We only had eight U15 players available for today's fixture. Havant kindly lent us players, on rotation, to allow us to play 12 v 12. This was the first competitive game for this team and only 3 of our players have played on a full sized pitch before and some have only been playing rugby for 4 weeks!! However, they put in a sterling performance and dominated the scrum throughout the game. Mae undertook the role of scrum half and confidently delivered the ball into the centre of the scrum, allowing Kim to hook the ball back for Mae to pick and distribute the ball to the backs.

The opposition commented on the strength of our rucking. Great awareness and good support play saw Gracie and Millie arrive quickly to the breakdown, adopting a strong defensive position to drive the opposition backwards. This allowed the girls to maintain possession or turn over the ball. Some powerful runs from Izzy and others saw us make good progress towards the try line.

Kaila's conversion kicking improved throughout the game and she was unlucky not to convert any of them. However, her kicking from the restart was superb, perfect loft gave her teammates time to chase the kick; immediately putting the opposition under pressure. Rosie made lots of powerful tackles, quickly returning to her feet to tackle the next player too. Bella made a try saving tackle, having chased the opposition across 3/4 s of the pitch her smoother tackle brought the Havant player to the ground just metres from the try line. Not bad for a newby!!!

All in all, the girls showed incredible resilience. They kept working, despite the score line, and were rewarded with a try in each third of the game. A great start, some things to work on but plenty for the girls to feel proud of.