Woodman following in dad's footsteps at Gloucester

Charlie Woodman has a long history with Gloucester's Kingsholm Stadium, even if she cannot quite remember it.

Her father is former England World Cup-winning prop Trevor Woodman who spent eight years playing at the club and is the forwards coach there today.

The winger was just seven years old when her father left the club in 2004 to play for Sale and says that time is a "distant memory". But the reminders are visible everywhere for her in the pictures from his playing days on the club's walls.

"It's cool to be able to say you can follow in his footsteps as such. I never planned to play at Gloucester because dad did, but the way it's come around is really nice and although dad won't admit it, he loves the fact that I'm here," Woodman told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

Woodman marked her debut for Gloucester-Hartpury last weekend with a try in their 57-29 win over Leicester Tigers on their first game of the new season, having signed this summer.

The 27-year-old spent the previous year playing in New Zealand for Super Rugby side Matatu Rugby and with Great Britain's sevens team.

Woodman moved to the other side of the world after leaving Exeter Chiefs at the end of 2022-23 after two seasons, somewhat disillusioned with the sport and unsure if she was going to play in the Premiership again.

"It sort of felt like at one point you were always fighting for something and not getting anything back for it," Woodman added.

"Going away, putting no pressure on yourself and enjoying the game, I was out there to do a bit of travelling as well. It just gave me a whole new perspective on the game and I've just come back and was loving it again.

"I wasn't sure if I was going to come back to a Prem club. But I honestly sort of re-found my love for the sport, I know it's corny to say."

When Gloucester-Hartpury did come calling it did not take Woodman long to make the decision to jump in with the two-times Women's Premiership Rugby champions.

"I had the chat with James Forrester [chief executive officer] first of all, he said it would be amazing to have another Woodman at the club," she said.

"It was exciting conversations, it all came around quite quickly."

As a winger, speed is Woodman's biggest asset, although perhaps even more than most.

Before she got into rugby she competed as a sprinter and while in New Zealand she was clocked hitting a top speed of 22mph during a training session.

"I'll hopefully keep building on that this season too. Pace has always been my thing, I used to compete nationally at 100m, 200m so anything explosive is my thing," she said.

"I think you can always keep pushing it [get quicker]. They say you hit your athletic peak around 26, 27, so I might be starting to push it.

"There’s always room for improvement, that’s the athlete’s mentality."

At Gloucester-Hartpury, Woodman has already been pushed out of her comfort zone, playing at full-back for the first time in her career during two pre-season games.

She hopes the experience playing in New Zealand has only helped develop her game further.

"The rugby was completely different in a lot of ways to how we play it here so it was awesome to get that exposure and hopefully add it to my game and bring it back," she said.

Alongside playing for the club Woodman still hopes to be involved in GB Sevens and also juggles a job in medical device sales. Emulating another of her father's achievements and pulling on an England shirt one day is also a dream.

"You never know, if things go well you might see me in a Red Roses shirt," Woodman said.

"Ultimately it would be incredible but we’ll see how the season goes."