Rachel Lund: Gloucester centre excited over side's prospects ahead of the new Premier 15s campaign
- Published
Rachel Lund (centre) has been playing for Gloucester-Hartpury since their debut season in the Premier 15s
Gloucester-Hartpury centre Rachel Lund said there's a "buzz" about the club's prospects in the Premier 15s ahead of the new season.
Gloucester open their campaign away against Exeter on Saturday 19 November.
Lund, 29, is one of the longest serving players on the team, having joined the club in 2017.
"This year there's just a buzz and we haven't even got our World Cup girls back yet," Lund told the BBC Radio Gloucestershire No Tackle podcast.
Gloucester-Hartpury have never won the Premier 15s title and finished sixth in the league last season.
Yet Lund said the biggest thing she had seen change during her time at Gloucester-Hartpury was the financial investment.
Among the players brought in this summer were Wales captain Siwan Lillicrap and winger Caitlin Lewis, England flanker Alex Matthews, back-rower Sarah Beckett and prop Maud Muir, and Spain captain Laura Delgado.
England lock, Zoe Aldcroft, who was voted World Rugby's women's player of the year in 2021, also extended her contract in June.
"It's class, and I think the relationships we've got with Gloucester, the people we've got in place forging those relationships, is class and it's getting better and better each year so it can only mean good things for the women's game," Lund said.
In May, Gloucester men's club said they were "significantly increasing" their investment in the women's team from the 2022-23 season.
The BBC understands the funding in the team will nearly triple.
"I think the biggest thing that we get is the finances they bring in and the commitment they show to the women's side has been huge," Lund said.
"That enables us to have good quality staff in place with good salaries that we can have in terms of full-time employees.
"The knock-on that has to us on match days - we get changing rooms that are all organised and set, the kit that we get provided with, the food, even the snacks we get.
"It sounds silly but even those small details they add an air of professionalism to the game now which is major, considering that not long ago I used to have to pay club fees and I had to bring my towel and all my gear."
Facing the former coach
Gloucester-Hartpury face former head coach Susie Appleby - who left to lead the Exeter team in 2019 - when they travel to Devon for their opening league fixture.
The Chiefs came away on top when the sides met last month in the Allianz Cup, winning 24-20.
"We're excited. We just played them in the cup and we weren't maybe as accurate, our discipline wasn't brilliant," Lund said.
"That's very much in our control, it wasn't like we got out muscled it wasn't like we weren't good enough.
"We always love going down to Exeter, it's one of my favourite places to go because it's been a successful place for us over the years and who doesn't love beating their old coach at their home ground?"