Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96Looking back on the season now, the successes as a team stand out. In three tournaments, the team won one and finished as runners-up in the other two. Their hard work in training from September really paid off, especially as only three of the team had ever played rugby before. Our first tournament was at the Highway in February. Although the team lost to a more powerful Welbeck team in the first game, they then won their other four games defeating both Oundle teams, Wisbech and Welbeck B to finish second in the first ever King Henry VIII 7s tournament. Rachel Cross made a try-scoring debut and she was superb with ball in hand throughout the season. Chelsea Round also scored some great tries and was one of our best tacklers, at one point causing two Welbeck players to leave the field in the same passage of play. Jorgia Hope played bravely at scrum half and was able to spot space on the field really well. I haven’t seen a player practise drop kicks more and her dedication paid off with a well-taken conversion. A week later, the squad ventured further afield to the Reigate 7s. A highlight of the day (the breakfast stop at Greggs) was quickly followed by a lowlight as we discovered the groups had been rearranged leaving our first fixture against Filton (one of the best teams in the country). The match happened and everyone survived. Job done. We then lost a close game against Oundle before beating Reigate A and B to move into the Plate Final. Sadly this was a game too far and the opposition’s strength in depth meant we finished as runners-up again. Two highlights were Ellie Kelly’s winning try in one of the games and Davina Mistry’s tackling throughout, two of the younger players growing in confidence. However the moment of the tournament came when Meg Bestard, who had only started rugby the previous week, scored the winning try in the semi-final. Our final tournament was at Wisbech and my confidence took a blow when some of the girls, who shall remain nameless, expressed their hope that there wouldn’t be too much tackling as they didn’t want to be muddy for the Sports Dinner later that day. I needn’t have worried as we went unbeaten through the day with a first try for Frankie Brown and some courageous tackling from Rhiannon Cope, both playing their last game for the school. Eve O’Sullivan and Anna Dunn both ran with the ball really well and will be important in the backline next season. The team was superbly led by Phoebe Aston who had already shown great dedication in recovering from a serious knee injury to be fit for the start of the year. She led by example, whether by designing the kit (my thanks to the sponsors, Dongor Interior Engineering) or by making tackles throughout the season that were audible from the other side of the pitch. She finished as the leading try scorer but also created many for the rest of the team. She thoroughly deserved her selection for the Midlands and has the chance to progress even further. My thanks go to the parents for their support, to all the staff who have supported and helped but especially to Mr. Huxford for giving up his time to referee and to Miss Bancroft for her coaching and support in all kinds of weather. girlS’ rUgBy report 86 | the Coventrian