Irene Gardner enters her third season on The Farm. She will serve as the program’s Assistant Coach with Head Coach and Director of Rugby, Richard Ashfield. Ashfield and Gardner were recognized as 2025 Club Sport Coaches of the Year after the Women's team won back to back D1 15s National Championships and a 7s National Championship to cap off the season.
Prior to joining Stanford Rugby, Gardner was the Head Coach of the University of San Francisco Women’s Club Rugby program and played an integral part in rebuilding the program to the place of a sustainable 15-a-side roster. She was awarded Club Sports Rookie Coach of the Year for the 2022-2023 season. She also provides coaching support for Legends Rugby Academy, a local nonprofit organization for girls and women in rugby. Prior to this, she coached the Berkeley All Blues 7s Women’s Rugby team. The team made five Club 7s National Championship appearances.
Gardner has been involved in the USA Rugby Women’s 7s Pathway program since in 2022, serving as the Head Coach for the Under 23 and Under 18 7s programs. Most recently, Gardner traveled to Paraguay with the Junior National Team for the 2025 Jr Pan American Games where the team took home a Silver Medal for Team USA.
At the professional level, Gardner coached the Rocky Mountain Experts in the Premier Rugby 7s professional league held in the summer months. The franchise won the United Championship in 2023.
A Bay Area native, Gardner played rugby at Cal, for the Berkeley All Blues, and for the USA Rugby Women’s 7s National Team. She made several international appearances beginning in 2011, including the 2013 Rugby World Cup 7s and the 2015 Pan American Games, where she was a part of bronze and silver medal-winning teams, respectively.
A 2007 graduate of UC Berkeley, Gardner holds a bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Sciences and a master’s degree in nutrition from the University of Alabama. She is a Level 300 USA Rugby Coach and a registered dietitian and specialist in sports nutrition.
You will often find Irene's husband and their two children pitchside cheering on the teams.
