Basford Babes Selected for England U20 Squad!

We couldn't be more proud of Natalie (Capn Natterz) McClarnon and Sophie (Mophead) Russell for making the England U20 Squad.
After a succession of trials both have finally made it, and it is a tribute to their hard work and commitment. We are also very proud of Cherelle Alphonse who lost out in the final cut, and Sarah Carman. Try again next year girls we have every faith you can do it!

Good luck for the future,

The remaining Babes, Manager and Coaching Staff.

Sunday 26th October

Basford v Folkestone U18's

Week 2 of the league calender saw the girls travel down into Kent to play Folkestone Fillies.
Travelling down the M20 in pouring rain didnt look like it was going to make for a quick running game of rugby. However on arrival the rain suddenly stopped and allowed the 1st half to be played in overcast conditions.
With the ball becoming greasy and slippy due to the wet ground the early play was a stop start affair with both sides making untold handling errors.
For the first 10 minutes Folkestone had the Basford girls on the back foot but could not find a way to penetrate the Basford defence. Having soaked up the early Folkestone pressure the girls started to dominate at the rucks and mauls, and some good passing from Jen allowed the back line of Emily, India, Tash(BirthdayGirl), Siobhan, Sam and Frenchie to continually run at the Folkestone defence. Only some poor handling at times stopped the girls applying more pressure on the home side.
The breakthrough came with an excellent drive from the forwards which allowed Jen to go over to make it 5-0. Emily duly converted to make it 7-0.
Shortly after this another great piece of pressure from the forwards led by MCB gave Jen the opportuntiy to feed scottie who released India with a telling pass and she went over to make it 12-0. Emily stepped up to convert it 14-0.
Turning round in the 2nd half, the weather had changed and the girls were now playing at times in torrential rain which again caused some uncharacteristic handling errors.
The forwards were causing the home side all sorts of problems and some excellent tackling from Stumpy, Jemma, Megan, Francis and frankie kept the imputus on going forward. Emily in the centres was running the game with some excellent interplay with India. Some good support play midway through the 2nd half almost increased the score when mouse was running through in support to recieve the ball only to be bundled into touch just short of the line.
It wasnt long though before the girls got the further breakthrough when frenchie went over to make it 19-0.
India increased the lead almost straight from the restart following some great handling to make it 24-0, this was quickly followed by Frankie coming forward to support the forwards and recieve the ball to power over 29-0. Emily duly converted to make it 31-0. With time ebbing away the girls mounted one last attack and some excellent support play from Francis saw her recieve the ball and go over to make it 36-0.
Despite the conditions it was a good alround performance from the girls with the forwards doing their job and pressuring the opponents and the backs using their speed to run lines and break the defence.

Well done to all those girls.

Man of the match as voted by Folkestone Emily Scott.

After match honours also went to Basford largely due to the fact that Jens mouth can take a whole mars bar Ha Ha Ha

Thanks to Folkestone for your hospitality and we look forward to seeing you all shortly at Basford.

Sunday 26th Oct

Basford v Folkestone U15's

After a sluggish start the Basford girls were stung into life following a break from the folkestone backs which resulted in them going over to take the lead 5-0. It took a further 12 minutes of attacking play before Basford got the breakthrough when Abi Graham went over to level the scores 5-5. 2 further tries by Abi and Abbie Cook both of which were converted by Lucy wood gave the girls a half time lead of 19-5.
Early in the second half Lucy herself powered over the line to make it 24-5 and then successfully put away the conversion 26-5. The Basford girls started to increase the pressure on the Folkestone line which resulted in further tries for Olivia, Yasmin, abbie and Layla (2) with lucy successfully converting one try.
Despite the appalling weather conditions that caused both teams to make many handling errors, the Basford girls game in the second half was by far their best yet with some telling drives by the forwards which was backed up by some penetrating drives from the backs.
The girls are now beginning to settle as a team and there were some excellent performances out on the pitch in the 2nd half. Lucy was ever present around the pitch with her tenacious tackling both in attack and defence. Abi graham chased every ball that was pumped up field, and the forwards in Amy, Bron, Katie, Maddy and Lucy were a force to be reckoned with.
Layla at scrum half gave the centres, led by Olivia and Yasmin plenty of opportunity to attack the Folkestone line with some excellent distribution and feed the backs to get them pushing the Folkestone line with some fast support on the wings from claire and Abi.
An excellent performance all round from the girls.

(match report courtesy of Trevor)

Meet the Staff

Coaching & Exec Committee for 2008/9

Paula Bates U18 Manager & Exec Simon Hughes Exec Committee
Phil Robson Exec Committee / First aider
Darren Coomer Exec Committee / Kit &Travel
Tina Turner U15's Manager & Exec Committee
Peter Turner U15's Coach
Jeff Stembridge U15's Coach
Rebecca Burton- Howard (Jock) Welfare/First Aider Gavin Scott U18's Coach
Tony McClarnon U18's Coach (Awaiting Pic)
Tina McClarnon Exec Committee (Awiating Pic)

Club Captains 2008/9

Olivia Stembridge


Sarah McIlwain -Bates


With last years team captains Megan & Natalie moving up age groups we are pleased to announce that for the coming season the U15's will be captained by Olivia Stembridge and the U18's by Sarah McIlwain-Bates (MCB)


Both girls have also been appointed as Essex County RFUW captains in their respective squads.

Congratulations to both girls and good luck for the coming season.

Sunday 25th October 08

League Fixture

This weekend we are away to Folkestone at both U15 &U18 level. Paula has sent out emails to everyone asking for confirmation of availability and Rochford are kindly providing a coach for all players and staff to travel to the match.
Please let Paula know urgently whether you are available and also which of the pick up points you will be at to get on the coach.

There are limited spaces available for any parents who wish to travel on the coach, cost per person is £10.
Please let Paula know asap if you require places on the coach.

The pick up points and times will be as follows:

9.00 am The Spa, Hockley
9.20 am Tarpots, Benfleet - bus lay-by
9.45 am Haywain/FiveBells lay-by (where tour coach picked us up)
10.10 am Thurrock Services

U18's Sunday 19th October

Many of the Basford girls turned out for the county side last Sunday against Kent and Sussex.

First up was Essex v Kent which was an entertaining game with both sides determined not to give an inch.
The forwards found themselves up against a bigger pack which at the scrum put considerable pressure on the Essex girls, who led from the front by captain MCB, gave everything to contain them.
The backs ran constantly at the Kent defence but some unforced handling errors kept giving the advantage back to the Kent girls.
Mid way through the first half Kent applied pressure close to the Essex line and their reward was a well taken try to give them a 5-0 lead.
The Essex girls came straight back at them and some excellent tackling from Jen, Fi, Sophie & Frances halted Kent in their tracks.
Turning round in the 2nd half the Kent girls came at Essex strongly and again some excellent defence by the forwards kept them at bay and with the backs looking to break quickly and punish Kent it was turning into a very good game of rugby.
Unfortunately midway through the 2nd half the Kent girls proved too strong and following some tough tackling around the Essex line, went over for their 2nd try which was duly converted.
Final score Kent 12-Essex 0

In the 2nd game Essex came up against a Sussex team that had also been beaten by Kent so both teams were playing for the runners up position.
The Essex girls from the off, piled pressure on Sussex and with the forwards having the upper hand on their opponents, some quick ball of the back of the rucks gave the backs chance to do what they do best and run at the opposition defence with Jess and Anna making some excellent ground.
The Essex girls took advantage of some great handling in the centre by India and Tash allowing Emily to skip clear and make a break to go over to make it 5-0 which she duly converted, 7-0.
Turning round at the break the girls continued to put pressure on their Sussex counterparts and some excellent form from Siobhan, Megan, Sam & MCB kept Sussex at bay and allowed our backs to again put pressure on the Sussex try line. Some deft handling allowed India to jink through and go over to make it 12-0 and with Emily putting the conversion away the girls had a comfortable 14-0 lead going into the final minutes.
Final score Essex 14 Sussex 0

Well done to all those girls who played this weekend.

U18's Sarah MCB, Sam, Jemma, Megs, Frank, Fi, Frank, Siobhan, Jen, Emily, India Tash, Sophie, Anna, Kezia, Jess
U15's Lucy, Maddy. Layla. Abbie, Abi, Amy, Bron, Katie, Hannah, Olivia, Yasmin, Claire

Congrats to Emily and Jess who were named Player and runner up of the tournament respectively at U18 level and Claire who was named runner up at U15 level.

Thanks Also to Kent for organising a terrific days rugby.

U15's 19th October 2008

In the U15's the girls were 1st up against a strong Kent side containing many girls who they had faced 2 weeks earlier in the league game against Ayleford.
From Kick off both sides were guilty of handling errors which slowed the game down a little, but once they found their rhythm the Essex girls started to put Kent under pressure and much of the play in the first half was spent inthe Kent half of the pitch.
As the game progressed Kent started to force their way back into the game and went over for a well deserved try to give them a 5-0 lead.
However within a couple of minutes the Essex girls had leveled the score with a well worked try by Abi Graham. 5-5
throughout the game there was some excelent tackling by the Essex girls and in particular Lucy and Maddy.
In her first game back after a serious skiing accident Hannah made some terrific breaks along side Yasmin and Claire.
Result of game 1 Kent 5 Essex 5

The girls went into their 2nd game against Sussex full of confidence following their performance against Kent.
From the off they were pressuring the Sussex team however a lapse in concentration after 4 minutes gave the Sussex girls the 1st try of the match which went unconverted to 5-0.
This seemed to spur the Essex girls on and a terrific drive late in the half resulted in an Essex effort being held up on the line, from the resulting play Lucy crashed over at the 2nd attempt to level the scores 5-5
Again the Essex girls were making their presence known with some telling tackles from Olivia, claire, Amy and Lucy with Hannah, Abi, Abbie and Hannah making continual runs at the Sussex defence.
However with 5 minutes to go Sussex escaped the Essex grasp and went over for their 2nd try 10-5.
Final Result Essex 5 Sussex 10

Well done to all those Basford girls and also thank you to Graham who kindly lent Essex a couple of his players from Aylesford to bolster our depleted squad.

Match report courtesy of Trevor (Jocks Dad)

New Kit

Raging Bull have confirmed that our new tops and bottoms are ready and will be dispatched today.

Subject to the road transport system we should have them ready to distribute at training on Wednesday.

Can you please either arrive slightly earlier to enable Paula and myself time to hand out, or let parents know that there will be a delay in leaving the club and we will hand it out after training finishes.

Sunday 11th October

The U18's travelled to Sudbury today to play a friendly against a Suffolk Sabres side containing a large percentage of the Eastern Counties side.

In what was a terrific game of rugby from the Basford girls they unfortunately came away on the wrong end of a 19-17 defeat largely in part to some strange decisions by the home referee.

The team have now started to gel as a unit and under the coaching of Gavin and Tony they are proving to be a match for any one.

Despite coming away having been beaten, the whole team performed really well and both the forwards and the backs made it extremely difficult for the Sabres. The forwards were continually in the thick of the action and harrassed and haranged the Sabres in every part of the field. The backs at times cut through the Sabres lines like a knife through butter and only desperate defending stopped them racking up numerous tries.

A terrific days rugby if not the right result but there is lots to come from this team over the coming months.

Tries
Emily (1)
Sam (1)
Shivy (1)

Cons
Emily (1)

Player of the match this week following a terrific performance was Jenny Mugglestone

Basford Babes:

1 Sarah McB
2 Stumpy
3 Jemma
4 Francis
5 Megan
6 Tash
7 Siobhan
8 Frank
9 Jen
10 Emily
11 India
12 Frenchie
13 Anna
14 Sophie
15 Shivy
16 Jess
17 Mouse

U18's v Aylesford

Sunday 5th October

The Basford U18's first league game of the season was a home affair against a very good Aylesford Team.
With both teams fielding county and regional players it promised to be a closely fought and entertaining game.
Not long into the game the weather turned for the worse, and the rain contributed to many unforced handling errors from both sides. However not to be put off, the girls from both teams produced some fine rugby and an evenly matched game saw the Basford Babes take the honours 14-5

Tries Emily (1)
Frenchy (1)

Cons Emily (2)

League standing after 1st game 2nd

U15's v Aylesford

Sunday 5th October

The U15’s began their league campaign with a home game against Aylesford Bulls. Due to sickness, injury and the bad weather the teams started the game fairly evenly matched. Aylesford started the stronger of the two and although Basford defended well their forward domination resulted in a well worked try out wide -5-0 to Aylesford.
With new players having only recently joined the club it needed the Basford senior players to take control and aggressive defending from the Basford backline of Olivia, Layla, Yaz and Claire forced the Aylesford team into a number of unforeseen errors. On the next Basford attack a lovely waited pass by Olivia led to Abbie Graham scoring the team’s first points under the posts.
Aylesford demonstrated stubborn defiance and was determined not to allow the home team to take the upper hand but the Basford pack started to show a collective tenacity and not be overshadowed, making every breakdown a difficult area to win. Another Basford attacked led to Abbie Graham scoring her second try of the game, breaking through slack tackling by the Aylesford defence.
Aylesford again pushed forward in an attempt to reduce the deficient but Yaz cleverly read the opponents move to intercept a long pass running over half the pitch, with a chasing group, to score under the posts. Basford were now dominating play with Maddie, Amy, Abbie Cook, Layla and the rest of the team driving the opposition back on everyone of their attacks. A turnover ball was quickly passed wide which resulted in Olivia scoring a try under the posts. Abbie Graham again demonstrated her pace by scoring her 3rd try shortly after the restart.
Aylesford began to show signs of defeat and a 5 metre scrum, from a Basford player being held up over the line, produced a blind side move by Layla and a determined drive by Abbie Cook to score in the corner.
Abbie Graham scored her 4th try of the game from an Aylesford kick, running down the line past a desperate defence.
With only a few minutes left a wayward kick by Aylesford was penalised by Abbie Cook for the last try of the game. With 5 of the tries converted by Yaz the final score read 50-5 to Basford. A great win to the start of the season.
New girls Bon and Katie performed very well; especially as it was Bon’s first ever match after only 2-3 training sessions. The fire power of our backs is exceptional good this year with a mixture of experience and new players. The pack will grow in confidence after this game and I think any team will have a difficult time in trying to break them down.
One key player absent from the starting line up was our pack leader Lucy, who is greatly missed. Hopefully she will soon be back.

Report courtesy of Jeff Stembridge