National 10s at Lichfield

What a frenetic competition! The match scheduling saw all 6 teams competing in matches every 40 minutes from 12.15 pm to 2.50 pm which, with the usual array of stoppages for injuries, etc., meant that almost every one of the games we played in finished after the next one was due to start!

The competitors in the 2008 RFUW National 10s finals were from all over England : Darlington MP, Letchworth, Reading, Tynedale, Wimbourne & Worcester : and the competition was fierce from the first whistle to the last.

Letchworth opened against Wimbourne who we drew with only a few weeks ago at Reading and a very close fought battle again ended in a draw with the same 10-10 scoreline! Try scorers for Letchworth were Sasha and Hayley.

The second game was against Tynedale in which Letchworth built up a sound lead through 3 tries by Hayley and a try and 2 conversions from Sasha only to have Tynedale respond strongly to the challenge scoring 3 tries of their own and chasing the game all the way to the final whistle. The final score was Letchworth 24 Tynedale 17.

The third game was against favourites Worcester who lived up to that billing with some fine rugby. Despite Letchworth's best efforts, Worcester scored 6 tries and ran out 38 - 0 winners.

The penultimate game was against Darlington Mowden Park who stormed away to lead Letchworth 15 - 0 at the interval and, but for some determined defence, it could have been more - Katie got underneath the ball as Darlington tried to ground it for a try, Charlie drove a Darlington attacker out from the in goal area, etc.. I don't know what was said at half-time, but the Letchworth that came out for the second half were in determined mood and they forced themselves back into the game with tries by Carla and Natalie to make it 15-10 with just two minutes remaining. The finale of the game came with Nikki breaking through the centre of the Darlington defence deep in the Letchworth half, running half a pitch length before the defence got to her and then offloading to Randy who galloped under the posts to level the scores. Sasha held her nerve to kick over the conversion and Letchworth had secured the narrowest of wins 17 - 15.

The last game was against our old adversary, Reading. Our last meeting at Reading a few weeks ago had resulted in a convincing victory for the hosts and this match was to be no different. Although Letchworth were competing strongly throughout the match, Reading cut though to score 4 tries and the match ended with Letchworth camped on the Reading line but unable to convert that position into points. Final score : Reading 24 Letchworth 0.

The major downside of this match was the injury to Rosie who had put in tremendous effort all day. I understand that, although the injury is not as bad as at first feared, Rosie is likely to be out of action for several weeks. Get well soon, Rosie!

And so we come to the final positions. Having won 2 games and drawn another we found ourselves in mid-table with an identical record to Wimbourne who, by virtue of a much better points difference, are placed above us :

1st Worcester

2nd Reading

3rd Wimbourne

4th Letchworth

5th Darlington Mowden Park

6th Tynedale

What a hard day that was! The Letchworth squad all pulled together fantastically throughout the day and they never gave up even when the task appeared impossible. The reward for that belief and that effort is to be be placed 4th in the RFUW National 10s - one place higher than last year - and the highest placing Letchworth Girls have ever achieved in an RFUW National competition!

Selecting our player of the tournament was a very difficult job for the coaches because all the squad excelled themselves on the day. When the deliberations were over, the final verdict gave the title to Randy.

Results :

Letchworth 10 Wimbourne 10

Letchworth 24 Tynedale 17

Letchworth 0 Worcester 38

Letchworth 17 Darlington MP 15

Letchworth 0 Reading 24

Tries :

Hayley 4

Sasha 3

Carla 1

Natalie 1

Randy 1

Conversions :

Sasha 3

• A slideshow of photos from Sunday can now be found in the Threlfall Archive.