Wasps Women are crowd-funding in order to afford travel and accommodation for upcoming Premier 15s fixtures.

As of Tuesday morning the funding page had raised £7,400, surpassing its £5,000 target.

Wasps, who are ninth in the Premier 15s table, said the money would fund Saturday's trip to face DMP Sharks.

Wasps said: "Our future is uncertain but the passion and grit in this group of players and staff is unrivalled considering what we have been put through in the last six months.

"We are painfully aware of the challenges this is creating. We believe these resources will allow us to develop, continue to play some great rugby and set players up for an excellent continued career in the AP15s [Premier 15s]."

Wasps have lost several key players since the financial troubles began and will be missing from the women's top flight for the first time in 33 years from next season.

They have been left out of the group of 10 sides selected by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to start the league's next cycle.

The crowd-funding began in order to cover Saturday's trip to Darlington after the fixture was postponed on 10 December because of a frozen pitch.

Wasps said they were unable to get a refund of their travel costs after the rearrangement and so were left unable to cover the cost of travelling on Saturday.

For accommodation and breakfast, the club estimated it would cost around £1,500 to take a 23-player squad and staff.

The RFU said it has weekly meetings with Wasps to "provide support where we can".