RFUW clarify Super League announcement

RFUW have now clarified the rather misleading article about the new U18 "Super League" which appeared in Touchline. It now appears that where the article said that the Super League will take place at the same time as the adult competition it meant the one that will take place at the end of this season on May 18th and 31st. I must confess that I never thought for a moment when I read the article that RFUW would be making such a significant change to the calendar at this late a date!

On the plus side this means that county rugby will be unaffected next season. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for club rugby as 18th May is a club date, and moreover the last of the season. Consequently it is a date for end-of-season tournaments (including Herts Sevens) and crucial league fixtures. This may not affect us as we have no TDG girls (though Hayley and/or Sasha might still be selected for these games if they perform well for East at the regional festival in Rugby) but it is causing all sorts of headaches for clubs that do have a significant TDG contingent.

This is because clubs (including us) have no idea at the moment whether or how many of our girls will be selected, and as most clubs have limited squads (our 18 or so girls makes us the biggest in the county!) the loss of one or two girls, or even more at some clubs - and moreover all the leading players - can have a big effect. This may be yet another factor that is restricting entries for Herts Sevens this season - and will hopefully not result in any withdrawals when the Super League teams are finally chosen.

It is unclear whether there will be a Super League for U18s next season - no dates for it appear in the current draft of next season's calendar (or at least not the one I have seen) - but that obviously does not mean that it will not be added. Hopefully the 2008/9 dates will be announced before clubs or tournament organisers have spent too much time working on their arrangements for the new season.