CUP FINAL SUNDAY

Please meet at lichfield at 10 oclock sunday . Kick off 12pm. There are also 4 other matches tasking place on sunday at lichfield.

Ten top women’s rugby clubs from across the country will be hoping to end their season with some silverware this weekend when they contest the RFUW National Cup Finals Day on Sunday April 13th at Lichfield RFC.
In the Premiership Cup, kick-off 315pm, this year’s Premiership winners Saracens will take on Richmond who defeated Wasps in the semi-finals. The cup final will see in action a whole host of the England international players who helped England claimed a third and unprecedented RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam this season, including Maggie Alphonsi, Claire Allen, Rachel Burford, Emma Layland and Alice Richardson.
In the Premiership Shield, where clubs who finished from 5th to 8th in the Premiership this season, Blaydon Team Northumbria will take on Clifton, kick-off 130pm. Again, there are more England internationals in action, including props Katy Storie for Blaydon and Sophie Hemming for Clifton.
The Championship Cup is contested by teams placed top of the Championship North and South leagues and that will see in action Bath take on Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, kick off 130pm also.
In the National Under 15s and Under 18s Cups Gloucestershire’s Thornbury take on London Irish and Welwyn will be looking for victory against Worcester respectively. Both these games kick off at 12pm.

Into the final!

A very hard-fought day at Burton RFC. First up against Leonidas Ladies who had knocked us out of the cup last year (and who we played for 70 minutes earlier in the year for a 0-0 draw). A very tough game with some hard-as-nails opposition. Both sides up very quickly in defence which meant little wide ball. Not for want of trying from both sides. A breakthrough from Asskiss into the corner put us 5-0 up. Very quickly Leos came back and put one under the post and made it 5-7. Asskiss managed to get through with a nippy run and Bean converted for a 12-7 win.

Leos then played Burfield (Burton/Lichfield combined) and ran a little amok scoring a number of tries for a 24-0 win. We had to beat Burfield to confirm going through. A loss would get down to points difference.

Playing Leos had taken it out of both teams and while defences were very tight, we failed to make much of scoring opportunities. Bean converted her own try to go 7-0 up but some over-enthusiastic rucking gave away a penalty just outside our own 22 which Lauren from Burfield punished us with the kick to make it 7-3.

Some tough defence was needed to hold Burfield out to finish with a win putting us into the final.

Congratulations to: Beth, Nic, Asskiss, Alyssa, Fidler, Bean, Ale, Tolley, Kim, Shove, Leanne, Ghostie, Lie, Pikey, Weewee, Coral, and Wino.

2nd round of the cup

The second round of the cup will be held at Burton RFC. Please be there promptly for 12:30pm. Address is:

Burton RUFC

Peel Croft

Lichfield Street

Burton upon Trent

DE14 3RH

WWW.burtonrugbyclub.co.uk

Steve

1st cup round results

Well done to all who were there. We're through to the next round of the cup and looking forward to the draw.

The results were:

Flying Comets 0 - 66 Worcester
Worcester 28 - 7 Kettering
Kettering 17 - 0 Flying Comets

Scores came from Sophie (4T), Bean (2T 6C), Jade (1T), Lydia (2T), Hatty (1C), Wino (1T). The Kettering scores were Lydia (3T), Coral (1T), Bean (4C).

Steve

Match vs. Burfield

Just to confirm that the match is to be hosted by Bromsgrove rugby club. Please be there at 12:30pm promptly for a 1:30pm kick off.

Any problems, let me know.

Steve

1st round of the cup

The cup round will be held at Newbold upon Avon RFC and we need to be there for 12:15pm. You can find directions on the link above.

Don't know what the draw is yet (done on the day) but please be prompt.

Steve

Tour, bag Packing and quiz nite

Hey Girls

Just a quick update on where we are with everything. .

£125 is the final price, this is to be paid in cach or cheque to John Slinn ASAP please

Bag Packing is on the 8th March which is a saturday so if you need to book it off work, please do so, were aiming to do 3-4 hours at Sainsburys in Worcester. Everyone needs to buckets and Steve will bring the rugby shirts for us to wear whilst we are there! We do want as many people there as poss, as more people means more buckets which can collect more cash!! :)
and as were all dead polite charming young ladies, i think we should make lots of money!!

Finally 14th March, need to know defiante numbers for the quiz night in bromsgrove, £5 a ticket, its ment to be 6in a team so if we can get a couple of team that would be brillaint!
Tolley has the players ticket so money to me please!! ha ha promise i wont spend it!

Thanks

Tour Reps

Message from Tolley

Hi girls

After much delay we have finally sorted out tour! The cost will be £125, this does include the £25 deposit you should have already paid. We need to know definite numbers preferably by this weekend, but by Wednesday will be fine, this includes parents that may be coming with you as well please.
The final balance needs to be paid by no later than the 20th February.
Any checks to be made out to John Slinn, cash to Steve or your tour reps!!

Finally we need to put at least one team in for the quiz night at romsgrove rugby club on the 14th March
would be better if we could have a full team turn out as it is in aid of our tour after all.

Tour Reps

Regional weekend

Remember we have training on Saturday and the match on Sunday. It's a 9:30 training start at Kings Norton on Saturday and a 2:30pm kick off at Lichfield on Sunday.

We will confirm what time to turn up on Sunday at training.

Steve

Westcliffe and Letchworth report

An incredibly early start saw us down in Westcliff in Essex. Sadly not a hint of seaside, but some tough rugby instead. We were due to play a triangular with Westcliff and Letchworth. We were to start with Westcliff so we began the warmup. Unfortunately we had our first injury even before the first match kicked off as a tackle on Shove by Spidee meant that Shove had to head off to hospital with a shoulder problem before the first ball was kicked in anger. A separated shoulder means a couple of weeks off so hoping for a quick recovery there. Weewee had to step in and played her first matches as prop, so thanks to her.

Westcliff were tough opposition and we knew that they would be hard opponents and so it proved.Their number 8 caused havoc through most of the first half but Bean managed to convert her own try to give us a half-time 0-7 lead. Some tough half-time talking from the coaches allowed us to make a much better showing in the second half and the tackling was much improved. Having said that Westcliffe scored but a final try from Bob closed hings out at 5-12.

We then went into a second match against Letchworth. We had the advantage of having our game heads on and first half tries from Asskiss and Bob allowed us to carry a 0-25 lead into the break. Jade, Fidler and Lydia scored before some great individual play got Letchworth their try. The match finished 5-40 to us. Some great hospitality from Westcliffe and it was time to head home. Our thanks to Westcliffe and Letchworth for the day.

Team: Weewee, Coral, Kim, Leanne, Wino, Lize, Pikey, Spidee, Ale, Jade, Bean, Hatty, Asskiss, Lydia, Beth. Replacements: Nips, Fidler, Ghostie

Steve

Sunday regional training

Remember that regional training is at King's Norton RFC on Sunday. Aim to get there for 12:30 for a 1:00pm start.

The weather is looking as if there might be some snow. Check on http://hometown.aol.co.uk/keanclifford/myhomepage/newsletter.html
to get the latest news.

Steve

Update on Scotland tour

We have one match pencilled in with Murrayfield Wanderers girls, we have a coach quote which we are comparing with the costs of flying. Once we get another team and the travel options sorted we are close.

Ale has tracked down some accommodation options in a hostel and we are looking for opinions from players. Speak to Ale, Tolley or Pikey as your player representatives.

Fund raising - Quiz night at Bromsgrove RFC on March 14 and we will sort out some bag packing and other options.

Steve

Westcliffe coach confirmed

The coach is confirmed as leaving the club at 07:15 on Sunday morning. We need to fill it up to avoid having to use club funds so I'm looking for as many players and supporters as we can.

Let me know if there are any problems.

Steve

Away to Westcliffe

We are off to Westcliffe on Sunday 27 January. Westcliffe is near Southend-on-Sea so is a long, long journey. Due to this we will be taking a coach. As before the cost will be an estimated maximum of £15. If it's more I'll let you know. More importantly we need to fill up the coach to minimise the costs.

We will be playing Westcliffe and Letchworth and looking for a 1:00pm kick off. They have similar problems in terms of changing rooms as us, so turning up in as much match kit as possible will be an advantage.

Steve

Wednesday training indoors

Due to the conditions of the pitches training will be held indoors tonight. Go to the shed for a 7:30pm start.

Do not go over to Westons land.

Steve

Leos U18s vs. Worcester U18s

After a good win against Lichfield/Burton we headed up north to play last seasons cup winners. We played a later kick-off at Castleford RUFC as there had been a girl's development day looking to attract more U15 players to the sport, which we were pleased to support.

The players were all fired up as Leos had knocked us out of the cup last year at the semi-final stage and as we arrived at Castleford they had the cup standing in a prominent position on a table. We had gone up with only 16 players and an injured scrum-half so we were playing a number of players out of position in order to make up a team.

We started off against a team including 5 Talent Development Group and two current England U20 internationals so it was never going to be easy. There was a big pack and a back division that came up very quickly to shut down space. Within the first 10 minutes Twink held up the Leos full-bck over the line and we were under pressure for much of the next 10 minutes. The defence was up to the task and after some aggressive mauling from Leos (which we struggled to contain) we went into the break at 0-0.

After half-time things didn't get any easier but a couple of changes of tactics made the game much more even-handed. We had more time inside the Leos 22, but neither side could make the final break and the match ended at 0-0. The players afterwards agreed that it was the toughest match probably since the cup round last year and the coaches agreed that it was probably the best performance this side has ever put up.

Player of the match went to Twink for saving the try and also for running from her own in-goal area with 4 Leos players between her and her support (and still getting over the half-way line). Put a few hearts in mouths....

Team: Tolley (captain), Trig, Shove, Ghostie, Wino, Lize, Pikey, Spidee, Kimbo, Fidler, Bean, Bob, Jadey-wadey, Nips and Twink. Replacements: Ale and Weewee.

Coach confirmed

Remember we're on the coach tomorrow. Please be at the club for a 9.00am start. There is enough room for parents to come along as well, so the more the merrier. We have 19 players I believe, plus Keith and I so space for a number of other passengers.

Steve

Next few fixtures

These are our next set of fixtures. All due to be done unless I hear otherwise.

13/01/2008		Leos (A)
20/01/2008		Regional Trials
27/01/2008		Westcliffe (A)
03/02/2008		Regional Training
03/02/2008		Stourbridge(H)
10/02/2008		Regional Match
17/02/2008		Welwyn (A)
24/02/2008		National Cup Rd 1
02/03/2008		Lichfield Burton (H)
09/03/2008		Regional Training
16/03/2008		Regional Match
23/03/2008		EASTER
w/c 25/3/08		Tour
30/03/2008		National Cup Rd 2
06/04/2008		Kettering (A)
13/04/2008		National Cup Finals

Steve

Travel to Leos by coach

I have booked a 35 seater coach to take us to Leos on Sunday. It's a long way away so it is an early start I'm afraid. The coach is getting to the club (nearest car park to the main entrance) for 9:00am.

We are due to kick off at 1:45pm so are looking to arrive at 1:00pm to warm up. We can stop on the way (must for 30 minutes for the driver). We will leave at 4:30pm-ish and will get back around 8:00pm. The cost of the coach is £15 per head maximum. If we fill up a 35 seater then the cost will reduce.

There will be no cars going up there and I have paid personally for the coach, so remember to bring your fare along.............

The match is to be played at Castleford RUFC and their web site gives details of the development day that we are part of, so we need to put up a good performance to show the quality of women's U18 rugby.

Steve

Training after Xmas

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to you all. Welcome back to the season.

Training starts again tonight Wednesday 2 January (normal times) and this Sunday's match not being on, continues on Sunday over on Cummings Farm.

Steve