‘Sponge’ Gallagher making the most of Trailfinders environment

Trailfinders Women’s Niamh Gallagher has credited her club’s environment for her breakout campaign.

Last season the 20-year-old full-back and fly-half made just five appearances in Premiership Women’s Rugby. Since Julia Schell sustained an ACL injury at the end of November, Gallagher has started three of her team’s past five matches.

In total the Enfield-born back has made seven appearances for the London club so far this term and seen her influence on the side grow with each outing.

Her confidence was blatant in Trailfinders’ 26-26 draw with Bristol Bears last time out. She was integral in her team’s fightback from being 21-7 down at half-time and slotted the conversion that levelled the contest two minutes from the final whistle.

When asked about her performances so far this campaign, Gallagher was quick to credit the talent around her. Playing in a backline that contains England, Wales and Canada internationals, it is not hard to see why she is functioning at such a high level.

“I think you look at the likes of Meg Jones coming in this season,” Gallagher said. “You’ve got big players coming in around you and then just getting that game time, to be exposed to that level of rugby.”

Integral to Ireland U20s in last year’s Six Nations U20s Summer Series campaign, it was clear that Gallagher was ready to make the leap this season.

Recruited by Trailfinders in 2024, the 20-year-old had been a member of Wasps’ Centre of Excellence, Saracens’ U18 setup and even represented Middlesex in her teenage years.

Also enrolled at Brunel University, whose women’s rugby team compete in BUCS Super Rugby and are the academy side of Trailfinders, Gallagher has been able to continually develop for the past 18 months.

“We’re really pleased,” Barney Maddison, Trailfinders’ head coach, said. “We’ve been working with Niamh now for the past couple of years and she’s come on leaps and bounds.

“She’s an absolute sponge, in the sense of she just wants to take information all the team, wants to learn – which is massive at her age, where you want to take all the information in.

“Being able to train with all these top-end internationals, also to learn from Shings (Steven Shingler, attack coach), from an attacking point of view and she has done really well.”

Gallagher’s performances have even caught international eyes. In January the full-back was one of 37 players that took part in a three-day training camp with Scott Bemand’s senior Ireland team.

The versatile 20-year-old back travelled to Dublin with her Trailfinders teammate Grace Moore and relished the opportunity to train alongside established Ireland internationals.

“Having Grace with me was a bit of comfort,” Gallagher smiled. “Again, I was being like a sponge taking everything I could from everyone.

 

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“It was the first camp after the World Cup, so it was a reflection on the World Cup, and it was class to be involved in.

“I learned from all the backs like Aoife Dalton and spent a lot of time with Aoife as well.”

Gallagher and Moore were not the only two Trailfinders players to gain some international recognition in January.

Six of the club’s players were selected for the first England Red Roses camp of the year, including homegrown products Hayley Jones, Annabel Meta and Jasmine Adroni.

That’s all before Meg Jones, Abi Burton and Haidee Jones are added to the equation or Rachel Malcolm and Emma Wassell’s Scotland call ups.

Such recognition is befitting of a club competing at the top of PWR. Currently fifth in the table, Trailfinders will host Sale Sharks this weekend as they attempt to make ground on Exeter Chiefs and Harlequins in the battle for the top four.

It is also testament to the environment created by Maddison, his coaching staff and the diverse squad competing for places at Trailfinders Sports Ground.

“If we can produce as many Red Roses, or Irish, internationals through our ranks, that’s huge and it’s testament to the coaches,” Maddison said. “Also, as I have said to the players, you learn from coaches but you learn from players as well.

“That’s the kind of environment we try and create here, where we want everyone because we are pretty diverse. For example, the Black Ferns girls have come in. We’ve learned a lot from them, they’ve learned a lot from us. That’s where we want to be.”