Playing with the big girls...

At least one of our girls got some rugby in today!  While our other county stars were twiddling thumbs following yesterday's cancellation, Hayley - at the request of regional and national coaches - was down in Upminster in London for the East Region's senior trial.

Around 40 women were present, all playing exclusively adult rugby and all (bar three - Hayley being one) playing for either Premiership or Championship clubs (ie. the top three tiers of women's club rugby). 

A few were familiar faces from previous year's U18 regional teams - so it wasn't a complete leap into the dark - but junior rugby's sole representative did look a bit slight as the three hour trial began. 

After two hours of various drills the game came round in the gathering gloom (unfortunately my camera is not quite as good as Mike's and Phil's, as you can see) the minor inconvenience of a finger bent at an unusual angle did not stop some familiar runs (above).

As we moved into the second half, another Hayley break at outside centre sucked in the defence, and a quick pass out of the tackle (left) lead to a try.

Then a few minutes later the inside centre (Katie from Wasps? we think - fantastic player whoever she is!) broke through, passed to Hayley, who sprinted away from a Saracens centre...

... to score her first "senior" try!

After that it as all tackles and a very happy looking "junior" at the end of the session. 

The squad will be announced by Friday. Obviously there may be complications from "guaranteed" selections from higher squads (as at England U20s), but overall this looked from the touchline to be Hayley's best trial for a long time - so fingers crossed!

As for the overall standard? Personally I did not think that the players were any quicker or more skilled than most U18s - in fact on both counts the standard was the same as we saw from Reading last week. Having seen trials at U18s and now adult the major difference is simple physical size. The average player is significantly stronger and also - as a result - the impacts are heavier and harder. Overall this was ideal for Hayley, but none of the rest of you should be overawed by it. By the time you move into adult rugby, especially with several years of rugby under your belts, you should not be out of place in an event like this.

PS. Meanwhile, elsewhere in London, England A beat Italy 20-0. See here for report.