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O’NEILL NAMED AS LADIES HEAD COACH

EX-CORNWALL RUGBY LEAGUE FORWARD JOINS THE CLUB

Cornish Rebels RLFC are pleased to announce experienced Rugby coach and former Cornwall Rugby League second-row Ronan O’Neill will lead our ladies’ team in the newly formed Betfred Women’s Super League South for 2021.

Born in Dublin, O’Neill has a wealth of coaching experience in both Rugby Union and American Football and will Coach the Rebels in addition to his roles as Penryn and Cornwall Ladies Rugby Union Coach.

Rebels Chairman John Beach is excited to have him at the club. “Ronan’s CV speaks for itself – when it came to seeking a coach for our ladies it was a no-brainer. He was the obvious choice and we are fortunate that he has a fire inside him for all forms of Rugby, League included.”

The announcement comes ten years after O’Neill took to the field for Cornwall Rugby League in the County of Origin match vs Devon RL at The Mennaye in Penzance. Having also played for Kildare Dragons Rugby League, O’Neill has enjoyed spells with Newquay Hornets, Perranporth and Redruth Albany Rugby Union here in Cornwall.

Ronan O’Neill pictured with Penryn RFC ladies.

O’Neill is relishing the challenge ahead; “It’s a great honour for me to be asked to coach the Cornish Rebels ladies. Whether it be League or Union Rugby is growing at a fantastic rate in the Ladies game and I can’t wait to be able to go on this journey with the club and introduce this great sport to the ladies and girls of Cornwall.”

The Rebels have been chosen to enter Betfred Super League South after a rigorous selection process by the Rugby Football League and will compete against Cardiff RL and Golden Fearns RL (Bristol) in the West division. The Play-off stages will bring the qualifiers together with whoever emerges from the East conference of Bedford Tigers, London Broncos and The British Army.

With the competition start slated for mid-June the ladies will commence training this coming Wednesday 19th May from 6:30pm at Redruth Albany RFC. New players can register now at www.iamarebel.co.uk and sessions will strictly adhere to COVID guidelines.

Keep an eye out for more announcement including both womens and mens fixtures throughout the week.

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Rebels Enter Betfred Womens Super League South

The club is proud to announce that 2021 will see the launch of our Women’s team and in addition that the club has been granted a place in the newly formed Betfred Super League South.

The six-team competition has founding member clubs from all over the South of England. Golden Fearns (Bristol), Cardiff RL, London Bronco’s, Bedford Tigers and The Army will join the Rebels in the first year. Initially the clubs will be divided into two divisions with games scheduled throughout June, July & early August before a Grand Final to be played in the Capital later that month.

Cornish Rebels Chairman, Director and Co-Founder John Beach is delighted that the club is taking this momentous step toward equal opportunities for all genders in sport.

“Women’s sport has been on the rise for some time, and we’ve seen that in the number of girls who have taken part in our schools events over the last few years. It is essential that our club provides an equal pathway for both men and women, boys and girls to reach the very top of Rugby League and the establishment of our Women’s team is the first footprint of that journey for the people of Cornwall.

I, along with the rest of the Rebels board, attended the spectacular Womens Super Legaue Grand Final in 2019 and at the moment we said we definitely need to be involved. The game was incredible and they players in that game showed a passion and determination that was both infectious and entertaining.

Throughout the pandemic we have worked incredibly hard on many aspects of the wider club and one key area of focus was how we expand on the success of our mens team after their success of the last 8 years. We have been speaking with the relevant people within the RFL for some time and we are extremely excited to finally spread the word, make history and become a founder member of the South of England’s premier women’s competition.

We know that Cornwall has a rich history of producing female athletes who have achieved honours at the highest level and we can’t wait to add some female Rugby League players to that prestigious list.”

The club will be making more announcements in the coming weeks starting with training information, fixtures info as well as announcing our coaching team for the season. In the meantime however the club will be observing this weekends social media boycott in the fight against online hate.

Read more via The Rugby Football League at this link.