Rochford Rugby Girls

Sunday 28th March

2010-03-29T13:08:00.004+01:00

Both teams were in action yesterday with the U15's playing at Beckenham and the U18's at home to Saracens/Letchworth.

U15's
Rochford U15's got their league season back on track with an emphatic victory at Beckenham winning 52 - 0 After a break of 2 months since the last game and with 4 new players in the team it could be expected for them to be a bit rusty, but it did not take long for the girls to get into their stride, as Abbie Graham was able to use her speed to go over in the corner after 3 minutes. The ball was passed about well but a few handling errors led to promising moves breaking down. The Rochford defence was very good and the Beckenham attacks were stopped before the 22 was threatened and alot of the game was played in the middle third of the pitch.

Abbie Graham was the main danger in the first half when she finished off moves with her pace and scored 2 further tries under the posts which Maddie converted. Abbie G also made another fine break which resulted in a try for Abbie C under the posts as a reward for good support work. Maddie again converted. Rochford continued to press and the forwards then got into the act when they dove a maul 25 metres to the Beckenham line. The ball was recycled and sent to new girl Lia to pounce on the ball and score under the posts on her debut and leave Maddie another straight forward conversion. The half ended with the score 31- 0.

A few positional changes were made at half time and new girl Charlotte was moved to scrum half from the wing and did well feeding the backs with the ball. Bianca was moved from full back to centre and was given the opportunity to show her strength and speed and she also scored 3 tries in the second half finishing off some good handling moves, with Maddie adding the conversions. Beckenham never gave up and continued to take the game to Rochford in the forwards and won numerous turnovers when our girls took the ball into contact, so some work is needed on ball retention in the coming weeks. Hannah, another new recruit, had a fine first game in the forwards using her size and speed to good effect and passing the ball well. Eni had a quiet first game on the wing but gained in confidence and became more involved as the game progressed.

Overall a good performance against a team that were better than the scoreline suggests

Match Report Courtesy of Peter Cook

U18's
The U18's played a friendly against a combined Saracens and Letchworth team who included a number of Regional players in their team.
From the off the Rochford girls took the game to their opponents and were rewarded with one of their quickest tries this season when India broke through to go over within the first 2 minutes.5-0
Some strong running from India and Ellie in the centre soon carved another opening and a quick ball was fed out to Emma on the wing who ran in try no2 which was duly converted by india.12-0
With the forwards dominating at the scrum, Jen (who won the battle of the scrum halves)was able to play quick ball out to Yaz who was distributing the ball well to the centres. One such quick ball found Ellie who broke the line and raced from half way to touch down for try number 3 17-0
As well as dominating the scrum, the forwards were dominant in the line out with Ellen and Cat lifting Megan high above the opposition to take Sams throws and lay them off quickly to Jen.
Try no 4 followed soon after when Lucie, Meg and Ellie combined to set India free to race over to make it 22-0 with her conversion 24-0.Turning round for the 2nd half the girls carried on as the finished the 1st half with India and Ellie switching passes to give India her 3rd try of the game 27-0.
With Francis back in the team for the 1st time since late October following a knee injury the forwards were back to full strength and were dominating at each breakdown.
Amy Humphries playing her 1st game for the team in the 2nd row played as though she has been playing at that position all season. (Well done Amy great performance.)
Not wanting to be outdone, Ellie soon broke through the sarries defence following some great play by Yaz and recorded her make it 32-0. No sooner had Sarries kicked the restart which was collected by yaz who spun a quick ball to Ellie to allow her to break round the outside to run in her 3rd try 37-0 which India converted to make it 39-0.
With minutes left on the clock, India completed a terrific performance by going over for her 5th try to make the final score 44-0

A great performance by all the girls.
1 Jemma Sommers
2 Amy Browne
3 Sam Smith
4 Amy Humphries
5 Cat Pugh
6 Megan Robson
7 Ellen Tysterman
8 Lucie Wood
9 Jen Mugglestone
10 Yaz Pemberton
11 Ellie Gatlin
12 India Harvey
13 Becki Hurst
14 Emma Dorrington
15 Vanessa Hull
16 Francis Hughes

Natalie

2010-03-24T15:07:00.003Z

"Ex U18's Captain" Nat in her England Tracksuit.

Reports from the game are that Natalie had a good game and the feedback from the England coaches on her performance was that she did really well.

Well done Nat from all your mates at Rochford RFC

Sunday 21st March FRANCE

2010-03-19T07:52:00.002Z

EnglandU20's v France U20's

Good luck to Natalie McClarnon who is starting for the U20's this weekend.
Good luck from all your old team mates and friends at Rochford.

Sunday 14th March

2010-03-19T07:42:00.002Z

Last sunday saw the U18's return to club action following Regional games/ Training.
The peviously postponed game against ACT Jaguars was eagerly anticipated as being the one which could define the final league standings.
Without key players missing due to injury (or strange RFUW decisions) the girls knew they would be in for a hard fought game.
Unfortunately in the absence of a detailed match report due to the writer being somewhat preoccupied in Dublin, it falls on me to say that the Manager and coaches have reported that the girls stepped up and gave a good account of them selves and despite going behind within minutes they pushed ACT on to the back foot and came away winners 24-10.
Tries scored by Lucie(2) Megan(1) and Yasmin(1) with Yaz converting two of her kicks.

Well done girls.

Next up for the girls is a "local derby" against Saracens. We have met our friends from along the M25 on numerous accassions and each game was an entertaining affair.

East Region 21st Febuary 2010

2010-03-01T13:47:00.003Z

Well done to all those Rochford girls who played their part in the excellent wins against South East and Thames Valley last weekend.

U18

East 23 ( Chloe Baker Tx2, Claire Shutler Tx1, Georgia Peedle Tx1, Emily Scott Px1, )
South East 10

East 24 (Chloe Baker Tx1, Claire Shutler Tx1, Scarlett Cooper-Wall Tx1, Alex Grant Tx1,Georgia Peedle Cx1, Emily Scott Cx1)
Thames Valley 0

U15

East 34 ( Sydney Gregson Tx2, Faye Smale Tx1, Abbie Graham Tx1, Mollie Ames Tx 1, Lotte Clapp Tx1 Abbie Maxwell Cx2)
Thames Valley 22

East 22 ( Emily Danielson Tx1, Maddie Lockwood Tx1, Abbie Graham Tx1, Lotte Clapp Tx1 Abbie Maxwell Cx1 )
South East 17

Recent Inactivity.

2010-03-01T13:34:00.002Z

Its been a frustrating time since Xmas with training and games being cancelled due to the inclement weather. The latest fixture to suffer was the home league game against South Sussex Barbarians on sunday.

A few of the girls have been in action for the Regional team in the recent games against the South East and Thames Valley.
Both the U15's and the U18's started the regional campaign with straight wins in their games with Faye Smale scoring a try in her very 1st regional game for the U15's.

Club rugby again takes a back seat this coming weekend due to regional training, but fast approaching on the horizon is the Easter Tour to Yorkshire.

The U15's have been invited to play the "opener" against Darlington Mowden Park prior to the Div 1 game between Sharks and Team Northumberland.

Further details will be posted shortly.

Sunday 24th January 2010

2010-01-25T10:06:00.002Z

Rochford v Folkestone Fillies

After weeks of inactivity due to the recent bad weather, the U18’s resumed their league fixtures with a “Home” game against Folkestone Fillies.
Due a fixture back log and pitches still being the worse for wear, the Rochford ground was unavailable to stage the game this weekend and it meant either another postponement or look for a different venue.
Following a few calls, Eton Manor RFC in Wanstead kindly offered the use of their ground to allow the game to go ahead.
With an almost full strength side, the girls were looking to avenge the 19-17 defeat the suffered at Folkestone on the opening day of the season.
Unfortunately things did not pan out as expected, as the first 20 minutes saw the girls playing some disjointed rugby which resulted in them being put under continuous pressure from Folkestone.
The lack of match practice and training was becoming obvious with misplaced kicks and missed tackles.
Folkestones pressure soon paid off when a passage of sustained pressure allowed the ball to be played out wide for their winger to run in a try in the corner. 0-5
From the resulting restart Folkestone again attacked the Rochford line but with the forwards starting to grow in confidence they started to push the opposition back and give Jen time to start playing balls from the back of the rucks to India and Ellie in the centres who started to make penetrating runs through the Folkestone defence.
Following a nice interchange of passing between Yaz, India and Ellie the ball was fed back to India who broke through to go over the line for the girl’s first try of the day. India duly converted the kick to give the girls at 7-5 lead.
Play moved back and forth as both sides played some good rugby looking for the next score. This came in the way of a penalty to Folkestone in front of the posts following a passage of pressure on the Rochford Line. As the penalty was put over to give Folkestone a 7-8 Lead the referee blew for half time.
The start of the 2nd half was delayed as a Folkestone player was being treated for an injury picked up prior to the penalty being awarded. Unfortunately as it looked like a bad injury to the girls ankle, play was switched to the adjoining pitch to allow the game to restart while awaiting an ambulance to arrive to look after the injury.
The 2nd half started much more positively for the Rochford girls and they were soon pegging Folkestone back on their 10m line. Following some great rucking from Sam and Megan, Jen played a lovely ball out to Yaz who sidestepped a Folkestone player and fed the ball to Ellie who went over to make it 12-8.
From the restart the girls piled forward again and with Amy continually taking the ball into the Folkestone 10 with some excellent breaks, the pressure soon paid off as Yaz picked the ball from the back of the ruck and ran wide to go over to make it 17-8.
Folkestone tried to mount a fight back but the forwards were piling in at every opportunity and winning the ball with Cat and Becki being in every ruck. The girl’s confidence by now was allowing them to play the ball across the back line and make continued breaks for the Folkestone line. This soon paid of following an interchange between Meg and Lucy which enabled Lucie to make about 10m before she was held up, a quick pass to Meg who was supporting her saw her make a further 10m before offloading back to lucie who drew the defender and played a little pop pass to Ellie who crashed through 2 defenders to go over to make it 23-8.
Following the restart the ball was collected by Lucie who spun the ball wide to Tash to make a break, a couple of inside passes soon saw the ball in Indias hands who broke through to go over under the posts 28-8.
With the minutes ticking away Ellie made a great break through for the line and with meg supporting she played the ball inside for meg to go over, however the ref deemed that the pass had gone forward and awarded a scrum to Folkestone.
This was to be the last play of what had been an entertaining game of Rugby.

Credit goes to both sides for trying to play an attacking game and despite the lack of match fitness on both sides it was a good game of rugby for all the spectators who had turned up at Eton Manor to watch.

A big big thanks go to All the staff at Eton Manor for their Hospitality and especially Jane and Gary Wood for helping to set it up. Also to Neil who kindly refereed the game.
Thanks Eton Manor RFC.

Team
1) Sam
2) Amy
3) Jemma
4) Cat
5) Becki H
6) Ellen
7)Megan
8)Lucie
9)Jen (Capt)
10) Yaz
11)India
12)Ellie
13)Tash
14)Becki F

Well done girls that puts us back in with a shout at the title again.

Reminders.

2010-01-22T12:37:00.002Z

Ladies and Parents/supporters

We have booked the rugby club for friday 5th March to hold a Curry & Disco evening to raise money for the girls tour.
Julie Mugglestone and assistants are providing the food for the evening which will be followed by a demonstration of Dad dancing from Darren.

Tickets for the night are £7.50

Please speak to Paula or Tina for tickets.

Also We have booked the Oysterfleet for the Annual end of Season Dinner Dance. (June 11th)
As with previous years it is a black tie dinner.
Please see Paula and Tina to pay £10 deposit to reserve your place.

Darren The intrepid traveller

2010-01-10T20:38:00.002Z

Christmas Turkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whilst the rest of us were braving the snow and ice from the comfort of our living rooms with the heating on full, our intrepid traveller was enjoying the first night of his all inclusive trip to britains premier airport lounge.

Happy Hols!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Former Girls Capt gets England U20 Call up.

2009-12-17T09:07:00.004Z

News reaches us this week that Natalie McClarnon who was captain of the U18's until she moved into Seniors Rugby at Saracens has been called up into the England U20 Squad for the forth coming games against Wales and France.

Natalie has retained her ties with the club (Father Tony is Head Coach for the girls section) since moving up and regularly comes along to watch the girls when she hasnt got a game.

Congratulations are extended to Natalie from all her friends at the club.

v ACT Jaguars 13th Dec 09

2009-12-17T08:37:00.009Z

Sunday 13th Dec 09 v ACT Jaguars

2009-12-14T11:49:00.001Z

Now that the County programme is behind us, the girls set about their league fixtures with a home game again ACT Jaguars, (Aylesford Bulls)
With the Rochford boys having played earlier, there was quite a crowd of players and parents who stayed to watch the girls and they were not to be disappointed.

U15’s
Rochford U15's won a hard fought contest with Aylesford Bulls on Sunday 19 - 7 Facing a side of Kent players who had previously beaten our girls, the game started with Aylesford having the territorial advantage for much of the first half. Some solid defending form Maddie and skipper Olivia and try saving tackles by Abbie G and Abbie C kept the score line even. As the half progressed the forwards began to come into their own and started to get more possession, but unfortunately poor handling often led to attacks breaking down before any great pressure was put on the Aylesford line. The half ended even with neither side being able to score. Rochford upped their game in the second half as the forwards started to compete more aggressively and win a lot more ball and drive the Kent side back. Ball was being set up and released to the backs where Olivia, Jess, Bianca, Maddie and Abbie G had attacking runs finished by desperate Bulls defending. Although the lineout was not working well the scrum was working well and good ball was being won on a regular basis. Eventually the passing of the ball found Abbie G in space and the speedster raced around the defence to score uner the posts with Maddie adding the conversion to give a deserved lead. The lead was soon increased as Rochford chased and harried a kick ahead from Maddie and from the resulting ruck near the Aylesford line Faye gathered the ball and squirmed over near the posts to give Maddie another conversion chance which she took. This seemed to awake Aylesford to greater urgency and from the kick off pounced on a loose ball, after a hesitation in the Rochford defence, and managed to drive forward and score near the posts to give a conversion chance which they took to make the score 14 - 7. Aylesford continued to press but were penalised for various infringements on a regular basis. Rochford took advantage of this and continued to counter attack with runs from the backs. One in particular by Abbie C almost paid off but she was unable to force her way through with 4 defenders just holding her. Time was ticking away and in the last play of the game the ball was passed out to Abbie G who managed to outpace the cover defence to score in the corner and so end the game with a well deserved 19 - 7 victory.

U18’s
Having been reduced to the bare minimum 15 prior to kick off with the withdrawal of 3 players the Rochford girls faced a tough encounter against one of the leagues strongest teams. With both sides fielding county and regional players it promised to be a lively game.
From the kick off the Rochford girls took the game to ACT and were rewarded within the first 3 minutes with a try by India following some great handling and off loading by Lucie and Ellie in the centres.5-0. From the restart the girls quickly pushed forward into the ACT 10, and were again rewarded with a superbly taken try from India. 10-0. With the bit between their teeth the girls carried on pushing forward looking for more points to widen the gap between the teams. With Sam Smith commanding as ever in the front row the forwards were driving over and allowing Jen to play quick ball out to the backs. Within 10 minutes the girls had made the breakthrough they were after as Tash was fed out on the wing to run in try no 3 under the posts. 15-0
ACT slowly started to force their way back into the game and their forwards started to take control allowing their backs plenty of ball to run at the Rochford line. Solid defending by the girls with the backs in Tash, India and Ellie making some important tackles kept ACT at bay until just on half time when they broke through to make it 15-5.
The second half started with ACT pushing to try and narrow the score and with the Rochford girls infringing at the break down the referee seemed the busiest person on the pitch.
The Rochford forwards soon started to get a hold back on the game and some nice runs from Ellen gained valuable yards. With Sam and Amy making big hits from the front row, the girls were dominating the scrums and all but one of the line outs were won by Meg following some excellent lifting from Cat and Jemma.
Having lost one of their front row to an injury, ACT requested that the game went to uncontested scrums which took the slight advantage away from the Rochford Girls, however with Jen sniping around the scrum the pressure was kept on ACT and was duly rewarded with a 4th try by Ellie which was duly converted by India. 22-5.
The game had to be halted with 10 mins to go to allow the Air Ambulance to land on the adjacent pitch due to an injury to an ACT u15.
Hopes for a speedy recovery are sent from all at Rochford.

The win gives the girls a big boost ready for the upcoming game on the 20th against Saracens.

Team: Sam, Amy, Jemma, Cat, Becky, Bron, Megan, Ellen, Jen (Capt), Yaz, India, Lucie, Ellie, Tash, Becky F.

Well done girls a great result that lifts you back up the league.

2009/2010 Easter Tour

2009-11-27T10:50:00.002Z

Yes ladies its that time again. Preparations for this seasons tour are underway and as usual we will be away from the 2/4/10 until 5/4/10. (Good Friday to Easter Monday).
This Years Theme is "Shaun of the Dead"
As usual fancy dress is compulsary and all tourists are to come as Zombies

We have booked to stay in the YHA at Whitby (next to the Abbey) and will be playing a local Yorkshire team (location to be confirmed but looking like Scarborough) on the Saturday and if all goes to plan a game on the sunday with a team from the North East.

Most people have paid their deposits but if you haven't can you see Paula asap.

Further details of must have accessories will be notified in due course.

Tour this year will be led by Bob (Ozzie Ozborne) Lockwood You have been warned!!!!

Cancellation

2009-11-27T10:44:00.001Z

With both U15's and U18's having their fixtures cancelled on the 15th Nov and County Matches taking place the next game is on 29th Nov 09.
The U15's have a change to their fixtures as H3 cannot fulfill their league commitment that week, so the U15's will play a friendly against Hertford.
With no league game scheduled for the U18's there will be a full training session at the club from 10.30am in preperation for the County Fixture in Berkshire on the 6th Dec.

U18's v Beckenham Sunday 1st Nov

2009-11-06T08:29:00.003Z

Sunday 1st Nov

2009-11-02T09:11:00.006Z

Rochford U 15 Girls v Beckenham U 15 Girls

Rochford ran out comfortable winners against an inexperienced Beckenham side who were depleted through illness. Playing with the wind in their favour Rochford attacked from the kick off and dominated the territory in the early stages. An infringement gave Beckenham a scrum, but young hooker Faye Smale won the ball against the head and the ball was passed out to Bianca Bosdet who sprinted away for the opening score. Rochford continued to attack keeping the ball tight amongst the forwards and making ground with some good drives and mauls. Beckenham were penalised fro pulling down one of these mauls and from the quick tap penalty the ball was passed to Abbie Cook who outpaced the defence and score under the posts. Maddie Lockwood converted to make the score 12 – 0.

Rochford continued to dominate possession and more surging forward play before releasing the ball to Abbie Graham to sprint away and score under the posts. This passage of play was duplicated several minutes later and again the ball was passed among the backs before Abbie Graham added her second try under the posts. Maddie Lockwood converting both tries to make the score 26 – 0. Beckenham then came more into the game and started to pressure the Rochford line, but they could not make this count and after a mistake the ball was turned over and Bianca Bodset raced away to score another try. This spurred Rochford to greater efforts and they spent a long time camped in the Beckenham 22 and after some sustained pressure won a penalty. From the quick tap Maddie Lockwood used her size and strength to power over the line and she converted her own try to make the score 38 – 0 at half time.

The second half started scrappily and Rochford rested their more experienced players to give valuable game time to their new players. Rochford were not quite so dominant, but after several phases of play, with the ball being recycled well, hooker Faye Smale broke away to score, Maddie Lockwood again adding the conversion.

Faye Smale was having a fine game and from another scrum she won the ball against the head and the ball was fed along the line for Bianca Bodset to sprint away to score her third try of the game and Maddie Lockwood converted to add the extra 2 points.
Rather than dropping their heads this spurred Beckenham into more positive action and they started to dominate play and possession again and camped themselves in the Rochford 22, but they could not penetrate the stout Rochford defence and possession was turned over and Abbie Graham sprinted the length of the field to score her third try, with Maddie Lockwood adding the conversion. Play was then played mainly in the middle of the pitch for a while with neither side getting the upper hand until Maddie Lockwood pounced on a loose ball and powered her way to the line and then converting her own try. Plucky Beckenham then had another spell of territorial advantage forcing Rochford back to their own line, but as happened earlier a move broke down and the ball turned over and after a few quick passes Bianca Bodset raced away to score the in the final move of the game, leaving Rochford comfortable winners by 69 – 0.

Rochford U 18 Girls v Beckenham U 18 Girls

As with the U15’s, the U18’s ran out comfortable winners against an inexperienced and depleted Beckenham side. Playing against the wind in the first half, the Rochford forwards took the game to Beckenham from the off.
Collecting the ball from the start, Meg took the ball into contact and from the resulting ruck, the ball was quickly fed by Jen across the backs to Tash who streaked away down the wing to put the girls 5-0 up with Lucie duly converting the kick
7-0.
From the restart the forwards led by Sam again piled pressure on the Beckenham pack and with Jen and Yaz playing quick ball from the back off the rucks the backs were given licence to run at the Beckenham line.
With 15 minutes gone, the Rochford girls had stormed into a commanding lead with further tries from Ellie, Jen and a 2nd from Tash to go 22-0 up.
The Beckenham girls never gave up trying to get the ball out to their wings to run at the Rochford defence but some excellent defensive work by Ellie and Lucie stopped them in their tracks.
As the half wore on the continual pressure from the forwards with Cat and Jemma driving through the Beckenham lines soon paid of with further tries by Tash (3rd) and Jen (2nd) to go in at half time 32-0 up.
Turning round to play with the wind at their backs the girls were soon back to putting pressure on the Beckenham line and were quickly rewarded with a try from Yaz after a jinking run through the centre 37-0.
Even though victory was assured, the girls relentless drive for more points soon paid of when Ellen was released to run in her first try for the team 42-0.
Further tries late in the half by Lucie, Jen (3rd) A second for Ellie and Yaz put the girls 62-0 up with only minutes to go.
Not wanting to be outdone by the backs, the forwards were desperate to get in on the act and with a couple of minutes remaining Tash having made a break on the wing, fed the ball inside to Meg who shook off the tackle to run in the final try of the day to make the final score Rochford 67 Beckenham 0

Scorers: Tries Tash(3),Jen(3),Ellie(2), Yaz (2), Ellen, Meg, Lucie
Conv Lucie

Team: Jemma, Sam, Frances, Cat, Meg, Ellen,Tash, Jen, Yaz, Lucie, Ellie,
Amy, Bron, Becky

Well done girls 2 great team efforts.

Thanks to Pete Cook for Match report.
Photos to follow.

Rochford Fixtures 2009/10

2009-10-20T15:20:00.009+01:00

U18's in Bold

30/08/2009
06/09/2009 Senior COUNTY Trials
13/09/2009
20/09/2009
27/09/2009 COUNTY Trials
04/10/2009 Thanet (A) Folkstone/H3 (A)
11/10/2009 Worthing (A) Worthing (A)
18/10/2009 COUNTY Match Eastern Counties (A)
25/10/2009 Aylesford (A) Aylesford Cluster/SSB (A)
01/11/2009 Beckenham (H) Beckenham (H)
08/11/2009 COUNTY Match Triangular Eastern Counties / Kent
15/11/2009 Suffolk Sabres Lakenham Hewett (A)
22/11/2009 COUNTY Match
29/11/2009 H3 (H) TBA
06/12/2009 COUNTY Match
13/12/2009 Aylesford (H) Aylesford Cluster (H)
20/12/2009 Saracens (A) Saracens (A)
27/12/2009 CHRISTMAS
03/01/2010 Lakenham Hewett (H) Lakenham Hewett (H)
10/01/2010 SSB (A) H3 (A)
17/01/2010 REGIONAL TRIALS
24/01/2010 Thanet (H) Folkestone (H)
31/01/2010 National Cup
07/02/2010 REGIONAL TRAINING
14/02/2010 REGIONAL TRAINING
21/02/2010 REGIONAL MATCH
28/02/2010 H3 Cluster (H) SSB (H)
07/03/2010 REGIONAL TRAINING
14/03/2010 National Cup
21/03/2010 REGIONAL MATCH
27/03/2010 REGIONAL TRAINING
28/03/2010 Beckenham (A) Beckenham (A)
04/04/2010 Club Tour Weekend
11/04/2010 REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
18/04/2010 Worthing (H) Worthing (H)
25/04/2010 H3 (A) TBA
02/05/2010 Worthing 10s Worthing 10s
09/05/2010
16/05/2010
23/05/2010
29/05/2010 NATIONAL 7'S TBC

Please note these fixtures are subject to change. Please check with Team Managers for confirmation of fixtures.

Worthing v Rochford U15's

2009-10-20T10:18:00.007+01:00

Pictures from Worthing v Rochford U18's

2009-10-16T10:27:00.008+01:00

Week 2

2009-10-12T12:44:00.002+01:00

Sunday 11th Oct
Yesterday saw both the U15’s and the U18’s travel to Worthing for the second round of the league fixtures.
After a hot and long coach journey (largely in part to the driver being unable to tell hot from cold on the a/c system, and knowing better than his sat nav how to get to Worthing rugby club by miraculously avoiding all roads that were free from traffic), the girls arrived fit and rareing to go.

U15’s
Rochford got off to the best possible start when captain Olivia Stembridge collected the kick off and managed to outpace the Worthing defence to score in the opening minute. Rochford maintained pressure on the Worthing defence and worked the ball wide to Abbie Graham to sprint away for another try after 10 minutes. Good work from the forwards kept Worthing on the back foot and quick ball down the line saw debutant Charlotte Gower denied a first try by a last dicth tackle, but Jessica Charles followed up on the loose ball to score again for Rochford.There was then a sustained piece of pressue by the Worthing pack that penned Rochford back on their goal line, but after several 5 metre scrums the Rochford defence held and they gradually worked the ball upfield before Abbie Cook streaked away to score and make it

20 - 0 at half time. After the break Rochford continued to maintain pressure on the Worthing defence and the pace of the back line was too much for Worthing to handle as Abbie Graham finished off good handling moves with 2 more tries. As the half wore on the Rochford forwards started to get the upper hand and repeated drives to the Worthing line resulted in tries from Faye Smace and Maddie Lockwood. Rochford continued to attack a now dispirited Worthing side and Abbie Graham scored her 4th try in the last minute of the game to give Rochford a 50 - 0 victory.

U18’s
As with the U15’s the girls got off to a great start when after 2 minutes Ellie collected a great pass from Yaz and broke the Worthing defence to crash over 5-0. With the home side being put on the back foot by some excellent play by the forwards Jen collected the ball from the back of a ruck and drove through to make it 10-0. Quick tries followed from Hannah and stumpy before the break. Having lost Frances to an arm injury, a reshuffle of the pack saw Amy come in for her first start at Hooker with Stumpy moving to prop.
The forwards were continually hitting the Worthing defence and with Jen getting quick ball to Yaz to set the backs off, further tries from Stumpy, Lucie and Tash quickly followed. With Lucie converting one of her kicks the girls finished winners 37-0.
All credit to a great Worthing side who despite not being able to mount one serious challenge on the Rochford line never gave up, and their defence at times stopped the score being even greater.

Team: Jemma, Amy, Stumpy, Cat, Daisy, Ellen, Becki, Meg, Jen, Yaz, Ellie, Lucie, Tash, Hannah, Emma and frances.

Again well done to both teams for a great performance .

Following the Game, Worthing nominated Stephanie from the U15’s as their player of the match and from the U18’s they gave the award to Jen. (Well done girls)

Reports courtesy of Peter Cook and Phil Robson

Photos to follow

Sunday 4th October 09

2009-10-07T13:56:00.011+01:00

Meg & Ellen

Jen & Tash

Jemma,Cat,Ellen, Becky & Meg

Nearly There !!!

Nice Hands Lucie

Jemma (3) Becky (15) Meg (4) Mouse (13)
oh and Stumpy lying down

"Off the back of the scrum from Jen"

Tash (6) about to set of on another jinking run!!!

Great lifting from Cat & Frances as Meg steals the ball

Well here it is the start of another long season.
Both U15’s and U18’s started the defence of the league titles they won last year. The U15’s travelled to play Thanet and the U18’s travelled to Folkestone to play a triangular with Folkestone and H3
Both sides have changed considerably from those of last year, with many new girls joining both teams and with instructions to play to enjoy from the coaches. Last seasons intensity to win win, has been replaced with a more relaxed coaching ethos of enjoy and the results will come !

U15’s
The U15’s opened their 2009/2010 campaign on the sunny Kent coast town of Broadstairs, against Thanet RFC.

A number of players were missing due to injury and other commitments so the majority of the team were either playing their first competitive match or had this year moved up from the mini section.

From the kick off Rochford showed their intention with a demonstration of good support play and great handling skills which resulted in a quick try in the corner by Amber Charlemange. This remained the theme throughout the first half with Rochford simply using their pace out wide, with good scrummaging and mauling work by the forwards to create the platform for the backs to exploit their superiority. The Thanet girls refused to give up and showed dogged determination in their defence whilst continually taking every opportunity to attack the Rochford line. The second half was an extension of the first with Rochford taking their chances, using the wide pitch to provide their wingers the space needed to get past their opponents defence.

Further tries by Abigail Graham (6 in total), Olivia Stembridge, Jessica Charles, Stephanie Smith, Claire Yearwood and Maddie Lockwood ended the game with a final score of Rochford 73 – Thanet 0. Maddie successfully converting 4 of the tries scored.

U18’s
Game 1 saw the home side take to the pitch against Rochford, some early pressure from the forwards saw the 1st 10 minutes being played inside the Folkestone 10 metre line. This sustained pressure was eventually rewarded when Sam went over to open the scoring.Folkestone then started to come back into the game and quickly responded with 2 tries to go in at half time 10-5 up. The second half started as the 1st with Rochford applying pressure on the Folkestone back line. Again the pressure was rewarded when Lucie went over to level the scores. With only minutes left, a surge through the centre from Folkestone was rewarded with a try under the post which was duly converted to give the game 17-10 to Folkestone.
Having watched the 2nd game which was Folkestone against H3 we knew that we were in for a physical game in our final match.
The game against H3 started pretty much as the 1st game with our forwards continually applying pressure to their back line.
After 5mins Jen broke through to crash over to make it 5-0. Shortly after the try H3 asked the ref to go uncontested in the scrums which took our advantage away. With a new and inexperienced back line our girls soon paid the price with their wingers running in 4 tries to make it 20-5. The2nd half again started with our girls applying pressure and trying to get the ball out to the wings. Following a couple of dangerous tackles which went totally unpunished by the match official we lost two of our backs in Hannah and Sophie who are now both doubtful for the trip to Worthing next week. Despite the total inaction by the official who always claimed to be the only person in the ground not to have seen the two tackles that forced the girls off, our girls refused to rise to the bait and tried to play rugby as it should be played.Further tries from H3 made the final score 31-5.
Despite the results the girls played as if they were enjoying the game and came off with smiles on their faces.
With 5 girls in the starting line up who had only ever played tag at school, the whole team performed exceptionally well and the coaching and management staff are proud of each and every one of them.
Team; Sam, Jemma, Frances, Cat, Amy, Ellen, Meg, Lucie, Jen, Yaz, Tash, Hannah, Daisy, Sophie, Becky, Emma, Jade and Lucy

Well done girls you were brilliant

Match reports Courtesy of J Stembridge & P Robson , Pictures Courtesy of Will Tysterman

Welcome to the new look Blog for Rochford Girls.

2009-09-23T14:19:00.002+01:00

At the end of last season with many players and one of the coaching staff leaving the club the decision was made to disband the unofficial cluster between Basildon & Rochford girls teams (Basford).
As all but 3 of the remaining girls were all members of Rochford, it was decided to play under the banner of Rochford Rugby club and to wear Rochford colours from the start of the season.
The decision to move across to Rochford was accepted by Basildon who passed on their best wishes to the girls for the coming season.
With the departure of last seasons U 18 coach, a new coaching team of Tony McClarnon and Ian McCready will take the U18’s into the new season.
The U15’s will again be coached by Jeff Stembridge and Peter Turner.

Last season was successful for both sides with the Kent and Sussex league title going to both age groups.

With both teams again being entered into the league this season, there will be plenty of rugby being played by the girls this year.

We also have a new sponsor this season, and would like to say a big thanks to S&J Electrics for their support over the last two seasons.

Presentation Night

2009-06-16T21:13:00.010+01:00

Player Presentations

2009-06-16T20:59:00.002+01:00

Basford Girls End of Season Presentation

2009-06-16T19:59:00.002+01:00

Last friday saw the annual Basford girls Dinner Dance held at the Oysterfleet in Canvey.
Guest of Honour this year was Steve Cleare who is the incoming Youth Chair at Rochford RFC.
Following the dinner the presentations took place with Steve presenting trophies and medals to the players.

Awards

U18 Player of the Year Rachel French
U18 Most Improved player Jemma Sommers

U15 Player of the Year Yasmin Pemberton
U15 Most Improved player Bronwyn Hughes

U18's Kent & Sussex League Winners
U15's Kent & Sussex League winners

Outgoing Captains awards
U18's Sarah MCB
U15's Olivia Stembridge.

There was also a special presentation to Sarah MCB of a rugby picture frame complete with photographic memories of Sarah's time with the team over the last 3 yrs and an engraved Tankard.
Sarah is leaving the team at the end of this season to head off to University in Scotland, but is also retiring from the game due to the horrific injury she sustained to her ankle during a game back in November 2007. Her immediate reaction was that she would be back within 10 months and that steely determination and resolute approach to the injury has seen her refusing to give in. Many of us have witnessed the pain and discomfort she has endured whilst the strapping has been applied before every training session or game, simply to allow her to participate for however long. Many have wished that her recovery had been swift and successful but after an extremely difficult and emotional year the final prognosis to the extent of the injury has meant that she will no longer be able to take part in the game.
But her unflappable determination to complete will simply not die and she has again reassessed her options which will take root in either Kayaking or rowing whilst she is at University, which we know she will be a success.

All of her friends at Basford wish her good luck for the future and will remember her as one of the finest club captains we have had.

Also leaving the club are Rachel French, Fi Jordan, Frank Jordan, Sam Sewering and Siobhan Franklin who are off to University or in the twins case to take to the skies in the RAF.
Good luck to all the girls.

Presentations were also made to the coaches from the girls for their help this season.
Bouquets were also presented to Paula and Tina for their hard work this season both as Team Manager but also for all the various organising of tours etc. A bouquet was also presented to Jan for the behind the scenes work this season and with the the Dinner Dance.

Well thats the end of a long, at times difficult but ultimately rewarding season for all the girls.
Well done to all and heres to a successful 2009/10 season.

End of Season Dinner/Disco

2009-06-03T13:47:00.002+01:00

Friday 12th June 7.00 pm for 7.30 pm
Lakeside Banqueting Suite, The Oysterfleet Hotel, Knightswick Road, Canvey SS8 7UX
Telephone 01268 510111

Dress Code Formal or Smart

Any questions please call me.

Herts 7's

2009-05-19T12:55:00.004+01:00

Shira Maddie, Lucie, Ellie,Charlie, Olivia, Hannah, Abbie

In response to the Hertford rugby clubs manager's request for girls to make up a squad of 12 players, 5 of our girls, Olivia, Maddie, Hannah, Lucie and Abi Graham, arrived at the Herts 7’s tournament simply hoping for some game time. With only 3 of the Hertford players turning up the girls quickly realised that they in fact had to play in every game, for the full period, with a limited replacement capability.
The first pool match of the competition was against Saracens, who had also been on recruitment drive from teams throughout Middlesex. The first few minutes were keenly contested, with very little being gained by both sides. The opening try scored by Abi, after some very good handling work, was quickly extended with tries by Shira, Olivia, Lucie and Hannah.
The second game against Wasps was a very one sided affair and strong running by Charlie Faloona (Hertford) resulted in her scoring 3 tries, with the others coming from Olivia, Hannah, Lucie, Shira and Maddie.
Paviors, the strongest opponents, was the next match in the pool. Paviors gained the upper hand, by scoring 2 tries in the first half. The 2nd half started badly with Paviors scoring within the first minute but the change at half time saw a more determined and aggressive approach. Olivia got the first try, running virtually the whole length of the pitch to score. From the restart Olivia scored again and from then on the Paviors line was continually under attack. Two ignored penalties would have allowed the girls to equal the score but this was not to be and the game ended 17-10 to Paviors.
Oakmedians were the final pool game and the frustrations of the last match were released as the girls went on as clear winners by over 40 points.
The Plate semi Final was against Plymouth, whose average height per player was near to 6 feet. A dogged determination from the start resulted in early tries and the team went on to win very convincingly, with tries by Olivia, Hannah, Lucie, Shira and Charlie.
The girls looked very tired and dejected before the final against Burfield. With very little chance of a rest and the cold, wet weather taking its toll they had to focus on the game. Burfield took their chance and scored the opening try but this simply made the girls ever more stubborn, refusing to hand over the trophy. The next phase of play saw the Hertford girls equalise and then with even more single mindedness they pulled away, being clear winners by the end. Final score 45-7 to Herts.
It was a great day with the girls playing the best rugby displayed all season, at every level. Coaches and players from many other teams made a concerted effort to watch our girls play, openly applauding and cheering on our girls for their rugby skills.

report courtesy of Jeff Stembridge

End of season

2009-05-15T15:57:00.002+01:00

Its finally arrived, the long awaited summer break.
keep an eye on your emails as Tony, Ian, Jeff and Pete are busy arranging summer training.

Its been a good season (despite what some people think) and that is down to you girls and the performances you put in this year.

We are losing people now the season has ended so we would like to recognise them here and wish them well for the future.

U18 Captain Sarah MCB is heading north of the border to try and get an education.
Frenchie is off to harrass all the sailors in Portsmouth (says she is really going to Uni)
Fi and Frank are off to the Top Gun movie set to get their wings
Siobhan and Sam are also heading off to Uni

good luck to all the girls.

Also thanks to the backroom people who have worked their butts off to make the season as successful as it has been.

With a new look squad, new look coaching staff and a potential new sponsor next season promises to be as exciting as ever.

The blog will also undergo changes over the summer with a new header and background.
Plus if you have anyideas for inclusion, email them in.

Thanks again to all for a great 2008/9 season.

Basford U18's @ Worthing

2009-05-10T18:25:00.005+01:00

Paula, Frenchie, Siobhan,Alice,Ellie,Frances,Sam, Phil,Tony

Mouse,Megan,Tash,Jemma,Stumpy

MCB,Jen

A few Worthing Pics

2009-05-10T18:19:00.002+01:00

A few more Pics

2009-05-10T18:17:00.002+01:00

Worthing 10's

2009-05-10T17:50:00.004+01:00

Last weekend saw both squads(minus a couple of players) head of down to sunny Worthing.
The under 18's &u15's both had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend both on and off the rugby pitch.
The U15's lost in the semi final of the cup competition to Welwyn. (well done to Peter, Greg and all the girls at Welwyn). The U18's also lost in the semi final of the cup to the eventual winners Wimbourne.
Results as available.
U18's
Pool Games
Thomas Beckett 0 Basford 36
Letchworth 5 Basford 14
Esher 0 Basford 5

Qtr Final

H3 &South Sussex 7 Basford 17

Semi Final
Wimbourne 27 Basford 0.

Despite the reult there were some terrific performances from all the girls with tries on the day for Frenchie, Mouse, Jen, Tash, Frances, and Alice (who was playing in her 1st game for the club). Ellie and Jen also put away a few conversions.

Well done to all the girls who played
Stumpy, MCB, Jemma, Megan, Frances, Tash, Jen, Ellie, Alice,Mouse,Frenchie,Siobhan and Sam.
Well done also to the U15's (apologies but still waiting for full match details from Tina).
Well done though to Olivia, Lucie, Maddie, Abi, Abbie, Bron, Caitlin, Hannah, Claire, Amy and Becky

This was the last game of the season for Basford and we lose a few girls now as they go off to Uni and senior ladies rugby.
well done to all of you this weekend, it was a fun filled weekend and everyone seemed to have a good time over the 3 days camping.

Thanks to Pete for the usual splendid BBQ.

Basford Girls league Champions

2009-04-27T19:51:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to both the U15's and the U18's who have finished as winners of their respective leagues.

Both teams played in the Kent & Sussex league this year and have travelled to some old friends and to new clubs.

Extract of email from Jedda Taylor (League organiser)

The congratulations is much deserved - Basford I think are a formidable squad for any team in the country to encounter! You, as coaches must be very proud and pleased. Congratulations to you too.

I can only re-iterate my, and everyone elses thanks to all your players, coaches and parents who have made such an effort this season. The travelling can't have been easy at all. I have family in Essex so know what that bloomin' bridge/tunnel can be like at times!

Basford are deserved winners and I hope the girls/clubs enjoy their end-of-season presentations. Please pass on my thanks to all the players and the parents.

It was a great display of rugby by Basford!
Kind Regards,
Jedda

Congratulations to all those girls who pulled on the Basford shirt this season and played for the team.
Thanks also to the coaches , managers, Physio and kitman /general dogs body.
Paula
Tina
Jock
Darren
Jeff U15's
Peter U15's
Tony U18's
Gavin U18's

Also congratulations to both the team captains Olivia (U15's) and Sarah MCB (U18's)
Sarah leaves the club at the end of the season to go of to "sunny Climes", well Scotland to tackle University life. She has had a terrific season despite coming back from a truly horrendous leg break and like last years captain (Natalie Worthing 10's) signs off with some silver ware.
Well done also to the girls who made the step up from U15's to U18's this year, a great effort by all of you.

Thanks also to Our generous sponsors without whom we would not have been able to start the season with new attire.
Also to the parents for the endless travelling to games week in week out.

But a very special thanks to Paula who has done so much to ensure that all the girls have had a season of rugby this year.

U18's

Sarah MCB, Sam (Stumpy), Jemma, Meg, Frances, Jen, Tash, Jess, Sophie, Siobhan, Anna, Mouse, Frenchie, Fi, Frank, India, Sam S, Emily,

U15's

Olivia, Yaz, Maddie, Lucie, Abbie, Abi, Caitlin, Amy, Becky, Sadie, Hannah, Claire, Bronwyn, Layla.

Basford girls play for England

2009-04-15T09:09:00.003+01:00

Wales Under 20s 8 England Under 20s 26
England Women Under 20s opened their international campaign this season with an impressive 26-8 victory over Wales at Eirias Park in Colwyn Bay today (Tuesday).

Two of last years U18's have made the step up and yesterday made their Debuts for the England U20 side.

Natalie McClarnon who was club captain last year and Sophie Russell have seen the results of their hard work pay off with an England cap.

Congratulations to both girls from all at Basford and we look forward to seeing you both in the white shirt many more times.

Easter Tour

2009-03-26T20:21:00.003Z

Paula has asked me to remind everyone who is going on tour that there is a pre tour meeting on wednesday April 1st at Rochford.
Could you please ensure that at least one parent or guardian is with you on the night as there are club forms that need to be signed if you are going.
The meeting will cover all aspects of the tour and also we will need to know which pick up point you will be joining the coach at.

Please give either Paula or myself a call if you need any further information

Thanks and here's to a fun weekend.

Easter Tour

2009-03-25T14:35:00.004Z

With only a few weeks left before we head of to the National Forest for this years tour, can all girls ensure that they have paid any outstanding monies to Paula by sunday please.

We now have the games confirmed and we shall be playing Burfield (Burton & Lichfield) on the saturday, where our hosts are planning to provide the evenings entertainment for both clubs.

On sunday we shall be travelling down the road to play against Paviours (thanks to Ken for the last minute arrangements)

Fancy dress attire is mandatory (something beginning with S )

Paula will be emailing out a detailed itinary for travel etc shortly so please keep an eye on your inbox as we will need to know which pick up point you will be using for the coach.

2009-03-23T20:03:00.002Z

The U18's were back in League action on sunday with a top of table clash with Gravesend.
It was the first game in a while for those girls who did not take part in the Regional Festival and they were looking forward to getting some game time under their belts.
As expected the girls from Gravesend made it hard for the forwards and it took some big hits from our girls to keep them at bay.
While the forwards were thwarting the Gravesend attacks, the backs had an easier day of it with the back line running in a total of 12 tries and converting 9 of them to give the girls a flattering scoreline of 78-24.

Tries: Scottie 6, Frenchie 3, Frankie J 1, Mouse 1, Jen 1,
Cons, Scottie 8, India 1

Move of the day (as reported because some of us were at London Irish partaking in shandies)
Try scored straight from the lineout, fake lift MCB and Megan, and the ball played to Frances at the back who took ball into contact, forwards rucked over and jen played a quick ball to the backs who following a succession of quick passes went over to score.

Team: MCB, Stumpy, Jemma, Megan, Frances, Jen, Natasha, Emily, India, Sophie, Frank, Fi, Natasha, Mouse.

Well done to all the girls.

Basford Girls shine at Regional.

2009-03-17T21:14:00.004Z

This year, Basford again had many of their girls away representing the East Region both in the regional heats and the Festival at Litchfield last weekend.

At U15 level we were represented by
Abbie Cook
Maddy Lockwood
Yasmin Pemberton
Lucie Wood
Olivia Stembridge (Captain)
Layla Pickering
Hannah McCready

U18's representing East were
Rachel French
India Harvey
Frances Hughes
Frank Jordan
Fi Jordan
Jen Mugglestone
Emily Scott
Sam Smith
Jemma Sommers
Jessica Wilkins

For some of the girls it was their first taste of Regional Rugby and for others their final taste before moving up to the Senior programme.
Each girl should be proud of their achievements as they all played a part in ensuring that both Teams came away from the weekend as the best side in England.

The club also supplied the backbone of the Regional support staff this year with Paula Bates doing a fantastic role as the Team Manager for the U15's & U18's as well as assisting with the Seniors trials.
Our U15's Coaches Jeff Stembridge and Pete Turner were regional coaches under the lead coach Andy Hargraves of Eastern Counties.
Gavin Scott took on the role of Lead coach for the U18's assisted by Tony McClarnon (Both Basford) with the 3rd coach Simon Shutler of Saracens & Herts.
Thanks also to the team first Aider/Welfare officer Rebecca Burton Howard (Jock)

As Regional Programme Manager it has been a pleasure to work with the players and coaches over the last 12 weeks and especially pleasing to see Basford Girls playing such a large part in the East Region success.

Thanks also to the Basford Parents for the support given to the players during the regional heats and the finals.

Now its back to the small matter of both sides trying to bring more silverware back to the club by continuing their winning ways in the Kent & Surrey league.

Congratulations to all our girls and well done, you deserve it for all the hard work that you have put in

East Region take Honours.

2009-03-17T20:39:00.006Z

East Region U15's Best Team in England (Official Ranking) 2008/9

East Region U18 Winners 2008/9

Last weekend saw the culmination of the Regional programme for the Youth section.

Saturday saw the U15's put up a terrific display to face Cardiff Blues in the Cup Final, despite going 10-0 down the East girls fought back to make it 10-10 before conceiding a try in the dying moments which handed the cup to Cardiff.
Parents and spectators alike could not fail to be impressed with the skills that were on show on the day, and non more so than in the 31-0 win over South West North in the semi final which saw East run in some fantastic tries following some sublime passing across the pitch to stretch their opponents.

All the girls should be proud of themselves for the way they raised the game and were unfortunate to come away as only runners up.

Congratulations to you all and well done.

Scores
East 10 South West South 7
East 27 North East 0

Semi Final
East 31 South West North 0

Final
East 10 Cardiff Blues 15

On the Sunday the U18's were in action and spured on by the U15's achievemnets the day before set out in what was a very tough group stage with a well earned 7-0 win against a very good Ospreys team.T he 2nd pool game saw the girls come up against neighbours South East in what was another very close game that East won 7-0.
The 2 victories put the girls through to the cup semi final against a well drilled South West South team. Following some excellent play from the whole team they ran out winners by 19 points to 5 to set up a cup final clash with one of the favourites the South Region.

A pulsating final saw the girls come away with a 19-3 win to take the trophy back to the region for the first time since 2004

The girls from all 3 counties within the region played their part in ensuring the trophy came home with them.

On a slightly sadder note, we have to report that one of the stars of the weekend Georgia Peedle suffered an injury in the final which later turned out to be a broken leg which we hear will keep her out for some time.

Another casualty was in the U15's where Sydney Grace who following a tackle, hurt her back and had to be taken to hospital, however following a check up no serious damage was found and She was able to get back to watch her team mates in the final and collect her runners up medal.

Scores
East 7 Ospreys 0
East 7 South East 0

Semi Final
East 19 South West South 5

Final
East 19 South 3

Cap'n Natters & Mophead make the grade.

2009-03-13T08:20:00.003Z

Mophead & Natters

Former Basford Players Natalie McClarnon and Sophie Russell have been selected for the England U20 Squad for the match against Wales on 14th April 2009 . The girls impressed the England coaches at a three day training camp, where the squad was whittled down from 36 players.
Natalie & Sophie have had trials for England in recent years, but this is the first time they have been selected. Natalie said " I was really shocked when i found out as i was competing against two other hookers who had played for England U20 last year" " I really pushed myself and am chuffed that after three years of trying i have finally made the England squad. After not quite making it before , i worked even harder and am so proud that i will represent my country."
Both girls, started their rugby career at a young age at their local clubs and moved to play for Basford until they left to play senior rugby at Saracens and Loughborough this season.
Natalie's father Tony McClarnon who helped coach his daughter said " Its brilliant news. She has worked very hard, she does her club training, training with her conditioning coach, regional training and England training." " I would also like to thank all the other people involved with Natalie's development along the way" Wendy Le Grave who coached and managed Natalie up to U 16's, Gavin Scott who over the Basford U18's from Wendy and Paula Bates, Darren Coomer, Phil Robson for their assistance along the way.

Christmas Fun Game

2008-12-22T12:55:00.003Z

Well done to all the dads and coaches (and a couple of ringers) who turned out to give the girls a lesson in how to play rugby using a zimmer frame and walking sticks.

Despite the obvious help from the referee who tried his hardest to give the girls a victory, the old gits won CONVINCINGLY HA HA.
With the Old gits having taken a commanding half time lead the referee decided that in the 2nd half he would even things up and gave out numerous yellow cards for trivial offences such as questioning his parentage or tackling girls off the ball and yours truly spent much of the 2nd half along with Mark in the sin bin with 7 yellow cards between the two of us.

Twas a good game and great fun and well done to all who turned out.

The Xmas draw took place to win the 2 fantastic Benefit Cosmetics hampers kindly donated by Ian, Gail and all the girls at Benefit in Chelmsford.
Thanks to all those girls/coaches parents who sold tickets, all the monies raised will go towards the tour kit for the Easter tour.

Prize winners of the hampers

Bev Harvey
Sarah (Scotties sister)

Thanks to all and have a great Xmas and see you all on the 4th Jan for the home game with Saracens.

Few Pics of Basford girls playing at County.

2008-12-09T17:01:00.004Z

Shivy, Kez, Sarah MCB, Megan, Jen

Jen, Kez, Sam

Frank, Jemma, Fi, Sarah MCB

Sarah MCB, Jemma & Sam

Shivy, Jemma, Jen,

Frank, India (background), Jemma, Megan

Essex Squads 2008/9

2008-12-02T14:42:00.004Z

U15's
(Back row L to R) Abbie G,Claire,Yaz,Olivia(Capt),Layla, Lucie, Maddy
(Front Row) Abbie C, Hannah, Bron, Amy (Missing from picture due to injury is Katie)

U18's
(Back row) Jen,Jess,Fi,Frenchie,Siobhan,Frank,Meg,Tash,Frances,Sam
(Front Row) Jemma,Scottie,India,Sarah MCB (Capt), Shivvy,Keziah,Sophie,Anna

Essex Triangular Tournament.

2008-12-02T12:48:00.005Z

As their Alter ego "Essex County", the Basford girls last weekend played host to Kent and Sussex at Southend.
On what was a cold,crisp but dry day both age groups arrived at Southend full of confidence following recent results both as the County and Club side.

U18's
The first game of the day saw Kent up against Sussex in what was an evenly fought game which following a couple of well worked tries went in Kents favour 12-0.

Essex v Kent
The 2nd game of the day saw our girls up against a strong Kent side who had gained the upper hand in the previous clash at Aylesford 12-0.
Determined to make up for this uncharacteristic defeat, the girls were quickly into their stride and from the kick off the ball was well gathered by Fi who played it straight out to Scottie who then whipped a quick ball out to Shiv on the wing to start the 1st of many runs at the Kent defence.
With the front row of Sarah MCB, Jemma and Sam hitting everything that ran at them it allowed the backs to get quick ball and run at the Kent line and supported at every breakdown by Meg and Frances, Jen was like a little terrier feeding of every mistake the Kent girls made and playing some terrific ball out to the centres.
It didnt take the girls long to break the line, and Jen fed Scottie who dummied the defender and ran from the half way line to go over right under the post. Scottie then converting the kick to make it 7-0.
With the forwards gaining the upper hand against a much bigger Kent pack it allowed the backs to continually run at Kent and some terrific phases of play between, Scottie, India, Frenchie, Kez and Sophie soon gave Scottie the opportunity to go over in the corner to make it 12-0.
Turning round in the 2nd half, Kent made a few changes up front which momentarily gave them the upper hand and following a couple of probing runs allowed Kent to go over to make it 12-5.
Essex made a couple of changes bringing on Siobhan, Anna and Tash which gave the line some fresh legs and it wasnt long before Jen had recylced the ball and quickly fed Scottie who went over for her 3rd try of the day which she converted to give a final score to Essex 19-5.

Essex v Sussex

With Sussex looking to make their mark following their defeat to Kent, the game started with at a fast pace, however as with the Kent game the Essex forwards were in no mood to give an inch and with Jen again hovering at the back of every ruck and maul she was giving plenty of ball to the centres to run at the Sussex line. Mid way through the first half the tenacious Frank again broke the line only to be dragged down, but with the forwards piling in to secure ball it was quickly fed back to Frank who this time needed no 2nd chance to go over to make it 5-0. With the game flowing from end to end, it wasnt long before Sussex recorded their 1st points of the day with a well worked try to make it 5-5.
Spured on by this, the Essex girls upped the pace and started to run at the Sussex line which resulted in a try for Jen after Frank had been held up inches short of the line. 10-5.
Sussex not to be outdone put a couple of lovely passes together and as their winger stepped inside and broke the Essex line she had a clear run to go over right under the posts and with the conversion being put away Sussex were in the lead 12-10 with 3 minutes on the clock.
From the restart Scottie put a high ball up into the Sussex defence which was knocked on and from the resulting scrum, Jen fed a quick ball out to Scottie who then drew the defender and popped a neat pass to Sophie to go over in the corner 15-12. Sussex put the ball deep into the Essex half from the restart but it was quickly gathered and put straight into touch with the Referee blowing up for the end of an exciting game of rugby.

U15's

The tournament’s opening game was between Kent and Sussex.
The match was fiercely fought with neither side wishing to concede a point. Kent dominated the forward play whilst the Sussex backs were the stronger of the two teams. Sussex scored first from a well worked move that resulted with a try in the corner. In the second half a further try followed the same attacking movement. Kent fought back bravely and their efforts were awarded with a try late in the game but the final result went to Sussex – winning 17-5.

Essex opening game was against Sussex, who had beaten them in a previous tournament played at the beginning of the season. The game was again a closely fought affair with each team dominating at different parts of the match. The Essex pack of Bron, Amy, Abbie, Maddie and Lucy continually drove into the opposition gaining valuable ground with the backs – Layla, Yaz, Hannah, Olivia, Addie G and Clare constantly breaking through their defensive line. The deadlock to this evenly fought game was finally broken by a determined run by the Essex Captain, Olivia Stembridge, fending off 2 defenders to score in the corner. Shortly after the restart Essex were awarded a penalty near to the Sussex line. Abbie Cook received a pop pass, scoring near to the posts, the final result 10-0 to Essex.

As darkness fell the last game of the day was between Essex and Kent. Even with the floodlights being turned on the lightwas fading fast and it became difficult for either team to really see the ball or what was happening around the pitch. With both teams making numerous mistakes the referee and both coaches agreed to abandon the game, which was classified as a draw.

Well done and congratulations to the U15’s for their tenacity and team spirit. This supports the view that with a full side they are more than a match for any county team.

Boack in the club house the presentations were made with each girl who took part getting a medal, then the Two trophies were presented to the Captains of the 2 victories sides.
Essex won the U18 triangular with 2 wins from 2 and the U15's won their triangular with a win and a draw from thier two games.

Presentations were also made as is the custom to the 2 captains who have led Essex admirably this season.
Congratulations to

Sarah MCB U18's
Olivia Stembridge U15's

Special thanks also to Southend rugby club for their hospitality on the day and to the Referees Steve Cleer, Ian McCready and Bob Lockwood.

Finally a big thanks to the Lady who makes Essex (and Basford) happen, Paula Bates who without her hard work week in week out the girls game would not be at the stage it is within the county.

match report courtesy of Jeff and Phil

England call up McClarnon

2008-11-25T16:08:00.005Z

Having recently been selected for the RFUW U20 squad for the coming season, Natalie McClarnon has been elevated into Johno's Squad to face the All Blacks this weekend.
The general feeling in the England camp is that that McClarnon seen above in her England shirt will more than scare the All blacks with her rendition of the Haka. aka "Dancing round her handbag"
Club coaches Gavin Scott and Tony McClarnon are on record as saying " We would rather face the all blacks ourselves than her, anyone who has seen Natters in full handbag dance soon heads for cover".
Natters who has a fearsome reputation as a "Hooker" around Harlow says she is looking forward to the game and has got some new eyeshadow and lippy for the occassion.

Sunday 23rd Nov 08

2008-11-25T15:57:00.003Z

U18's v Rye

After a long journey to Rye the Basford girls were looking forward to a good game of rugby. However the poor weather conditions delayed the start plus with the limited numbers for the opposition side it didn't look promising for a free flowing game.
However the Basford girls kept up their high standards from the off and some quick hands by Megan and Fi put Emily in for a try within the first 15 seconds of the game. This was to open the flood gates and as the weather gradually improved the try count kept rising with further tries by India (5), Frank (2), Frances (2), Anna (1), Kez (3), Emily (3) and Siobhan Franklin (1).
The teams defence was again superb and with MCB and Natasha leading the way they stopped Rye's every attack at source with the oppositions main threats coming from the Basford loaned players where 'Mouse' made several side stepping runs and Jemma making powerful drives up the middle taking several players to stop her. The final score ended 85 : 0.
The team made the day a mini tour and the fun continued into the club house where the team practised several 'drinking' games ready for their forth coming tour. Again special mention to Mouse and Jemma who by selflessly volunteering to play for Rye enabled the game to go ahead.

Lookalikes

2008-11-13T16:05:00.005Z

With nothing better to do whilst standing on a dark, cold, wet n windy rugby pitch watching Emily, Megs, India and Frenchie at the TDG training, young Gavin (and I use that word loosely here)and myself, came up with a brill suggestion regarding look alikes for the staff and girls.

So get your thinking heads on and send in or tell us your suggestions (So long as they are not offensive) and we will put them on here.

Basford Dinner

2008-11-12T13:47:00.002Z

The Basford end of season dinner / disco will be held at the Oyster Fleet Hotel again this year on Friday 12th June 2009. Further details from Tina or Paula but you can reserve tickets now.
£5 deposit per person required a.s.a.p.

Basford Girls turn out for County side

2008-11-11T10:22:00.002Z

Sunday 9th Nov 08

Last sunday saw members of the Basford teams turn out for the respective County squads at U15's & U18's.

U18's
The opposition for this round of County games was local rivals Eastern Counties who had amongst their squad many of the girls who played for Suffolk Sabres in the recent friendly win over Basford.
Without Captain Sarah MCB, Siobhan Franklin, and Jess Wilkins due to injuries or illness the girls were determined to exact revenge for the club defeat and they took the game to Eastern Counties from the off and only some desperate defending kept the Essex girls at bay.
With the majority of play taking place in the Eastern Counties final 10, it was only a matter of time before the continued pressure paid off with Scottie going over to score the first try 5-0 and duly converting the kick 7-0.
No sooner had play restarted when the Essex girls steamed back up field with the forwards taking the ball back into the E Counties 10 where a quick ball out to Fi saw her go over to make it 12-0.
Each attempt by E Counties to take play into the Essex half was quickly halted by some excellent tackling from Stumpy, Jemma, Frances and Meg in the forwards with the twins Frank and Fi causing problems for E Counties every time they got the ball.
Jen continually harassed the opposing scrum half and some quick ball out to Scottie soon had India, Frenchie, Sophie and Anna running at the E Counties line.The pressure again soon paid off with Frank going over to make it 17-0.
Turning round at half time, the E Counties girls made a rare foray into the Essex final 10 which was quickly halted again by some superb tackling and the inevitable 4th try soon followed when Scotty went over for her 2nd try to make it 22-0.
Some excellent line out play from the girls who were lifting Kez continually gave the centres the opportunity to run at E Counties defence.
A momentary slip in concentration allowed the E Counties girls to feed the ball out to the wings and run in a try to make it 22-5.
This seemed to spur the girls who quickly went back up the field and scored another well worked try for Franks 2nd of the day with Scottie converting to make it 29-5.
Just before the final whistle, an excellent break from shivvy broke the E Counties line and she ran almost to the line before being dragged down but Scottie was on her shoulder and a quick pop pass saw Scottie go over for her 3rd 34-5.

A fantastic performance from all the girls and a big thanks to Eastern Counties for making a good game of it.

The U15's won their game 55-0 however we are still awaiting the match report which will be posted asap

Sunday 2nd November

2008-11-03T09:12:00.005Z

U18's v Saracens
This was the Basford girls first game against Saracens for a few seasons and the girls were all looking forward to another competitive game. Due to road works the Saracens team were late to arrive and the initial kick off was delayed. This however fired the girls up and they hit the opposition hard from the off.
Saracens kicked off and as usual Basford immediately went on the offensive with their first attack leading to a try in the first 30 seconds after an excellent break by Frances Hughes. Saracens defended well, with some big tackles and some telling runs from deep from their forwards, but the Basford girls weren't in the mood for letting anyone across their line. The lead was further extended when Emily showed a turn of pace and ran in from 25m out to score.
Three minutes later, India seemed to burst through the Saracens defence from nowhere, and a run down the touchline saw her score in the corner.
This was quickly following by another well worked backs move that saw Frenchie score under the posts.
Saracens rallied from the restart and started to press Basford back into their own 20m but, again, Basford showed that they can defend with the best and managed to weather the storm with some great tackling by Kez, Sam, stumpy & Jenny. Before half time, Emily again crossed the Saracens line for her third try, born out of a forwards drive by MCB, Jemma and Natasha. The half was to finally finish with Mouse scoring her first U18's try beating two defenders with a deft side step.
Basford kicked off the second half, and Saracens again pressed forward with Basford defending their own line to give away a scrum in their 22- and things looked good for Saracens. Unfortunately, there must have been some sort of infringement within the scrum as the referee awarded a penalty to Basford - the ball was duly kicked in to touch and Basford were out on the attack again.
In a wonderful piece of skill Emily made a tackle on a Saracens girl, forcing her to spill the ball, which was picked up by India who went over to score her second. Emily was to score a few times again with a personal tally of 50 points. The final score of the match was provided by Jess Wilkins who made an excellent run beating three opponents. Final
result: Basford 75. Saracens 0.
Well done to both teams for sticking at it to the end to make a very entertaining game.

Player of the match: Jemma Sommers

Basford Team:
Sarah MCB (Capt)
Stumpy
Jemma
Frances
Siobhan
Jen
Natasha
Scottie
India
Sam
Shivvy
Mouse
Jess W
Keziah
Frenchie

Match report courtesy of Gavin

Basford Babes Selected for England U20 Squad!

2008-10-31T18:12:00.005Z

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

2008-10-27T13:01:00.004Z

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

2008-10-27T12:28:00.003Z

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

2008-10-22T16:00:00.012+01:00

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

2008-10-22T15:30:00.003+01:00

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

2008-10-20T13:19:00.002+01:00

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

2008-10-20T08:37:00.007+01:00

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

2008-10-20T08:19:00.003+01:00

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

2008-10-13T14:22:00.003+01:00

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

2008-10-12T20:47:00.008+01:00

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

2008-10-12T20:36:00.002+01:00

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

2008-10-12T20:33:00.002+01:00

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

Team Captains

2008-09-21T21:26:00.004+01:00

Congratulations and good luck to the new captains for the coming season.

U18's Captain 2008-9 Sarah McIlwain - Bates

U15's Captain 2008-9 Olivia Stembridge

Basford U18's @Croydon

2008-09-21T21:19:00.003+01:00

U15's kick off with victory in Norfolk

2008-09-21T21:06:00.003+01:00

Last sunday saw the new look U15's head into Norfolk at the kind request from Mrs Burroughs to take part in their Charity day at Wymondham Rugby club.

For Coach Jeff Stembridge, this season was going to be one of development with the squad having new members and having lost most of last years forwards who moved up to U18's this season.

However despite only having 9 girls available for this friendly due to holidays and injury the girls travelled full of enthusiasm for the new season.
With players loaned from the Norfolk sides to make up a full team, the girls quickly got into their stride and ran out eventual winners 41 - 5

Tries: Conversations:

Yaz x2 Yaz x2
Olivia x1
Abbie G x3
Lucy x1 Lucy x1

Well done to all the girls and good luck for the coming season in the Kent/surrey/Essex League

U18's Season kicks off at Croydon RFC.

2008-09-21T21:02:00.004+01:00

Its official the new season is here and the Basford girls kicked off in style last weekend.

Welcome to the first match report of the 2008-2009 season. Lets hope all the girls and everyone connected with the Basford squad has a fruitful and successful next 8(!) months.

Croydon was blessed with sunny weather for the first game of the season, and the first game between these two clubs. It was nice to see all the new girls, both those joining Basford for the first time, and also the girls who have made the jump from the U15’s into the U18’s. It was especially nice to welcome back Sarah McB in her first competitive game since her horrendous injury all those months ago.
It may have been the first game of the season, but the Basford girls, after being chained up for the last few months, were eager to ‘get stuck in’ and start playing ‘rugger’ again. The first 5 minutes were used to ease back into the swing of things, and shake the cobwebs off, with several unforced handling errors keeping the game fairly even, but after this Basford started to push forward.
Emily had the privilege of scoring the first try of the season, and this came off the back of a scrum won against the head, and a couple of passes. Emily also converted 0 - 7
Basford seem to take heart from the early score, and almost from the restart, India made a wonderful run from her own half, down the wing to score under the posts. Emily did the kicking honours again taking the score to 0 - 14.
Another try quickly followed, again scored by India following a quick free kick 0 - 19.
This seemed to spark a fight back from the Croydon girls and they started to push the Basford girls back, but Basford demonstrated their ability to defend and slammed the door shut.
After a period of play in the middle of the field ,the ball found its way to Rachel who made a great run from 40m out, taking the Croydon full back out with the great hand-off, to score. Emily again converted 0 - 26.
The Croydon girls again made a very spirited comeback and applied some great pressure, but Basford again showed their mettle, holding up the ball to save tries on 3 occasions.

After half time, and a few substitutions, the Basford girls again started to push forward, and Emily managed to break through the Croydon line to score her second try of the match 0 - 31.
The game moved end to end, with first Croydon attacking, then Basford applying the pressure - this culminated for Frankie (one of the twins) scoring for Basford in the corner. 0 - 36.
Basford were still up for more, and despite some excellent defending by the Croydon girls, Anna managed to cross the line to score following a great set play from the back of a Basford scrum. 0 - 41.
Nearing the end of the game, in an almost identical move off the back of another scrum, India went in for the final score of the game and her first hat trick of the season (by the way, if India’s dad reads this - he owes a jug!!) 0 - 46.

Final score: Croydon U18 0 - 46 Basford U18

Suffice to say, well done to all the girls from both Croydon and Basford - lets hope we all have a great season, and many thanks to all at Croydon RFC for their hospitality.

Just a quick footnote to say well done to all the ’younger’ girls for whom this was the first game with the ’big girls’ - I know some of you were very nervous, but you all came through with flying colours - excellent!

match report courtesy of Phil Fench

Seasons Fixtures

2008-09-12T18:48:00.002+01:00

For those of you that are organised (or not as the case maybe) I will hand out copies of the fixture list on Sunday. This will have dates for club league games and friendlies, county, and regional.

However please note that this is subject to change at short notice, so I will email any amended schedule as it happens.

Good luck for Sunday!!

Basford girls selected for TDG's

2008-09-10T20:08:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Emily Scott who has retained her place in the U18 TDG squad and is joined this season by India Harvey.
Well done also to Rachel French and Megan Robson who also attended the trials and while not being selected for the final squad, have subsequently been invited to train with the TDG girls for the coming season.

Season 2008-9 begins !!!!!

2008-09-10T19:57:00.004+01:00

Welcome back to the wonderful world of wet n windy winter sundays on the sidelines or the pitch. Yes folks the new season is here and to help us along, those "old farts" have introduced the ELV's to make your lives all the richer!!!! oh and there is the added bonus of many girls moving age bands this season.

The new season kicks off this coming sunday with the U15's travelling to Wymondham in Norfolk to play in a Charity game to raise money for Macmillan Cancer relief.
Under the new coaching team of Jeff Stembridge and Pete Turner the girls are looking forward to picking up where they left off in may.
With members of last years squad moving up to the U18's this season there are a few new faces in the younger team this year.

The U18's who this year will again be coached by Gavin Scott and Tony McClarnon travel across the river to play a friendly against Croydon.

The coaching and management staff would like to wish all the girls good luck and say welcome to all the new members of the club who will be playing this season.

Basford Fixtures for the coming season

2008-07-28T10:19:00.002+01:00

This coming season, both the U18's and U15's will be playing league rugby in the Kent and surrey league.
Details of the fixtures will be publish shortly.

Also for you information, the end of season tournament dates have now been finalised and are detailed below.

Sun 3rd May: Worthing Festival.
Sun 10th May: Dorking Festival.
Sun 17th May: Herts 7's (Venue T.B.C).
W/e 23-24th May (Sat or Sun T.B.C): National 7's (Venue T.B.C).

HPA's

2008-07-28T10:02:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to the following Basford U15 Girls who have been selected to attend the schools of Rugby at Felstead for the coming season.

Yasmin Pemberton
Lucie Wood
Maddy Lockwood
Abbie Cook
Layla Pickering
Olivia Stembridge

Joining the girls at Felstead is Courtney Arberry from Welwyn Warriors in Herts.

At U18 level India Harvey joined Emily Scott at the 3 day TDG trials to try for a place in next seasons elite TDG Squad.

Well done also to Rachel French, Megan Robson and Alex Grant who all did well to be selected for the initial HPA trials.

Training

2008-07-24T13:29:00.003+01:00

Next week Tuesday 29th July Basildon RFC 6.45 for 7.00 pm
Following week Wednesday 6th August Rochford RFC 6.45 for 7.00 pm

U18's For the next 2 weeks please let Gavin know if you can't attend.
U15's Tina

Remember No Training this Sunday 27th July, but check with Gavin for Sundays 3rd & 10th August.

Paula

Training

2008-07-16T14:08:00.003+01:00

Next training session is this Sunday 20th July, meet at the Crown Pub car park 8.45 am for 9.00 am start.

Next week Wednesday 23rd July at Rochford RFC 6.45 pm for 7.00 pm start.

Sunday 27th July NO TRAINING as U18's at beach rugby.

If you cannot attend training for any reason please contact your team manager.
U15's Tina 07733 024317 U18's Paula 07973 210989

2008-07-14T12:13:00.003+01:00

HPA's 12-13 July Brunel University

Well done to all the girls who attended the HPA's over the weekend.

We had girls at both age groups attending the trials for a place in either the Schools of Rugby (u15's) or the TDG's. (U18's)

u15's
Yasmin Pemberton (attended SOR in Herts last Season)
Lucie Wood (attended SOR in Herts last season)
Olivia Stembridge
Madeleine Lockwood
Abbie Cook
Layla Pickering

U18's
Rachel French
India Harvey
Megan Robson (attended SOR in Herts last Season)
Alex Grant (attended SOR in Eastern Counties last season)

The HPA Trial is the first part of two Trials to join the Under 18 TDG (Talent Development Group) where these Players are aiming to join Basford's Emily Scott who is currently part of the TDG programme.

Also attending yesterday were 3 of last years U18's Natalie Mcclarnon, Sophie Russell and Sarah Carmen. The girls were attending the HPA'S for a place in the womens senior squad.
Natalie and Sophie were part of last seasons TDG programme, and all 3 along with Emily were part of the Junior super league towards the end of the season.

Well done to every girl and good luck

Presentation Dinner

2008-07-11T09:24:00.010+01:00

Basford Presentation June 13th

Following a long and reasonably successful season, the Basford Presentation dinner took place at the Oysterfleet Hotel at Canvey on friday 13th June.

We were pleased to welcome along Amanda Bate who is the WRDM for our region who kindly presented the awards to the players.

Following the meal, the coaches gave a brief speech thanking their players for the season and giving a brief overview of the seasons highs and (not many) lows.

Awards:

U18 Player of the Year Sarah Carman

U18 Most improved player Katie Woodland

U15 Player of the year Lucie Wood

U15 Most improved player Olivia Stembridge & Amy Browne

The sponsors award U18's Natalie Mcclarnon

U15's Megan Robson

Following on from the awards the girls then partied the night away showing Gavin how to move on a dance floor!!!!

This season has been very good for both age groups, both in tems of results and also recruitment, with new girls joining throughout the season. The success of the club has been reflected in the numerous girls who were identified for progression within the player pathway.

Emily Scott, Natalie Mcclarnon, Sophie Russell (TDG's) and Sarah Carman were all selected to take part in the Junior super league.

At under 15 level, Megan, Yasmin, Alex, Jess H, Jess W, and Lucie were all selected for the Schools of rugby.

Rachel, Charlie and Cherelle all represented English Colleges.

As the new season starts we say a sad farewell to those girls who are moving up to seniors rugby and wish them all the best for the future. Thanks girls for everything you will be missed.

Good luck also to those girls who are attending HPA trials this coming summer.

A big thanks goes out to all those parents who have travelled hundreds and hundreds of miles this past season to ensure that we could put out a full team each week.

Thanks also to the backroom staff and coaches who put in endless hours to ensure that everything runs relatively smoothly.

Paula and Tina have done a brilliant job of managing their respective squads this season and deserve a big big thank you, without them we wouldnt have achieved half of what has been done

Thank you from all the girls.

Gavin, Tony, Pete and our new coach Jeff have guided the girls to some fantastic results this season.

Thanks also to Basildon Rugby club who provided the individual trophies given to each squad member who played this season.

Thanks also to Paul and Peter at S&J Electrics who have sponsored the girls over the season.

Have a good summer and heres to a successful 2008/9.

Southwold Beach Rugby 25-27 July

2008-06-16T20:01:00.001+01:00

I have emailed all current and last years U18s re the above festival. Please contact me as soon as possible if you haven't confirmed.

Presentation Dinner

2008-06-16T19:59:00.003+01:00

Many thanks to all who helped in any way with the end of season dinner, particularly Phil. I hope everyone enjoyed it.

2008-06-10T17:16:00.003+01:00

Found this while I had nothing better to do!!!!
Just to brighten your day, some rugby related quotes/sayings/jokes to pass the time away.

The Unofficial "Rugby Survival Guide" for Rugby Neophytes
By Mark Bryant

Your First Game
Let's keep it simple at the beginning.
1. Hit anything that is carrying the ball.
Note: Generally you will be more popular if that happens to be a person on the other team, also the referee is not a good target.
2. When you get the ball run like hell!
Note: Your teammates would prefer that to be in the direction of your opponents goal area.

Second Game
Mastering the pass.
1. Pass the ball backwards to a teammate that is in a better position to advance the ball.
Note: Screaming and throwing the ball up in the air to avoid being hit is considered "bad form".
2. Follow slightly behind your teammate who is carrying the ball so that you can receive a pass.
Note: If you drop the ball continuously, you will become what they call a "prop forward".

Third Game
Mastering the kick.
1. Kick the ball forward over your opponents head and catch it on the run.
Note: If you are a forward then dropping the ball near your foot and kicking anyone in the vicinity is good enough.

Subtleties of the Game
Now that you have mastered running, tackling, passing and kicking we'll cover some of the finer points:

The Ruck:
This is a situation where 3 to 20 people pile on top of the tackled player. The play is whistled by the referee when all the air has been compressed out of the tackled player's lungs.

The Maul:
Instead of being tackled to ground, the player is kept on his feet by the tacklers. The object is to bend as many of the ball carrier's fingers away from the ball. The play is whistled by the referee after the first cracking sound.

The Line Out:
When the ball goes out of the playing area a "throw in" is awarded. The object is to elbow the opposing player's face while attempting to catch the ball.

Offside:
In a ruck or maul situation you are not allowed to "steal" the ball from the opposition by running behind the play. It is mandatory that you step on or over the tackled player first.

Scrum:
The eight forwards bind together and push against the other forwards. The object is to allow the forwards to beat and bruise each other and give the backs a chance to catch their breath.

In 1823, William Webb Ellis first picked up the ball in his arms and ran with it. And for the next 156 years forwards have been trying to work out why." - Sir Tasker Watkins (1979)

Stop Press - Rochford Tournament !!!!!

2008-06-08T07:39:00.004+01:00

The date for the Rochford tournament has now been changed to 2nd November 2008.

All other details as before.

Contact tina@rugbyturners.plus.com

2008-06-03T13:47:00.003+01:00

Well done to the following girls who have initially been nominated to attend the U18 and U15 High Performance Academy (HPA) Camp at Brunel University on 12/13 July. The leading U18 players at the 4 HPA Camps will then be invited to join the 2007/8 TDG Girls at their next training session later in the summer, at which next seasons TDG Group will be selected. The U15 HPAs will be used to select the Girls for next seasons Schools of Rugby, which start later in the Summer.

U18's
Rachel French,
Alex Grant,
Megan Robson,
India Harvey.

U15's
Lucie Wood,
Maddy Lockwood,
Abbie Cook,
Layla Pickering,
Olivia Stembridge.
Yasmin Pemberton

Additionally good luck to the Ex U18 Basford girls Sarah Carman, Sophie Russell and Natalie McClarnon who have been nominated for the Senior HPAs.

Hopefully more junior players will be nominated once the season kicks off.

2008-06-02T15:18:00.000+01:00

2008-06-02T15:15:00.001+01:00

Well done to all of the girls who received their trophy at the Basildon youth presentation at the weekend, a good night was had by all. Also special congratulations to Natalie, Emily and Sophie who each received a Silver Plate from the club recognising their achievement for selection to the England Talent Development Group for the 2007/08 season.

Gavin

2008-06-02T13:50:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to Sarah, Sophie, Natalie and Emily who attended the second Junior Super league game at the weekend. The girls attended the second two day training weekend at the England womens training facility in Oxfordshire where they received expert coaching including core work, game analysis and various tuition in detailed rugby techniques. Well done to all.

Gavin

End of Season Presentation Dinner Disco 13th June

2008-05-31T11:55:00.005+01:00

Time 7.00 for 7.30 pm. Dress Code Formal or Smart.
Lakeside Banqueting Suite, (1st Floor), The Oysterfleet Hotel, Knightswick Road, Canvey Island SS8 7UX. Telephone 01268 510111

U18s National 7s

2008-05-31T11:30:00.004+01:00

Although at the end of a long season Basford U18s once again excelled themselves, coming top of their pool and proceeding into the quarter finals where they were drawn against Letchworth whom they despatched with relative ease 27 points to 7. Despite having accumulated injuries along the way they started their semi final against Wimborne with the usual grit and determination and having gone behind, came back at the death to equalise with a try at the final whistle. Unfortunately under competition rules first team to score would go through to the final, and with Basford losing captain Natalie McClarnon and Cherelle Alphonse to injuries even they couldn't continue to play on with, it became one step too far for a team that had given their all. Wimborne taking the advantage to score a break away try to proceed to the final.

This was the last game for Basford U18s Natalie McClarnon, Sarah Carman, Cherelle Alphonse and Charlotte Micallef, and they, along with Sophie Russell who was not available for the 7s will be sorely missed.

It has been a pleasure to work with you ladies, I am very proud of your achievements and wish you every success in the future!!

Paula

End of a very long season

2008-05-27T11:21:00.004+01:00

Well thats it for another season, I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all those girls and parents who along with the coaching and management staff have covered endless miles each week to play games.

Both age groups have done exceptionally well this season, with both sides bringing trophies back to the club.

The U15's retained their Rochford Charity 10's title for the 2nd year and the U18's also retained the Rochford 10's and added the Worthing 10's and Herts 7's to their tally.
the U18's were also involved in the National Cup where they buddied up with Welwyn and narrowly lost to Worcester in an enthralling final at Litchfield.

The start of the season saw new faces join the club at both age groups,and those girls have settled in really well and were a major part of this seasons successes.

Many of the girls were involved in both County and Regional rugby this season with the Essex U18's retaining their County Festival trophy and the U15's narrowly losing out to old rivals Herts in their final. At Regional level, both Regional sides were unlucky coming within a whisker away of a place in the Regional Festival finals.

We saw 4 of our U18 girls take part in the Junior Super League ( Emily, Natalie, Sarah C and Sophie)
while 4 of our U15 girls were selected to go to the School of Rugby in Herts (Yasmin, Lucie, Jess W and Megan)
2 girls were selected for the Eastern Counties school of rugby (Jess Harris and Alex Grant)
Well done to all those girls.

Sadly we have to say goodbye to those girls who are moving up to Senior rugby next season
Natalie, Sophie, Sarah C, Charlie, Cherelle.

Good luck girls you will be missed!

We also had a very good and entertaining tour up north at Easter. We were on the recieving end of some great hospitality from Mandy and all the people at Malton & Norton RFC and would like to say a big thank you from all at Basford.

A big thanks to all those clubs that we have played over the course of the season, I know the girls have made some great friends over this past year.

Lastly but not least a big thanks to all the management and Coaching staff for the endless hrs put in to make this club the success it is.

Thanks to you all

U18's Storm Herts 7's

2008-05-19T16:28:00.006+01:00

Building on their success from the Worthing 10's the mighty Basford U18s stormed to another win at the Hertfordshire 7s on sunday.
The team played their first game against Wisbech and won 27-10 with scores from Dannie Harris, Kez Hopkins, Cherelle Alphonse and Rachel French.
The second pool game was against Herts Swifts (Old Albanians and Stevenage) and the team won convincingly 58-0(Cherelle 1, Sam Smith 1,Kez 2,Dannie 3,Frenchie 2,Jemma Sommers 1)Special mention needs to go to Jemma as it was her first ever try at senior rugby.
The team then had their last pool game with a winner takes all against Reading. After going behind early they drew 12-12 and went through to the semi final on points difference.
The Semi final was against a well drilled Bucks Jesters side, however they won 30-0with tries from Dannie 2,Kez 2,Casey Shults 1, Frenchie 1.
That set up a final against Letchworth against whom Basford lost in 7slast year.
The team didn't need much motivating and won 48-5 totally obliterating their opponents, with everybody finding that extra bit of effort especially Charlie Micallef and Alphonse. Anytime the opposition got the ball they were all over them.
Usual suspects with trys, Dannie, Kez, Cherelle, Rachel plus 1 for Siobhan Franklin.

A great team effort overall, especially the workrate of Natasha Barbank & Siobhan Franklin.

Additional congratulations to the 4 Basford girls, Emily Scott, Sarah Carmen, Natalie McClarnon and Sophie Russell who took part this weekend at the Inaugural England U18 Junior Super league game. This is a new completion where 32 of the top elite girls in England are invited to receive top England coaching and participate in a Red vs Blues match over the weekend at the England Elite training camp in Oxfordshire. All 4 girls played exceptionally well with some encouraging feedback from the coaching staff for future participation at both senior and U18 levels.

match report courtesy of Super Coach Gavin Scott

Herts 7's @Tabard RFC

2008-05-12T20:02:00.003+01:00

Sunday 18th May 08

This sunday both squads are taking part in the Herts 7's

Venue: Tabard RFC
Cobden Hill,
Radlett,
Herts.
WD7 7JN.

Telephone 01923 855561

Tabard RFC is located just south of Radlett on the A5183, which is the old A5. If travelling from the North go through Radlett heading south on the A5183 and there will be the Cat and Fiddle Public House on your right. 80 metres past the pub, on the left hand side, on the brow of the hill, is the entrance to Tabard RFC.

If travelling from the south come through Elstree and continue North on the A5183 until eventually you meet 30 mph signs just south of Radlett. The entrance is then on the right on the brow of the hill.

Opposite the entrance there is a sign saying "Cricket Club, Rugby Club" but this is often turned to face incorrectly!

Match Schedule

Under 15 Competition - Pool Stage

Pool A

Kick-off Pitch
11:00 C Herts Barbarians v Tamworth
11.40 D Basford v Herts Barbarians
12.20 C Tamworth v Basford

Pool B

Kick-off Pitch
11:20 C Saracens v Old Albanians
12.00 D Hertford v Saracens
12.40 C Old Albanians v Hertford

Pool C

Kick-off Pitch
11:00 D London Irish v Kettering
11.40 C Stevenage v London Irish
12.20 D Kettering v Stevenage

Pool D

Kick-off Pitch
11:20 D Welwyn Warriors v Reading Ladies
12.00 C Bucks Jesters v Welwyn Warriors
12.40 D Reading Ladies v Bucks Jesters

Under 18 Competition - Pool Stage

Pool A

Kick-off Pitch
11.00 A Kettering v Herts Barbarians
11.40 B Wisbech G. S. v Kettering
12.20 A Herts Barbarians v Wisbech G. S.

Pool B

Kick-off Pitch
11.20 A Basford v Hertford
12.00 B TBA v Basford
12.40 A Hertford v TBA

Pool C

Kick-off Pitch
11.00 B Herts Swifts v Reading Ladies
11.40 A Worthing Stingers v Herts Swifts
12.20 B Reading Ladies v Worthing Stingers

Pool D

Kick-off Pitch
11.20 B Bucks Jesters v Pavworth Maoris
12.00 A Letchworth G.C. v Bucks Jesters
12.40 B Pavworth Maoris v Letchworth G.C.

Full details of timings etxc will be printed and given to all parents/players on sunday when they arrive.

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Regional Festival @Litchfield

2008-05-12T19:42:00.005+01:00

Last Weekend saw teams from around the UK take part in a terrific weekends rugby at Litchfield Rugby Club.
On the Saturday the East Region U15's were in action and following some good rugby finished in 4th place.
The Regional team which included 11 Basford players
Alex Grant
Megan Robson
Jess Harris
Lucie Wood
Abbie Cook
Frances Hughes
Layla Pickering
Maddy Lockwood
Olivia Stembridge
Yasmin Pemberton
Jess Wilkins

were narrowly beaten in the semi final 5-0 by East Wales and then faced last years winners "South" in the 3rd /4th place play off where they again narrowly lost 5-0

This was a great improvement on last year when East finished 6th.

On Sunday East Region U18's, including 7 Basford players
Nat McClarnon
Sarah Carmen
Emily Scott
Sophie Russell
Cherelle Alphonse
Charlie Micallef
Rachel French

finished 3rd for the second year running. They were narrowly beaten 5-0 in the semi final against West Midlands who went on to win the Cup.
In the 3rd /4th play offs the East girls beat a well drilled East Midlands team.

Congratulations to all those girls from around the region who formed part of the two squads.

Thanks also to all the coaches and Management staff for all their hard work during this seasons programme.

ROCHFORD CHARITY TOURNAMENT

2008-05-12T16:37:00.006+01:00

Entries are invited for this year's Rochford Hundred Tournament to be held Sunday 2nd November 2008.

Girls Under 15's 7 a side and Under 18's 10 a side. Entry fee per team £30

Proceeds to Elizabeth Dowrey Ward, Southend Hospital.

Book your place as soon as possible by emailing: tina@rugbyturners.plus.com

CHAMPIONS

2008-05-07T08:28:00.004+01:00

U18's Win Worthing 10's

Congratulations to all the U18's and Coaching/ Management staff on a great performance last weekend

Regional Festival

2008-04-27T21:23:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to the following Basford U15's who have been selected to represent East Region at Litchfield this season.

Alex Grant
Megan Robson
Jess Harris
Lucie Wood
Abbie Cook
Frances Hughes
Layla Pickering
Maddy Lockwood
Olivia Stembridge
Yasmin Pemberton
Jess Wilkins
Ellie Martin.

Well done to all those girls and good luck at the Festival.

Reminders

2008-04-24T13:09:00.002+01:00

Ladies

Just a couple of reminders,

Final monies are due shortly for the End of season Dinner Dance /Presentation, if you haven't booked your places please speak to Paula as soon as possible.

Also we have entered the Worthing 10's on Sunday 4th May Could you please let Paula know your availability as soon as possible.
As it's the Bank Holiday weekend we have decided to camp at Angmering near to Worthing RFC. Some of us are going Friday 2nd May until Monday 5th May, i.e. 3 nights, and some 2 nights. If you would like to camp please let Paula know by Sunday 27th April.
We will need to make sure that we have enough tents to accommodate everyone and that we have enough food for the bbq!!
There will be a charge but although it wont be a great deal we am not sure how much exactly until we know who wants to go.

D DAY THE INVASION Pt 2

2008-04-22T13:30:00.010+01:00

The dawn chorus(well, crashing waves, hail rattling the windows and howling winds) signalled the start (1+1) D DAY
As the troops trudged wearily across (1+1) the mess hut (well it was by the time they had left), the officers had settled down awaiting their ”bitches” (1+1) bring forth their breakfasts.
Having eaten everything that was not able to run away, the troops returned (1+1) their quarters (1+1) check their equipment.

Having massed the troops off they set:

"Oh the grand old Commander Scott he had 3 thousand men and he marched them up (1+1) the top of the hill, then he marched them down again (ok in reality he had 30 girls but it didn’t rhyme)"

Anyway, once the troops had reached the top of the hill, they set about removing the camouflage netting (better known as Paula and Tina’s knickers) from the coach.

Within minutes the troops were on board and ready (1+1) roll, well that is until Rob the driver couldn’t remember the way (1+1) go.
A few choice words and a smack around the head with a baseball bat seemed (1+1) jog his memory.

As the battlefield approached, tensions were rising within the battlebus which wasn’t helped by Rob deciding to pull into a McDonalds car park then drive straight out just as the girls were rising from their seats (1+1) strip it bare. (he would pay dearly later for his little jest)

Shortly after midday the troops rolled into the main car park and the screaming hoards disembarked and made a full on attack on the club house.
T’ Yorkshire folk were caught completely by surprise as it looked like we had caught an advance party of 6 girls and 1 officer totally unawares.

Within minutes the troops had captured the Yorkshire camp and set up home.

It wasn’t long before Yorkshire reinforcements arrived and the troops were soon facing mini bodecia’s wearing strange headgear with a winged beast upon their shoulder (ok flat caps and pigeons to those who are now totally lost in this epic story line)

We now come (1+1) the point where a match report would be published, but it was (1+1) long ago and the rugby was not really important.
Suffice (1+1) say honours were even at the end of the day with the U18’s beating the Yorkshire folk into submission and the U15’s being over run by a pack of screaming flat caps

Having dragged their battered bodies from the battlefield the troops showered (yes I know you thought it was a misprint but they did wash) and changed into their cunning disguises ready for a second assault on the Yorkshire encampment.

Some strange looking creatures surfaced from those changing rooms, none more so than the little green goblin who was most indignant (1+1) be referred (1+1) as a goblin as he reckoned he had come as the Incredible Hulk “yeah right O’ Darren of cause you were!!!!!!!!”

The Invasion Force

Officers
Gavin “Miss Bas Vegas 1979” Scott
Phil “Miss Canvey Island 1979” Robson
Paula “118/118” Bates
Darren “The Goblin” Coomer SORRY MEANT INCREDIBLE HULK !!!
Simon “Dangermouse” Hughes
Paul “Shrek” Carmen
Bob “Ozzie Osbourne” Lockwood
Theresa “ WPC 69er” Lockwood
Tina “118 / 118” Turner
Peter “Mad Chef” Turner
Shirley “Cruella” Browne
Phil “Fred Flintstone” French
Tracy “Mother not so Superior” French
Tony “Blues Brother” McClarnon
Tina “Blues Sister” McClarnon
Steve “Batman” Micallef

Supporting troops
Megan “Mini the Minx” Robson
Yasmin “Incredibles” Pemberton
Lucie “Wonder why woman” Woods
Frances “Terminator” Hughes
Abbie “Robin” Cook
Layla “Batman” Pickering
Jade “Snow White”
Alex “The Hulk” Grant
Alice “Superwoman” Wright
Amy “ Mini Mouse” Browne
Jess “ Dopy the Dwarf” Wilkins
Olivia “ Noddy” Stembridge
Ellie “ Pippi long Stockings” Martin
Sarah “Lara Croft” MCB
Tash “ Lady Penelope” Berbank
Emma “ Bat woman” Dorrington
Charlotte “Jack Sparrow” Murphy
Nat “Coco the Clown” McClarnon
Sophie “ Incredibles” Russell
Charlie Ninja Turtle” Micallef
Katie “ Ninja Turtle” Woodland
Sam “Ninja Turtle” Sewering
Emily “Super Mario” Scott
Chivy “Super Mario” Allison
Sam “Bob the Builder” Smith
Jemma “batwoman" Sommers
Sarah “I am a Dalex” Carmen
Cherelle “ I am a Dalex as well “ Alphonse
Rachel “ Bam Bam “French

War Crimes Tribunal

As is the norm following these skirmishes, the U N decided to punish all those guilty of “War Crimes”

The Presiding Judge: Phil “Does my bum look big in this skirt” Robson
Prosecuting Council: Gavin “God I look hot in this skirt” Scott
Defence Council: Simon “ Do these ears look big” Hughes

The usual suspects were hauled before the bench for their part in such heinous crimes as

Darren “Just being Darren”
Paul “Just being Paul

The French’s and The Turners for the unsavoury attire found during a search of their room. (my god there's some sicko's in this world!!!!!!!!!!)

Whilst the prosecuting council outlined the case against each and every person who had the misfortune to be charged with a crime and called for the maximum penalty to be handed down, , the defence council was well, to put it bluntly absolutely useless as not one person got off.
Now we all know in this day and age our courts are normally extremely harsh on offenders and hand out long prison sentences without the basics for all those pensioners who don’t pay their Council Taxes, (and damn right too).
So we adopted the same stance and decided the punishment should fit the crime.

Instalment 3 to follow shortly

Reports from National Cup Finals

2008-04-18T08:38:00.004+01:00

Last weekend saw some terrific games of Rugby at all levels being played at Litchfield.

The Basford/Welwyn cup final against Worcester went right to the wire and the London Irish v Thornbury final at U15's was also a close run affair despite the final score.

Match reports below courtesy of Dave Marques @Welwyn and Les Simpson at London Irish

U18'S
Welwyn/Basford v Worcester

It was National Cup Final heartache for the Welwyn-Basford U18 girls' side on Sunday.
They narrowly lost out to Worcester after being five minutes from lifting the trophy.
The combined Welwyn-Basford team were leading 15-10 with just minutes left on the clock.

However, an exceptional converted Worcester try denied the girls glory.
it was a truly pulsating National Cup clash at Lichfield on Sunday.
Worcester roared into an early 5-0 lead and then went very close again two minutes later.
Welwyn-Basford fought back and their forwards drove upfield steadily until Worcester finally cracked.

Skipper Natalie McClarnon scored to make it 5-5.
Back came Worcester for 10-5 and that was how it stayed until half-time.

The Welwyn-Basford coaches encouraged the girls for a second half display that was exceptional.
The tide was all flowing one way and another great forward drive saw Hannah Marques, playing the game of her life, score in the corner, making it 10-10.

Still the maroon hoops kept coming and Worcester were pinned in their own half for long periods.
Another great bout of forward pressure saw Springbok Frankie Dawson race clear to give the Herts and Essex team a crucial 15-10 lead with 15 minutes to play.

Worcester raised their game but the Welwyn defence held out until five minutes to go.

Worcester's exceptional centre then scored the match-winning try and snatched away the cup that was so tantalisingly close to the maroon hoops' grasp.

It was a try worthy of winning any match - a 50-yard run past several missed tackles and put down under the posts.

An easy conversion made the score 17-15.

The final whistle blew and the dream was over but in the years to come all the Welwyn-Basford players can look at their medal and remember with pride the match they took part in.

Team manager Dave Marques knew it was a case of so near, yet so far.

He said: "You know, for a while there I thought we'd actually done it.

"I think had we been playing any other team we would have, but Worcester have such a classy back division, you know one slip and they'll make you pay.

"That try was beautiful to watch though, as well as being painful."

Coach Clive Cramphorn said: "There's still plenty to sort out in the next few weeks, but it was a real pleasure to be involved in a game like that.

"The true spirit of rugby shone through like a beacon and after the week we've just had, that was a real boost.
Congratulations also go to the Basford management and coaching staff, Paula Bates, Gavin Scott and Tony McClarnon for their part getting the girls to the final.

U15's
London Irish v Thornbury

London Irish Girls Lift The Cup

RFUW U15 Girls National Cup Final at Lichfield RFC, 13th April 2008

London Irish 29 – Thornbury 7

In a week that saw London Irish Girls secure the Surrey League title, the girls travelled to Lichfield, Staffordshire, to contest the final of the RFUW National Cup against the Gloucestershire side Thornbury, the defending champions.

Research indicated that Thornbury had a very big, well-drilled pack and played exclusively to that strength. Preparation for the match was to practice quick ball away from the forwards and avoid a mauling game. This approach was borne out when, during their warm up for the game, the Thornbury backs always brought the ball back inside. The girls went into the game confident in their tactics.

The starting line-up:
Morgan Simpson (C)
Nancy Tarrant
Sereena Peppard
Emma Pinchin
Niquita Patel Subs: Nicolle Roberts
Colette Bloome Rachel Still
Serena Carter Gemma Jablonska
Harriet Connor
Laura Schultze
Alex Matthews
Alice Flynn
Rochelle Smith
Robyn Harwood-Lewis

Thornbury kicked off and London Irish attacked up the left flank through Alice Flynn. When she was eventually brought down, the pack were immediately in support and secured the ball quickly. The ball went along the line to the right wing Laura Schulze who was clear to score near the corner. Harriet Connor kicked a difficult conversion to take Irish 7 points ahead.

The score settled the LI nerves but also stirred Thornbury into action. The following 10 minutes saw the game ebb and flow between the teams. London Irish almost scored a second try but lost the ball crossing the line and Thornbury put together a concerted forward attack on the Irish line only to be thwarted by Laura Schultze, who managed to get under the ball to stop them grounding it.

Slowly the London Irish pack began to dictate the forward exchanges by arriving in numbers and recycling the ball quickly, avoiding a toe-to-toe battle.

With half time approaching, Nancy Tarrant took a quick lineout throw inside the Thornbury 22, which was taken at the front by Morgan Simpson, who drove a few yards before going to ground. The supporting forwards secured the ball, which was sent along the threes. Alex Matthews and Alice Flynn executed a well-rehearsed inside dummy, which opened up the Thornbury defence for Alex to score under the posts. Harriet again converted taking Irish into a 14-point half time lead.

The second half continued in the same way with London Irish dictating the game but excellent Thornbury tackling keeping them at bay.

The pressure eventually told when Alex Matthews stripped the ball in a tackle 5m from the Thornbury line before popping it to Sereena Peppard who went over to score in the corner. This time the try was unconverted, 19 – 0.

Thornbury again came back strongly and put Irish under pressure before putting in a box kick, which caught the LI defence napping. A fortunate bounce in goal saw Thornbury get to it first to make their first score. A good conversion brought the score to 19 – 7.

LI went on the offensive and pinned Thornbury in their own half for several minutes before they were awarded a penalty on the 22 for handling on the ground. Harriet elected to kick and scored a simple 3 points.

Thornbury heads went down and they didn’t threaten the Irish defences again.

The final score came from a box kick by Harriet, which was gathered by Alex. Alex drew a tackle before releasing the ball to Laura on the right wing. Laura cut inside, between two defenders to score. Harriet converted to bring the score to 29 – 7.

A few minutes later the referee brought the game to a close.

An awesome game by the pack, some magnificent running and tackling by the backs and a dominant team performance overall gave the London Irish U15 Girls a well-deserved victory.

WELL DONE TO ALL FOUR TEAMS FOR WHAT WAS A GREAT DAYS RUGBY.

A big congratulations to all the basford girls who this season have done themselves, the club,county and regional sides proud.

Basford/Welwyn v Worcester National Cup Final

2008-04-14T14:55:00.003+01:00

Thanks to everyone who travelled to Lichfield in support of our U18's on Sunday.

You all had a great game ladies, and despite losing by the narrow margin of 2 points right at the final whistle I am really proud of your achievement.

ESSEX RFUW AGM

2008-04-14T14:48:00.002+01:00

The Essex RFUW annual general meeting will be held at Harlow Rugby Club on Tuesday 15th April 2008 at 7pm.

Welwyn/Basford Reach National Cup Final

2008-04-07T11:31:00.003+01:00

The triumphant Welwyn-Basford team after their success in Wimborne

Welwyn Warriors & Basford joined forces this season to contest the RFUW Junior National Cup, and the combined talents of the Girls from Essex and Herts won last Sunday's Southern final at Wimborne in Dorset to secure a place in the final at Litchfield on the 13eh April 08.

Welwyn-Basford emerged triumphant from a tough pool containing the hosts plus Solent Sirens and will now face Worcester in the national showpiece.
The regional second phase was a round-robin style competition and such was the quality of the sides involved that the biggest winning margin of the afternoon was just five points.

Wimborne were first up against Solent Sirens and although being behind for most of the match, a late score saw them edge out the Sirens 7-3.

Welwyn-Basford then took on the Sirens and a second-half try by Rachel French clinched a 5-0 win.

This was particularly harsh on the Sirens, who had dominated against Wimborne and made Welwyn-Basford struggle for the entire match.

The opening two results set up the final pool game between Wimborne and Welwyn-Basford as a winner-takes-all affair.

Two early penalties saw the Dorset girls lead 6-0 for most of the first half.

But a late Emily Scott try saw Welwyn-Basford go in 6-5 behind at half-time.

The second half saw Welwyn-Basford pushing for the winning score but Wimborne kept the door firmly shut until two minutes from time.

Natalie McClaron then crashed through for the vital score to make it 10-6 to the visitors.

Worcester won the other U18 pool ahead of Leodias and Burfield.

Thornbury will contest the U15 final against London Irish.

Well done and good luck to all four teams and heres looking forward to a great day of rugby at Litchfield.

Girls Section Summer Rugby Course – Swaffham RUFC

2008-04-02T15:01:00.000+01:00

The following was forwarded from Swaffham and may be of interest to our girls.

The course is run by Leicester Tigers and this is the 7th year Swaffham RUFC have played host to the course which is amongst the largest event of this type in the UK. However this is the first year where Tigers have opened the youth age group week to both the girls age groups (Under 15 & Under 18).

It will be run exactly as the boys course will be where players are coached and assessed on all aspects of the game by Tigers own coaching staff.

Players will have up to 5 hours of rugby activity on a daily basis together with receiving course items including a training t-shirt, rugby ball and drink bottle.

Hot meals and drinks are provided daily.

At the end of the week the players will receive certificates against their achievements on an 8 star assessment.

Details of the course can be found at http://www.tigers.co.uk/34_17.php or alternatively please contact Ian Milligan at Swaffham RUFC on 07917 327389 or iandmilligan@btinternet.com

Should you want to attend the course but have issues on travelling or logistics please contact Ian as the club may be able to assist.

End of Season Dinner

2008-04-02T13:24:00.002+01:00

Hi All

If you haven't already done so please see me about your tickets for the Dinner/Disco at the Oysterfleet Hotel. I need £15 deposit by Sunday please along with your choice of menu.

Don't forget if you want to stay over, you need to book your room at the hotel direct.

Paula