
Despite the pair of them representing England with one another, and both playing in the front-row with one another on occasion for their country, Bainbridge and Grimes have had totally opposing rugby journeys to lead them to the midlands.
Bainbridge began her rugby journey in the North, playing for Sandal RUFC and Yorkshire Under-18s, whom she captained, before beginning life at Newcastle University. Here she began balancing a law degree with her playing career. The hooker brings extensive experience despite her formative years, both in the Premiership, having played for the last three years for DMP Sharks and then Wasps Women and internationally, having broken into the England Under-20s set up.
Grimes, meanwhile, began her time in rugby at 12 years old in sunny Gibraltar, where she grew up, playing for Club de Rugby del Estrecho. After this she made the move to Hartbury College and broke into the senior Gloucester-Hartbury set up in her second year of college; she played for this year’s Premiership winners for a year before making the move further south, to the Exeter Chiefs. In that time she also represented England Under-20s, in tests against France and Scotland
Despite their differing paths, the pair share a goal of making the step-up to the, along with the Black Ferns, the elite force in women’s rugby, the senior squad of the Red Roses and are looking to make a big impact at Leicester Tigers.
Asked about joining the club, Bainbridge said “The set up looks so exciting, with such a wide coaching staff and the culture that Vicky is building within the squad is something that I’m really excited to buy in to. Everyone’s starting the same journey together, no matter their experience and everyone’s a part of history with this new squad. I want to focus on my role and my areas of improvement and hope to strengthen the depth of the squad to make us more competitive in the league, as we look to try and compete with those top 4 teams.”
Grimes is also looking forward to starting a new chapter in the midlands. “Joining a team like Leicester Tigers with its history and success of the men’s team, to be able to be part of that is something I’m looking forward to. Being part of a team that is making its debut in the top level is incredible. Being at Chiefs and watching the game grow and seeing new fans each week has been surreal, so to have been given the opportunity to do the same in Leicester is huge. Women’s rugby has faced a lot of adversity, so being able to get out there and put women’s rugby in Leicester on the map will be massive not just for the club but also for the fans to get the game growing locally and across the country”
Moving from the front-row to the second, Catha Jacobs joins the club from Saracens. Having begun her sporting journey on water rather than land, Jacobs was a professional rower before giving rugby a go with the South Africa Women’s 7s team. Falling in love with the sport, the lock swapped rowing for the second-row and hasn’t looked back.
A year later she was playing for the Blue Bulls team in Pretoria and, toward the end of 2020 made her debut for the South African national team. In Jacobs time with the national team she has played against a variety of opponents, including Tigers new set-piece coach Rochelle ‘Rocky’ Clark in a Twickenham clash against the Barbarians.
Moving to the UK in January 2022, Jacobs made her debut for Saracens against Worcester Warriors that same month. The lock is currently returning to full fitness after a recent collarbone injury and is looking forward to getting back in action at Tigers.
Speaking about joining the club, the second-row said “Tigers have a great reputation and so I’m really excited to be joining this team, both for the new experiences and the challenges that lie ahead. Tigers being a part of the Premiership is massive. It’s exciting for the team to be in a new environment, and I am looking forward to being part of this journey. I take the growth of women’s rugby very seriously, especially as women’s rugby in South Africa still requires so much development. I want to inspire and help grow women’s rugby in the environments I am a part of”.
From one of rugby’s biggest international names in South Africa to one that is aiming to become a force: Sweden. Amanda Swartz is not just a proud Swedish international at both 7’s and 15’s level, but also the national team’s captain.
Swartz began her career in 2016 at Swedish club NRK Trojan; however, her sporting story began as a figure skater, a field in which she competed until the age of 16, after qualifying for the Swedish Nationals four years running (or, perhaps, skating).
From there Swartz made the move to the midlands, to Loughborough Lightning. The fullback is excited to further her development in rugby and believes Tigers is the perfect place to do so. “I’m excited to join the club as they have a strong positive team culture as well as great opportunities to develop as a player. It is great to be part of building something new and it’s an exciting opportunity to be part of helping to establish the club in Premiership Women’s Rugby 15s. I’m hoping that I will be able to contribute to the great work already carried out by the club in terms of growing the game and also help to offer further representation of a smaller rugby nation in the Premiership.”
Finally, although another elite athlete who has established a prodigious reputation, Amelia Tutt is a player from far closer to home than Sweden or South-Africa, being born and raised in the East-Midlands.
The fullback is someone Tigers fans may already be familiar with, representing Loughborough Town in the Championship North 1 in a fixture at Mattioli Woods Welford Road. Tutt has had rugby in her life for a long time, beginning in the sport aged just five-years old at local club Long Buckby, progressing through the junior ranks before playing for Old Northamptonians at Under-15 and Under 18 level, where she also represented the East-Midlands at county level for the same age grade.
In addition to her growing into rugby, Tutt was also exceptional at athletics; specialising in Sprint Hurdles, Tutt was in the top 20 in the UK, County champion and competed in the England Schools Under-17 division before moving to Loughborough University to begin her studies.
Here she balanced playing for Town and the University first team with breaking into the senior set up at Loughborough Lightning, in which she developed at their centre of excellence. Having made her Wales debut in this year’s 6 Nations, Tutt showed her versatility, playing at outside-centre.
Ahead of her move across the midlands, Tutt said “When I played against Tigers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in the Championship last season, I was so impressed with the Women’s set-up and am excited to join and be a part of it myself. It’s the start of something big, so it is a privilege to be joining this club for their debut in Premiership Women’s Rugby. As players we can inspire the next generation of young rugby stars, which is very rewarding to be a part of”.
Speaking about the quintet of international signings, Leicester Tigers Head of Women’s Rugby Vicky Macqueen said “To be able to bring international calibre stars into a squad is always exciting and we are delighted to be able to announce Alana, Georgie, Catha, Amanda and Amelia. The five of them are all looking to establish their reputation at the very top of the game and their qualities across the field will help in growing the competitive environment we have throughout the squad”.
