Yesterday in truly awful conditions in Lichfield, Welwyn Warriors clinched runners up spot in this year’s RFUW U17s girls rugby 10s.
Having been crowned London North regional Champions 2 weeks ago, Warriors travelled north without their star fly half, Hannah Gallagher, left at home nursing the broken ankle she sustained last week playing for the East of England. Even so Warriors knew they had a good side but how good?
The tournament was a round robin of the 6 competing teams. First up Worcester gave Warriors their biggest ever defeat 33-0! The West Midlanders were in sublime form and Warriors looked shell shocked by the end. Their next game was against local rivals Letchworth. Still looking shaky after the pounding they had had, Warriors did enough to maintain their 100% record against the black & yellows, winning 5-0. Next up, Wimborne. The team that knocked Warriors out of the National U15 semi final in April by 2 points! It was payback time and suddenly Warriors arrived. 12-0 to the blue and maroons! Next the East Midlanders, Paviors. 12-0 up Warriors looked to have it tied up but missed tackles let Pavs back in and at 12-12 Welwyn was lucky to get the draw. Finally Dorking and a 17-12 win meant Warriors finished second to Worcester and a point ahead of Wimborne.
Team Manager Dave Marques was very pleased. ‘Overall it’s a fair reflection, Worcester are more than worthy winners! Had we ‘turned up’ for that first match, Worcester would still have won but not by 33. Still no easy matches at this level. Luke Williams and I just despair, when we’re good we’re very, very good and when we’re bad we’re horrid! If only we could find the on switch! But National runners up, the biggest trophy the girls have won in what is without doubt our best ever season. We wanted to know if we could live with the Wimbornes, Paviors and Dorkings and now we know. What we have to do is lift ourselves up to the level that Worcester is at. Game on for next season!
Warriors squad: Lana Block Capt. Ema Burgess, Frankie Dawson, Charisse Fallon, Milly Fuggles, Mel Harcourt, Hannah Marques, Emily Matuszczyk, Alex Robertson, Casey Shults, Geri Thomas, Sophie Tyler, Megan Williams, Hannah Smith.