Last Sunday saw yet another huge step in the right direction for London Scottish with the newly formed London Scottish under-13s girls’ squad picking up silverware at their very first competitive tournament.
The girls travelled to Guildford RFC on Sunday, April 6, to play in an RFU Pitch Up and Play event.
Gabby, Sarah Field, Freya Aucken, Morven Schofield, Rebecca Lawn, Caitlin Smith, Lauren, Niamh, Merle, Emily and Beth travelled to the London 2 South-West club’s playing fields with anticipation and excitement about their first venture in London Scottish colours.
With a longer warm-up than anticipated due to a slight delay, first up was a clash against Camberley and Guildford and what a start it was!
The London Scottish girls played excellent free flowing rugby, keeping the ball alive and supporting each other well.
The girls managed to cross the whitewash seven times in, what was for some, their first ever game of rugby. Final score 7-2.
With such a great start came smiles on faces and excitement levels continued to rise.
However, there was no time for resting with the girls having just three minutes between games.
Next up was Pulborough as the girls took to the field again for their second and final game of the pool stage.
It was clear to see from the early exchanges that this was not going to be an easy encounter in which to triumph.
With both sides displaying great attacking instincts, the game was tit for tat with Pulborough eventually coming out on top winning 4 tries to 3.
This score line did not do justice to the mammoth defensive effort displayed by the London Scottish girls who were stuck on their own try line for great lengths of time.
Next, a tense wait, who would top the group? Would this gargantuan effort be enough to see the girls through to the cup competition?
After initially being informed by officials that London Scottish had topped their group and would qualify for the cup competition they were then informed that there had been a miscalculation and that their efforts weren’t quite enough to take them into the cup competition.
Although there were a few disappointed faces this news did not dampen the girls’ spirits.
It was still all to play for and all eyes were focused on getting hands on The Plate.
Next up was Basildon, a team who formed at a similar time to that of the London Scottish girls.
This shaped up to be another thrilling encounter.
After a very evenly matched first seven minutes the London Scottish girls took to the field for the second half putting on a fantastic display of rugby. Final score 6 – 4.
Again with very little rest came the fourth and final fixture of the afternoon.
Wearing the colours of club rivals, Richmond RFC, came Ashford.
With a number of tired bodies showing in the first half the score line stayed level for a good portion of the match.
Half-time came and a chance to catch a breath and reflect on a good days work thus far.
Seven minutes were left and with determination on all London Scottish faces, the girls’ stretched their legs and played more free flowing rugby that had led them to victory in the previous games.
A very convincing score line, 8-3 in London Scottish’s favour, saw them finish as Plate winners, great reward for a superb performance throughout the day.
– The girls section at London Scottish are looking to recruit more players for the 2014/15 season to add to the current crop.
We are looking for players of all abilities from the age of U6 to U15 to continue to build a successful section.
All girls between U6 to U12 will also be part of our minis section to develop through the age groups but will take part in dedicated girls sessions as well on Sundays.
The Guildford tournament showed how far we have come in building girls rugby at London Scottish and we are looking to be better next year again.
If you are interested please contact us via email, corne.durand@londonscottish.com
