International season kicks off tomorrow night

Its been five months since that amazing evening at The Stoop. The World Cup Final, nearly 14,000 people watching the best women's rugby international ever on an evening that had everything, except maybe the right result! Since then not much has been happening, on the field at least. There has only been two internationals, anywhere in the world - the quietest winter for over ten years, which (for women's rugby) is practically forever.

But that all changes tomorrow evening when, at around 9pm our time, Scotland kick off the 2011 Six Nations against France in a small football stadium just south of Paris (the local rugby ground not having any floodlights), heralding an explosion of women's international rugby worldwide. As well as the Six Nations, there's three women's sevens tournaments - the most exciting of which will be the USA Sevens in Las Vegas, which will include USA, Canada, France, Spain and the Netherlands, and will be streamed live at http://www.ustream.tv/usarugby, starting in the early afternoon on Friday 11th February. Later in February there are the South American Sevens, then the Hong Kong Sevens in March - when the Six Nations reaches its climax. Then in April there's the European championship, followed shortly after that by the European Sevens.

What makes this a particularly interesting spring of women's rugby is that - in the fifteens game - there is some huge squad rebuilding going on. As ScrumQueens has reported, almost all of the Six Nations teams are rebuilding - almost from the floor up in some cases. Scotland, Ireland, France and Wales will be barely recognisable from the teams that played in Guildford in August - Ireland, for example, will field seven previously uncapped players this weekend, which is pretty typical. The results will be one of the most unpredictable tournaments for years. Well, that aside from England who take on Wales on Saturday with very nearly the same team that took the field at The Stoop, a pretty scary prospect for a very young Welsh team.

Unfortunately - despite the success of Sky's TV coverage of the World Cup - none of these first round games will be on your screens (PC or TV) - though it is possible that the French rugby union will put highlights of their home games on their website. In fact the only game we know for certain will be on TV will be England v France on 27th February.

The Sevens are also important, as teams are beginning to finalise their squads in advance of next year's qualification tournaments for the 2013 World Cup. Almost every women's sevens playing country will take the field somewhere this spring - some 30 or more from Europe alone... apart from Australia and New Zealand.

Despite everything both of these nations are notable by their absence (at least as official teams) from any of the upcoming tournaments, 15s or 7s. The World Cup may have changed attitudes to the game, but that hasn't changed the behaviour of some unions.

Rugger Girls: Part 7. 1980s - End of the breach

1980s: END OF THE BREACH

Seventh chapter of the summary of the history of women's rugby, from the book "Rugger Girls"("Des Filles en Ovalie"), written by Jacques B. Corti and Yaneth Pinilla Foreword by Serge Betsen. Published weekly(ish) by French women's rugby blog Des Filles en Ovalie.

In the early 80's women's rugby saw a real upheaval. Everything changed: the players, the officials, and even communication. At Bourg, Henry Fléchon saw a new player: Viviane Berodia, who quickly became known as 'Bero.' "Some girls told me to come play", she says, "but my father did not". 'Béro' ignored this . She played at fly or full-back while working for the post office. "I worked shifts and part-time." Henry Fléchon asked her to edit the ARAF's bulletin.

Her work on the bulletin proved daunting. For a period she even designed the page layouts. "Bero" kept collections of letter and characters cut from various publications in envelopes to use to compose texts and titles. And she put all together on the page.

Henry Fléchon was delighted. It must be said that his motto was always: "we need to include all the girls and talk about them. "

At ease with her role, Viviane Berodia, was not likely to be silent on the field.

The first coach she knew was Claude Izoard. "Bourg-en-Breese was then known for the strength of its game, because of the strength of its coach. At the time it was: 'we must not ask questions'. But girls like to ask questions... Playing and training went from one extreme to another - in winter it was a real test, but in the  spring, too. There were sometimes awkward situations where the ball disappeared under the 5 inches of grass on the field..."

Next time: 1980s: AFRF AND FFR: FACE TO FACE

Another ex-Legend makes her mark

Not the best of pictures, but even from a distance the subject is still very recognisable!

Natalie Threlfall, scoring a typical opportunist try for the University of Warwick, near the start of their game against Nottingham Trent University on Saturday, Warwick winning 35-0. Clearly Nat has lost none of her speed since leaving Letchworth!

PS. We now learn that unfortunately 10 minutes after this Natalie was stretchered off with a broken leg. Get well soon, Nat!

Ex-Legend in "International" debut

Randy in action for REME last year

Percy Park, North Shields was the venue today for a big match in the career of one ex-Legend. A couple of years - after a legendary incident (involving, if I remember the story right, a tea-tray and a flight of stairs) - her playing career came to an abrupt stop, but after some impressive performances for Corps before Christmas, REME's Cfn Rosie "Randy" Randfield was finally selected for the British Army women's team.

And today she played her first game - against Scotland A.

No details are available yet about the result - however if she keeps her place in the squad, not only does she have games against Netherlands and Sweden to look forward to, but on 19th March the Army are due to play OA Saints - in St Albans.

Rise and fall

The frustrating pattern of rise and fall in the average girls club looks like it will be taking another victim with news from Wales that Colwyn Bay Mermaids look like folding at the end of the season.

Who? Well, this was a pretty major side - well managed with a number of representative players - which has been North Wales' "Team of the Year" four years running, but even it has been unable to get past the six season barrier that very nearly saw the end of rugby at Letchworth, and seems to be the lifespan limit for most teams. It has been mentioned on here before, and it is a problem that many other coaches at other clubs are well aware of, but nothing ever seems to be done to try identify a solution to the problem.

When you think about it, its a huge waste. Not only is setting up a new team an expensive business (though it attracts all sort of grants), but the collapse of a club will invariably mean that girls joining in years 3 or 4 will not be able to complete their junior careers and may be lost to the game, unless another club starts up nearby.

It shouldn't happen. The same "mini rugby" programme that feeds boys into boys' junior rugby should also produce girls for girls' teams.

With exceptional players it can work - almost all of the England team began their rugby in the minis - but rugby - and sport in general - is not just for exceptional girls. It is for everyone - super-talented, ordinary, or even the not-so-great-but-keen. Girls who are never going to play for England, and have no divisional and national ambitions, but just want to have fun. Mini rugby - the games' nursery - should not be driving them away. Even the best players need someone to play with, and who knows how many future stars of England (or Wales) have been lost because their club failed?

Its not because girls of that age do not want to play - the early years of minis have plenty of girls playing, and the Hertfordshire U12 experiment showed that many want to play beyond that, but for some reason only the truly exceptional girls seem to survive mini rugby - too many seem to get the message that they are not wanted.

Something needs to be done, and now we are one game, maybe now is the time to do it. Just imagine how big the game would be if every club that has taken the field since Letchworth started in 2004 still existed today?

Super Syd gets the call

Up to the minute news -Sydney Gregson is in the London and South East Division U15 Squad! She now embarks a series of training sessions and warm-up matches leading up to the first ever Divisional Tournament on 1st May.

Divisional Trials: From our own correspondent

Syd is back from trials and reports...

"Just had the trials! They were really good - good competition! There were some really talented girls there! 

There were about 90 girls, and they are putting through about 30! First we had a warm up playing rugby netball and running, then played a 13 aside game full pitch, then some contact training, then decision making and passing then to finish it off we had 13 aside games on half pitch! 

There were loads of England people there and Maggie [Alphonsi] was there too! But yeah it was a good experience! We should find out within a couple of days who's in."

The other side of the fence

Women's and girls' Rugby League gets an occasional mention on here, partly because it is assumed that readers will be interested, and partly because the problems and pressures faced by both games are rather similar - except that Women's Rugby League gets even less publicity, on a national level, than Union and, you would expect (given the stereotypical southern view of northern folk) face an even tougher problem with the attitudes of those in charge.

Its therefore often a pleasant task to report how positive the RFL have been in their efforts to support their women's game - certainly the failure of last summer's abortive RL session which our ex-Legends tried to take part in was in no way the fault of the organisers, but rather a chronic lack of ambition and foresight from local women's teams.

I mention this because an interesting article has appeared on the BARLA (British Amateur Rugby League Association) website, summarising the pressures, problems and ambitions of the women's game - interesting because anyone from women's union reading this will experience massive feelings of deja vu as they read it, from the dedicated few at the centre trying to expand the game - and the dominance of New Zealand at the international level - to the inability of clubs to send in match reports or give any importance to publicity generally (I just mention this because I suspect the non-appearance of all of the results from the last round of women's county games is certainly not the fault of the RFUW).

I am also left wondering why the two sports - particularly at the youngest junior levels (where the rules are most similar and the skills all but identical) - fail to work together, or even acknowledge each other's existence.

Lies, damn lies (etc.)

How many women play rugby? A common enough question, but remarkably difficult to answer (as this blog has highlighted now and again). All national unions issue statistics on such matters, but it has to be said that the basis of these figures are both inconsistent and of dubious accuracy. For example the RFUW's count - has been often said - seems to be a wild undercount when compared with the more statistically legitimate surveys that Sports England periodically produce.

This is because Sport England actually ask a cross-section of the population what sports they have played within the last six months, whereas RFUW rely on data that is an off-shoot of the Rugby First database, the club player registration system. Trouble is there is no incentive for clubs to - for example - remove players from the system if they stop playing, add them if they start playing (unless they are actually playing in a tournament), or register at all if they are girls or women (because girls and and women are almost never asked for any registration cards for any tournaments at any level). In addition - as the register automatically defaults to "male" for every new entry - it is amazing how many male rugby players called "Sophie" and "Amanda" there are (or were when I last looked).

The good news is that - at last! - RFUW are trying to do something about this, as they have circulated all clubs with an appeal to put their registrations in order. Its a tough ask - despite the fairly heavy tone of the missive sent out from Twickenham, while there remains no practical incentive to register players the RFUW totals will remain an undercount.

However, it is not a problem unique to England by any means as a glance at the latest player number statistics from the rest of the Six Nations shows. Some seem about right, but some are just...

Well, put it this way. Below are the Six Nations, the six totals given for their number of women players by each of the nations. But the totals and the teams have been mixed up.

Which official total applies to which nation. Can you guess?

Nation	Official number of women players
a) England	i) 9957
b) France	ii) 2764
c) Ireland	iii) 850
d) Italy	iv) 7310
e) Scotland	v)13893
f) Wales	vi) 2874

The art of women's rugby

Interesting this - three different and contrasting ways of promoting women's internationals, from Spain, France and England.

Spain	England	France

They are fairly typical of the styles of poser each nation seems to use - England invariably going for something photo-realistic, France for something more... arty (though some have suggested that this particular example is being suggestive of... something or other), and Spain somewhere in between.

What works best, do you think?

Free rugby management game

Not a womens/girls' item this - but its possible that some readers will be interested.

Sports management sims like Football Manager are pretty popular for a certain breed of games players, but while there are games for football, cricket, rugby league, and I dare say all kinds of American sports, there is no current game simulating rugby union.

Well, not until today - because a sports enthusiast who has previous developed a rugby league game has now developed a rugby union sim. And what is more, its completely free.

Rugby Union Manager allows you to "manage" and "coach" any major rugby club in the UK, Ireland, France, Australia, South Africa or New Zealand. You choose the teams, arrange training, buy and sell players and coaches, try to avoid bankruptcy, and also play in all the national tournaments. You also get to coach national teams and try to win the World Cup.

The aim is to run your club for 15 seasons without getting sacked (normally for losing all your money, or not doing what your board expect you to do - ie. getting relegated!).

There will be a few teething problems to begin with (one player in the Saracens squad is apparently 92 years old, for instance), and it can be very complex - also if you are expecting super graphics and such well... you're not going to get any (it is free remember).

However, sports sims have always really been about statistics and tactics and coaching and team selections and so on, and if you are into that sort of thing then its really very good indeed.

Rugger Girls: Part 6 - 1970s: Opening up the North

Sixth chapter of the summary of the history of women's rugby, translated from from the book "Rugger Girls," written by Jacques B. Corti and Yaneth Pinilla (foreword by Serge Betsen) published weekly on Des Filles en Ovalie.

1970s - Opening up the North

The Rhone-Alpes area of southern France was now alive with initiatives, the efforts of the leaders, and the best efforts of the AFRF - and now it was the Ile de France in the north to start to move. At that time the followers of Rugby Club Chilly-Mazarin included a couple who just moved into the city: the Noury family.

In 1978, Wanda Noury becomes the chair of the club. Within a year she began to organize a women's match.

"We looked for girls everywhere in Chilly. It a success and we played our first game as a curtain raiser to one of the boys's games. I was 36 years and was my first match. It was against girls in Gennevilliers, who were very sturdy, and dressed in black. We were impressed. But we managed to score a try, and were pleased with that. It was great fun! ".

And it had not gone unnoticed. The press has had been interested and Noury Wanda received a phone call:

"It was Henry Fléchon at Bourg-en-Bresse. It was then that I discovered that there were many more teams. He asked me if I wanted to be part of the Association. "

The idea was to use Wanda's enthusiasm. She made many contacts with Soisy and Gennevilliers - who were both teams trying to start teams. Wanda Noury became the AFRF's representative for Ile de France, while continuing to lead the Chilly women's team.

Unfortunately there is now nothing other than memories and recollection of those early days. All of the  documents relating to women's rugby from the period, including all details of coaching licenses, were lost when flooding of town of Auch destroyed the house of the then leader of AFRF, Maurice Maygmaut.

NEXT WEEK: 1980s - END OF THE BREACH

Is this the first photo of a women's rugby team?

Could this be the first ever photograph of a women's rugby team?

It was sent to me back in October, having first appeared on a women's history website from South Wales called "Quiet Women's Row". Apparently the glass negatives turned up during some council redevelopment work in the 1970s, but with little information. All that is known is that the picture was probably taken in Newport.

However, the date added to the picture is almost certainly wrong - the dress of spectators seems to indicate something from the mid 1910s, some time during the First World War maybe. And if that is so we may be able to have a good guess about what the game was, because in 1916 the earliest recorded women's rugby match in Britain took place, between teams of women from Newport and Cardiff, to raise money for the war - and fascinatingly reports from the game say that the women wore caps or head protection of some sort... which is what the women above seem to be wearing.

Whether that picture was from that game, 95 years ago, we'll probably never know now - any more than we can know which team it is, or who the women were. But it is an important piece of women's rugby history, and women's sport history as well.

Win for the U15s

News from Syd about Letchworth U15s winning their second game of the season. Well, not so much "win" - it seems - as an annihilation, a 52-0 win over Old Albanians. Syd ran in seven tries, apparently.

So the "new" Letchworth Girls continue to go from strength to strength! Well done everyone.

The most unexpected of honours?

A remarkable - and to the more cynical of us - unexpected award was announced today. It was not that the recipient of the Rugby Personality Award was that unexpected - if anyone was likely to be the first woman to win the "Pat Marshall Memorial Award" then Maggie Alphonsi was always going to be a pretty safe bet! - it is more who makes the award that is a surprise.

First the award itself. It is for the leading rugby "personality"  (ie. player, coach, or administrator) of the year. Its an international award and covers the whole game. Previous winners in the 50 year history of the award have included al-time greats of the game including Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams, Jean-Pierre Rives, David Campese and Jonah Lomu and this year's  shortlist included IRB Player of the Year Richie McCaw, RWC 2007 winner Victor Matfield, and Saracens' departing director of rugby Brendan Venter. In short it is one of the most prestigious awards that anyone in the game can possibly win.

But it is the people that vote for the award that is amazing - the Rugby Union Writers Club. Yes - the group who have been accused by some (ahem...) of being blinkered out-of-touch sexist dinosaurs (or words to that effect, if I remember right) and it is recognition of the astonishing effect the last World Cup has had on the game. For a profession whose senior members have openly said in the (recent) past they they would not cross the road to watch a women's game, or - after attending their first women's test match - have produced the most patronising of copy about how amazed they were by it all (they run, they tackle, people come and watch!) this appears not so much change of heart as a complete Road to Damascus moment. Yeah, verilly, they have seen the light! Hallelujah!

Well, we shall see. The Six Nations starts in a few weeks time - that will be the test to see whether or not the things really have changed. After all, last year the pretty much all newspapers failed to even list results never mind publish any match reports. Not by their words (or awards) but by their column inches shall we judge them.

Rugger Girls: Part 5

From the book "Rugger Girls" written by Jacques B. Corti and Yaneth Pinilla. Foreword by Serge Betsen. Translated from Des Filles en Ovalie.

1970s: THE HELPING HAND

Of all the referees, one decided not to accept these ban impossed by the FFR. His name was Henry Fléchon. A former manager and coach of junior club USB (we are back again to Bourg-en-Bresse!). He decided to take the side of girls - "If sport can abolish social differences, I hope it can also abolish the differences between men and women who share the same sport" said he at the time.

This is the beginning of a rich and active journey that Fléchon took during the eleven years of his involvement with women's rugby. He was one of the engines of its development and its acceptance until he died on November 13, 1986.

For the 1974-1975 season, Henry Fléchon, became President of Violets Bressan, from Bourg-en-Bresse, and 20 June 1975 he was appointed President of the AFRF (French Women's Rugby Association). He began a personal campaign to win recognition for women's rugby, meeting Albert Ferrasse (President of the FFR) repeatedly, but initially without result.

WOMEN'S RUGBY EVERYWHERE

"The AFRF bulletin, dated January 23, 1976, tells us where women's rugby was - geographically - at the time. Affiliated subscribers were listed in this issue, with officials (including names, addresses and telephone numbers) of the twelve existing clubs then:

• Rugby Féminin Gersois
• Les Violettes Bressanes (The "Violets")
• US Carmaux
• Castres Rugby Club Féminin
• AS Champagnolaise (The "Gentianes")
• Rugby Club Féminin Montauban
• Pau Rugby Club Féminin
• Rugby Club Féminin du Lauragais
• Rugby Féminin Romagnatois
• Toulouse Femina Sport
• Coquelicots Tournusiens (The "Poppies")
• Ovalie Féminin Valencia (The "White Dragons")

Obviously it goes without saying that in this little world a large-scale community life develops, and this becomes a characteristic of the early women's rugby. While volunteering has always been the driving aim of Act 1901 organisations (voluntary bodies created under French law), this is hardly a novel scenario: an animated and active national collection of local clubs had been created.

Although the AFRF grew, the idea of integrating the FFR was not abandoned.

At this time Celine-Marie Bernard obtained her diploma as a physical education teacher, and she also now took part in the meetings with Albert Ferrasse, President of the FFR. "Once, in 1977, we went to his home in Agen. Once again we explained the importance of girls playing rugby. I made my own case, saying that - as a PE teacher - I wanted to be trained to teach or promote rugby. He began to understand that the future of rugby could go through this kind of training ". However, one thing he said remains in her memory: "He flatly said, 'I accept that women want to play rugby, but I do not understand why'".

Exchanges between the two then began to bear fruit. In 1978, Marie-Celine Bernard became the first woman to participate in training with FFR. She studied for the first level federal coaching certificate in Dijon and remembers: "It was interesting, although I was the only woman named on the course. They wondered really what I was doing there. Anyway, it is a never-ending debate: we had to prove our abilities again and again on the field." Celine-Marie Bernard pursued her training, passing her Level 2, and then - in 1985 - the Federal Level 3".

Extract from the book "Rugger Girls", Editions Atlantica (2005), Written by Jacques Corte / Yaneth Pinilla B. Foreword by Serge Betsen.

NEXT: THE 70s CONTINUED - OPEN TO THE NORTH

This is the latest chapter, published by DFO today. The website promises that future chapters will appear every week, and they will appear here as they are published.

Rugger Girls: Part 4

Fourth part of the summary of the history of women's rugby, from the book "Rugger Girls," written by Jacques B. Corti and Yaneth Pinilla Foreword by Serge Betsen, translated from the blog "Des Filles en Ovalie"

"AGAINST INSTRUCTIONS AND DANGEROUS"

6 October 1972. A letter from the upper echelons of the state beat down the enthusiasm. Colonel Marceau Crespin, then National Director of Physical Education and Sports, sent a note service to all Departmental Directors of Youth and Sports, and all the prefects.

"Subject of the letter: 'Women's rugby." This is the text:

"I think rugby - a contact sport requiring qualities of endurance, strength and virility - is unsuitable for girls and women for obvious physiological reasons.

Furthermore, it seems the organizers of the rugby matches - which look like female wrestling - try to get as many as possible through the ticket office, by allowing betting in the stadium, and morbid curiosity.

Moreover, the same organizers are systematically attempting to attract new players, including from women's athletics teams and basketball. And finally, they have no regard for the rules of sports medical supervision.

It is obvious that this is a dangerous practice physically and morally, so I urge you not to help or sponsor, these women's rugby teams."

Unquestionably, there was a real desire to ban the playing of women's rugby. The FFR was also not left out, for its part banning referees from officiating at women's matches. The instruction was not always followed to the letter and the second championship of France was organized despite this instruction. Auch won the title at the expense of Tarbes with the same scoreas the first final, 10-8.

For girls the ministerial note only reinforced their beliefs. Bernard Marie-Celine, for example, remembers it like it was yesterday: "As players this was not our concern. Of course it shocked us, and we laughed at a time. But, if anything, the Crespin letter motivated us. "

To be continued ... Part II: ANNES 70 (...) THE HELPING HAND

Extract from the book "The Girl in rugby" , Editions Atlantica (2005). Written by Jacques Corte / Yaneth Pinilla B. Foreword by Serge Betsen.

Rugger Girls: Part 3

Part Three of the summary of the history of women's rugby, from the book "The Girl in rugby," written by Jacques B. Corti and Yaneth Pinilla foreword by Serge Betsen, translated from the blog "Des Filles en Ovalie"

CHAPTER II: GROWING ANYWAY

(...) "In the early years of the decade things stay as the are - technically and training days, hours, reliability in general, all become habits of this new practice of rugby."

These steps forward, of course, attract numerous critics. Claude Izoard has not forgotten the atmosphere: "Often leaders told us we were crazy. Establish the Association and the championship was not easy. FFR did not want to hear about it. Nobody wanted girls. The desire to prevent all this was real " .

CHAMPIONSHIP

"Very quickly the idea of holding a first national championship appeared. This became a reality in May 1972 and the first final to be held on July 2 of that year, between the Adour and ASVEL Villeurbanne. The girls of Villeurbanne won 10-8. Annie Ferréol, who played at that first final, remembers: 'We played on a rotten ground. The grass was high. There were no stands. The locker rooms were prefabs. In fact, I remember better games against the Violets of Bourg en Bresse. That was the derby! We could not contain ourselves! "

"From there, everything started to move. The first Regional Committee was created covering Burgundy and Lyonnais. The Poppies graduated and formed an independent club, led by Marie-Céline Bernard (...) ".

To be continued ... "INDICATED AGAINST AND DANGEROUS"

Extract from the book "Rugger Girls", Editions Atlantica (2005), Written by Jacques Corte / Yaneth Pinilla B. Foreword by Serge Betsen.

Syd on trial

Our Sydney Gregson has been selected for the trials for the first ever girls divisional squad.

After the county matches before Christmas, county coaches were asked to put forward the names of their best players for these trials. The Divisional Talent Development Officer for London and the South East then looked at all of these county reports, and then started writing some letters.

These started arriving today - so if you have not heard anything it does not mean you are not in, you could still hear next week. No list of all selected players has been published - so we don't know (and chances are the county coaches will not know either - they never did in the regional days).

Its is quite an achievement to get this far - remember there are only four divisions now instead of 11 regions, so its probably harder to get into the divisional trials than it was to get into the old regional squads!

The trials are on 23rd January at Hampton School in Middlesex.

Rugger Girls: Part 2

Second chapter of the French history of women's rugby, from the book "Rugger Girls," written by Jacques B. Corti and Yaneth Pinilla, , translated from the blog "Des Filles en Ovalie".

"NO AND NO"

"By 1969, initial contacts are made to be part of the French Rugby Federation (FFR). The answer was no. The Violets then decided to become independent by creating their own club. They choose the path that soon other teams would follow. At the same time three women other decided to move forward. Annie Bannier (Pau), Isabel Navarro (Toulouse), and Odile Militon (Tarbes) agreed to found a women's rugby union. On 25th October 1969, a meeting was held in Portet sur Garonne. Sixteen people were present, representing 6 teams: Pau, Tarbes, Toulouse, Villemur Châteaurenard and Beziers. "On this day, we recognise that the ARF [Women's Rugby Association] was born" states the report.

On March 4, 1970, the ARF is officially registered in the prefecture of Haute-Garonne. The headquarters was in Toulouse. The founding agreement of the new organisation was extremely thorough with more than 130 items.

'SERIOUSLY AMATEUR "

The articles were divided into three parts. The first related to corporate objectives. The second dealt with the sport's administration and finance. The third concerned the regulations for players, referees and officials.

The annual fee for clubs was set at 50 francs. Officials and players had to pay a license costing 2 francs. If the license was not renewed before a match there was a penalty of 10 francs. And any kind of prize money was prohibited - only medals and artefacts were allowed.

All the information and communication was by an official bulletin. The subscription cost 10 francs and was mandatory. There are only few copies, but it has been very useful in establishing the points necessary for this story ...

Extract from the book "Rugger Girls", Editions Atlantica (2005, preface by Serge Betsen) by Jacques B. Corti and Yaneth Pinilla

To be continued ... Part II "GROW anyway "

Rugger girls: A history of women's rugby (in France). Part 1.

Books about the history of rugby are not exactly thin on the ground. A quick search on Amazon reveals dozens of titles, all of which have one thing in common. They are all about men's game - there has never been a book on the women's game.

Well, not in English. There have been a couple in French, however - and one is currently being serialised on French women's rugby blog Des Filles en Ovalie (DFO). Also called "Des Filles en Ovalie" ("Rugger Girls" - 'Ovalie' being an affectionate slang term for the game) it was published in 2005 and looked back for 40 years of rugby in France.

Although not about rugby in this country, it is interesting in that the pressures those wanting to play had to put up with mirror what happened here - indeed it was probably worse in England, bearing in mind that France started playing international rugby five years before any British team managed to get onto the field.

So - with the help of Google Translate and a French:English dictionary - here is the first extract from the book.

For anyone trying to follow the trail of women's rugby is not an easy task. We need to find witnesses. Unexpected journeys are needed. And we must, too, to investigate old photos. In short, they must take their pilgrim staff and pull together what is left from half-forgotten memories and documents. "What is important," said Claude Izoard, who saw the game begin, "is that girls and women today know what happened. "

Our story goes back to 1965. Groups of students in Lyon and Toulouse decided to take part in the great charitable campaign against world hunger. Most of them had brothers and friends who played rugby, so they decide to organise a charity game at Bourg-en-Bresse.

So, to begin with, there were about forty girls, who formed two teams. The Toulouse team wore the red and black, of Collège Stendhal, while Lyon - the "Violets" wore the purple jersey boys team from USB. Similar events happened elsewhere in France and, gradually, the clubs that are created, and became more organized. Women's rugby begin to structure itself.

Lyon and Toulouse played several times. "We were invited for rugby get-togethers," recalls Frances Izoard. During the 1966-1967 season, led Andrée Forestier (a judo black belt), the teams played eight times, always charity games.

Marie-Céline Bernard remembers her debut well: "I started in 1967. I was 22. I was doing athletics and the Toulouse men's team captain wanted to start a female team. The proximity of Bourg gave them the idea. It was a few games, in the spring, because temperatures were warmer." And so the "Poppies Tournaments" began.

At Lyon there was a certain Claude Izoard, "Zozo" to her friends, an avid rugby fan. "In 1968, they asked me to be the captain. Two training sessions per week on Tuesdays and Fridays. The pitch was terrible. They showered in a sort of hut. It was that or nothing, and they knew it. "

Games between the teams were organized - "competition" would be a big word for the first few matches. "There were always between 20 and 25 girls in training. They were between 17 and 25 years and were mainly school and college students, "recalls Claude Izoard. (...) "

Extract from the book "The Girl in rugby", Editions Atlantica (2005), Jacques B. Corti and Yaneth Pinilla, foreword by Serge Betsen

TO BE CONTINUED ... Next Chapter "NO, AND NO"

Three more parts have already been published on DFO, which will appear on here over the weekend. After that future parts will appear as DFO publishes them, which will be weekly.

Who'd be a Wasps fan?

Again, slightly off topic but you are all rugby fans and it is surprising that more does not seem to have been made of this.

Basically, Wasps have moved their next home game in the LV Cup from Wycombe to... Abu Dhabi. No, that's not some newly built stadium named after some Arabian sponsors but the real Abu Dhabi. Like in the Middle East. Near Saudi Arabia.

Now, if I were a Wasps fan with maybe a season ticket, or someone who already had tickets for the game (a local "derby" against Quins) I'd be a shade peeved. I mean, Micky-Mouse competition as the LV Cup is, having your club move an attractive home game to another continent is a bit annoying - it is rather a long way to go for a Sunday afternoon's entertainment.

But, that aside (and they are offering your money back) what I suspect would really get you hopping around will be club owners Steve Hayes explanation which is... remarkable:

"While we understand that many supporters will not be able to travel to the game, Wasps’ fans have always vocalised their desire for the club to grow and strengthen its brand and it is unique opportunities like this that can really propel Wasps into new realms."

So - Wasps fans - this is all your fault because apparently you have said you want the club to grow. Admittedly you may not have realised that plans to "propel Wasps into new realms" meant completely new kingdoms, but its clearly always a good idea to read the small print.

(Apparently Wasps have a Director of Communications starting soon. Got their work cut out I think...)

Spain v Scotland: Highlights

The Spanish RFU have produced a couple of good highlight videos of Sunday's game. Well worth a look - the Spanish forwards in particular seem particularly impressive, though in both teams speed of pass is a bit of an issue (as it was at the World Cup for Scotland). Apparently the game attracted around 500 paying spectators.

First Half:


Second Half:

Across the Irish Sea

When the girls section was formed in 2004 we thought about possible tours and - as there were plans for the boys to go to Ireland - we looked at whether the girls might join them. Nothing came of that for the simple reason that there was very little girls rugby in Ireland. The IRFU's website had no mention of it at all, and when we wrote to them the result was silence.

Then in 2007 an English club did go on tour there. Worcester's tour made headlines on both the IRFU and RFU websites, as well as in the local press, as the took on (and beat) county and provincial select XVs.

Since then the expansion of girls' rugby in the Emerald Isle has continued at a fantastic rate - its pretty unlikely that a single club could beat an Irish province today. The latest event was an U15 game played at the Aviva Stadium - the new Irish national stadium built to replace Lansdown Road, featuring girls from two local clubs (pictured above).

Its another example of how junior rugby in the rest of the British Isles is starting to catch up with England. The reorganisation of junior rugby in Wales around four or five years ago has resulted in a noticeable improvement in their teams - an effect that had reached the U20 team last season, when they beat England. Scotland have also been working hard with their junior rugby as well, and will be fielding their first U20 side this year. Ireland can only be a couple of years away - which could potentially give us a junior "Five Nations" before the next World Cup comes round.

The next step for England is the move to divisional rugby. This should produce a much tougher level of rugby for leading junior players than the old regional system (where the level of rugby in recent years had not been than much higher than county rugby). Trials for the first divisional squads will take place at the end of the month. It'll take a year or two before the results feed into the national squads, but there is a chance that some of the players selected this year could be playing for England at the next World Cup - or even for Great Britain at the 2016 Olympics!

Test rugby season opens with stunning result

Spain's international "double" last season - European champions at both 7s and 15s - was largely overlooked by many people, mainly because it was perhaps so many leading players and teams were concentrating on the World Cup.

Well, now everyone is back - and today Spain showed that 2010 was no flash in the pan, taking Scotland apart by five tries to one. The final score - 28-13 - was only as close as it was thanks to the kicking of Scotland's Caroline Collie (with two penalties and a conversion), while all but one of Spain's kicks were missed.

Scotland - 8th in the World Cup, and 4th in the last Six Nations - fielded 10 players from the World Cup, so this is likely to be pretty much the team they will be fielding in this year's Six Nations. They will be kicking that tournament off one month tomorrow, against France. Its a tournament that will be even more unpredictable than ever, with all squads including a great many changes.

In fact the only predictable thing is that Spain - arguably the third- (or even maybe second-) best side in Europe - will not be there... because the Italian men's team is better than their men's team.  There are times when rugby makes no sense at all...

International rugby - the second biggest women's team sport in the world?

We are often told that women's and girls' rugby is a "minority sport", which is why it gets little publicity, funding, etc. etc. However, it turns out that, on a global scale, this may not be true.

Its quite difficult to work out how "big" a sport is. The obvious thing to go by would be the number of players, but claims about player numbers by sports governing bodies are not always noted for their accuracy. Even the RFU's claims are - at best - dodgy, being dependent on a database that contains the names of many players who stopped playing years ago, while missing many who are currently playing (especially women and girls, if surveys by Sport England are anything to go by). When it comes to looking at player numbers internationally its pretty hopeless.

However, another measure is to look at how active teams are - especially international teams - as reports on international games are normally kept fairly well by the various international governing bodies. And its when you look at the number of countries fielding women's rugby teams, and compare this with other sports, that you get a big surprise.

Because an incredible 90 countries played over 300 women's internationals last year - either sevens or 15-a-side - to which another dozen or so can be added who did not play last year, but did in 2009 or 2008. This seems to be way more than the number of countries that played, for example, international women's hockey, or who have ever played - say - women's basketball or netball (in all cases around 60-70 countries). In fact only women's football has more active international teams - and not that many more (around 120, compared to rugby's 103).

Some countries were amazingly busy in 2010, especially in Asia, and none more so than Singapore, who played an amazing 23 internationals in 2010 (plus a couple more against unofficial Australian and South African teams) - in comparison World Cup teams from Europe, like England, played 18 times at 7s and 15s.

What is more, the number of countries playing in 2011 and beyond is likely to grow. Until last year several Middle Eastern nations played together as the "Arabian Gulf", but from this month each of these countries will be able to field their own teams. How many will remains to be seen, but if Iran can play women's rugby there seems to be no reason why countries like Kuwait will have any objections to the game.

European Sevens Championship in England in 2011?

A tantalising suggestion that the FIRA European Sevens Championship could be taking place in England this season - the first time any FIRA tournament will have been played anywhere in the UK or Ireland.

Nothing is confirmed yet, but I have been given details of an (unpublished) letter from FIRA to all unions about the 2011 European Sevens tournaments. There are so many nations who play international sevens in Europe - nearly half of all the active rugby nations in the world - that the continent's regional association has to divide the teams into three divisions, which gets quite complicated. In addition the next Sevens World Cup is in 2013, which implies qualification tournaments in 2012, the seedings and organisation for which will be based on the 2011 results.

So, while the "A" and "B" championships (that is the second and third division) will go on more or less as they do normally, the "Top Ten" championship for the, well, top 10 nations is going to be beefed up a bit. In 2009 none of Europe's representative made even the semi-finals, so the aim must be to try to get continent's leading teams as well prepared as possible in 2013.

With this in mind, instead of a single "Top Ten" tournament this spring, there will be two with the championship being awarded to the best nation across both events, using the same points system as the men's sevens circuit. The first tournament will be in Sweden, but the second will "take place during the last round of the [men's sevens] Grand Prix Series". That last round takes place over two weekends in London and Edinburgh at the end of May - so this could just mean that the top ten European sevens teams will be playing in England for the first time.

Who will they be? At the moment its impossible to say as it depends of how many of the Six Nations enter. Ireland and Scotland women have never been particularly interested in Sevens - neither entered the 2009 World Cup (well, Scotland did but then pulled out). England will definitely take part, as will France and Italy and Wales will probably take part.

However, do not take it for granted that the winners will be a Six Nations team - Sevens is a different world. Spain are an awesome sevens formation - European champions last season - while Netherlands, Russia and sevens specialists Portugal cannot be underestimated. In addition - assuming Scotland and Ireland are absent - Germany and Sweden will be pretty competitive.

No guarantees yet, but if it does take place in England it should be a great weekend.

Are things any different in England?

Interesting article here about the state of women's (and girls') rugby in Ireland.

On the face of it, Ireland are one of the great success stories of recent years. Over the past five years the also-rans of Six Nations rugby have become a real force in the game, and must stand a real chance of winning the runner-up spot in next year's tournament.

However, beneath the surface there are concerns and problems with the game, and room for improvement. And what is interesting is the way many of the complaints of the players in the article could come from anywhere in the world - even New Zealand and, dare I say it, England. Indeed it is no exaggeration to say that the statements could have come from just about any sport anywhere.

What is the answer? Who knows - though I would suggest that complaining long and loud whenever and wherever girls' and women's is treated as being less important than men's is probably a start. Things are getting better, as coverage of the last World Cup showed, but there is still a long, long way to go.

Herts newsletter girls' rugby special

The latest edition of "About Herts" - the quarterly county rugby newsletter - features a massive five page section devoted to the success of girls' and women's rugby in the county. Much of it has appeared on Herts blog, but there are previously unpublished match reports from the first round of county games, plus other articles about the success of the game in the county.

Copies will have been sent to the club and may be lying around the clubhouse, but failing that a PDF can be downloaded from here.

News from Black Fern country - a must read!

Its taken me a little time to pick up on this - and a great shame too - because an excellent new blog, devoted to women's rugby, has been launched in New Zealand.

Women's Rugby NZ launched on 8th September, hitting the ground running with an introduction that began with that question everyone asks - how did the Black Ferns manage to win 4 consecutive world cups if they only played 7 test matches in four years between the last two world cups? Later posts cover every aspect of New Zealand women's and girls' rugby from junior and school level all the way to the national team.

But its not just reports and regurgitated press releases - there's interesting and provocative articles like this one, which gets behind the latest NZRFU player statistics and comes up with some worrying conclusions for the future. Then there's also video, reports from Black Ferns about their World Cup experiences, and even news about a new range of rugby kit designed for women (yes - we have heard it before, but maybe this time...?). And the site looks great too!

Why is it so good? I think the answer to that is contained in the author line for many of the articles. Farah Palmer, Melodie Robinson... this isn't some individual's fan's blog from the sidelines - this is being written by people at the centre of the game.

Would be nice if they made their RSS feed a bit easier to find, but other than that rather geeky, technical point its brilliant. So if you DO want to know why the Black Ferns dominate World Rugby, start here!

S'no(w) chance of play for Old Girls

Its official. Wonky has been forced to call off today's long awaited reunion fixture for the Former Legends owing to the small matter of a couple of inches of snow, plus overnight temperatures in double figures. That is minus double figures.

Instead all players and camp followers are invited to a get-together at the White Lion in Baldock tonight, at 7pm - which is probably where just about everyone would have ended up anyway even if the match had taken place.

Attempts will be made to organise another game - maybe around Easter. Although looking back at previous Easters... 

Forget the snow... remember the summer

Because three tries from the World Cup are among the IRB's shortlist of 18 competing for "try of the year" (well "televised try of the year" is we are being entirely honest - hence the lack of any women in any previous shortlists, and the almost certain absence of any next year as well).

Anyway, the three tries (see below) are from Danielle Waterman (v USA), Australia's Cobie-Jane Morgan (Australia v Wales), and Huriana Manuel (New Zealand v Australia). To my mind it is the last of the three that is probably the best - Danielle seems to benefit from some awful American tackling (or the lack thereof), while Cobie-Jane was the third beneficiary of the 20 minutes of Welsh suicide that opened (and, to all intents and purposes, also closed) their World Cup campaign. Well taken though it is, the Welsh defence is a bit of a shambles. Huriana's try is, of the other hand, scored against a well organised defence and is also a true team effort.

However, make your own mind up and then email "Try 12" (or 11, or 10) to votetry@irb.com. Or, if you want to check out the men's tries that are up for the award, go here.



(Thanks to ScrumQueens)

Gloucester 10s: Joe invites the world to come and play

Joe has now circulated his invitation to clubs to attend the Gloucestershire Girls’ rugby 10s tournament - and has asked for it to be circulated as widely as possible. So here it is. Tell everyone!

Easter 2010 saw Girls’ rugby teams from around the UK descend upon Harptury College in Gloucestershire for the second annual Gloucester City 10s, a 2 day rugby festival organised and operated by Gloucester Girls Rugby Charitable Trust Fund (GGRCTF). The event was a huge success both on and off the field with approximately 500 girls participating over the weekend, the event managed to attract substantial support from a number of well known sponsors. Regrettably by Summer 2010 the charity was in the process of being wound up and any chance of the annual event continuing seemed unlikely

However the show must go on and with the support of both the Gloucestershire Rugby Football Union and Hartpury College, the event returns in 2011. The competition now under the name of 'Gloucestershire 10s' is being organised by a volunteer management team who now invite entries from interested clubs.

The 2011 event will be held over Easter weekend with an under 15 tournament on Saturday 23 April and an under 18 tournament on Sunday 24 April. Clubs may enter both U15 and U18 teams, and there are up to 16 team places available in each age group. The management team are pleased to announce a new pricing structure for the 2011 event, with the standard entry fee reflecting a reduction of £15 on last years price. This is an open tournament and has the potential to be the largest Girls 10s festival in South West England. Please find attached a copy of tournament invite letter, entry form and rules & regulations documents. If you are interested in entering, please follow the instructions outlined with these documents. If you have difficulty opening the attached files please contact Joe Randall, Event Manager by email (joe.gloucestershire10s@live.co.uk).

The tournament management team is keen to hear from businesses or organisations that are interested in getting involved with the tournament. For information on possible sponsorship opportunities please contact a member of the management team using the details below.

It would be appreciated if you could forward this message to any teams clubs you feel might be interested in entering a team.

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to get in contact.

Kind regards,

Joe Randall

County round-up

Results from a few games are still to come in, but there was one clear winner this weekend - the weather.

Hertfordshire game v Kent, which should have been played at Thetford, was moved to Saracens (Eastern Counties did not travel) - but other counties were not so lucky. Other U15 and U18 games in Devon (v Dorset), Hampshire (v Surrey), Lancashire (v Cumbria), North Midlands (v NLD) and Northumberland (v Cheshire) were all cancelled - which is going to make selections for the Divisional trials a bit of a challenge as they will have to be based on a single match last month.

At U15 level, Sussex - another of the counties that have benefited from unsanctioned fixtures - used that extra experience to win a three-way fixture, blowing away Middlesex 43-0 before slipping past Berkshire 24-20. Berkshire recovered to beat Middlesex 17-5.

In the only other result so far published Leicestershire recovered from their mauling by Hertfordshire last month to beat Essex 49-5.

At U18 level Berkshire seem to have come out on top in the same triangular with a 19-10 win over Sussex, who in turn beat Middlesex 27-0. However the result of the day was Hertfordshire 60-0 trashing of Kent.

A couple of results are still awaited, but the main conclusion from this weekend is again how amazingly good our county's girls are. If the London & SE Divisional squads are not packed with Herts girls in the New Year then something will be very wrong!

"Brilliant" Syd try defeats Kent

News from Herts U15 game with Kent where a try from Syd ensured the defeat of Kent today.

A long period of forward play had just resulted in Hertfordshire's first try, when Sydney caught the resulting restart. From there, to quote one spectator, Syd went on a "brilliant ... run down the line from Kent, evading and handing off several to score under the post".

The resulting conversion put Herts 12-7 ahead, which was to be the final score - a truly impressive win over a county that has been playing a series of extra unsanctioned matches in recent weeks. We shall now wait to see who gets to go to the Divisional trials - but at least one Letchworth girls looks a pretty safe bet!

How to deal with an interviewer...

Not really relevant to the usual coverage on this blog, but this cannot be missed. A masterclass from Saracens coach on how to deal with an annoying interviewer. Brilliant.

Dream Team: more details for the 20th

The big game is just over a week away now. Warm-up starts at 7pm, with a kick-off at around 7.30, and sundry seasonal extras.

If all goes well (ie. injuries etc. permitting) the Letchworth team could look something like this (actual positins to be decided - or indeed swapped around during the game)...

Rosie Randall
Carla Kelly
Sasha Acheson
Fern Glenister
Jess Robinson

Steph Crome

Lizell Heather
Hayley Guilder

Natalie Threlfall
Laura "Bubbles" Barnard

Katie Alcock

Nikki Alcock
Chloe Baker
Mel Hobbs
Randy Randfield

Coaches: Wonky and Joe Randall

...which looks a pretty awesome team! Don't miss it!

Double blow for schoolgirl rugby in North Herts

Threatened cuts to School Sports Partnerships nationwide have been well covered in the press and on TV in recent weeks - a scheme that has been a very significant effect on introducing girls to rugby in the county (most of the inter-school tournaments would probably have never happened without our local schemes), however news in this week's Comet could result in an even bigger blow, especially in our area.

If the report on Page 2 is correct, North Herts District Council will be withdrawing all funding from Herts Youth Games - presumably from 2012, if not 2011. Even leaving aside the huge irony involved in cancelling support for the biggest local multi-sport event in the same year that the Olympics are taking place less than 40 miles away, this could have a major effect on rugby in schools - especially primary schools.

Herts Youth Games includes tag rugby tournaments for both boys and girls - indeed overall the Games tend to favour girls sport, with significantly more girls events than boys, providing support at just the age when many girls start to give up sport. What is more by having a girls rugby event in a male-dominated sport like rugby it encourages girls to try out a sport that they might never normally consider.

Yes, its tag. Yes, the current HYG is a U11 event which doesn't quite work with current RFUW age bands, but anything that puts rugby balls in the hands of schoolgirls cannot be bad. And every spring just about every primary school in the area puts together a boys AND a girls team, and takes part in at least one - often more than one - tag tournament, with the top girls going into the North Herts team.

The question and worry must be that - without that HYG goal to aim at - will schools bother? And if they do, without the carrot of a girls competition, even if they do will they bother putting together girls teams, or involving girls?

And - of course - it goes without saying that Letchworth Girls would never have come into existence without Herts Youth Games.  HYG works on so many levels - it would be a huge blow if it disappeared.

Gloucester 10s 2011 - now under new management!

A familiar face has taken over the running of one of the best weekends of club rugby.

Joe Randall - coach of our girls team from 2005-2007 (and hopefully to be involved with the Old Girls game) - has taken over the management of the Gloucester 10s tournament.

Gloucester 10s was first played in 2009 as a replacement for the popular (but unaccountably cancelled) RFUW National 10s, which had been a popular event for the previous 2-3 seasons. It has been an even bigger success than the old Nationals, and with Joe in charge promises to be just as great an event this season.

The new season has resulted in some rethinking about its dates, but after some thought next week Joe and Gloucester RFU will be inviting entries to the 2011 tournament, to be held again at Hartpury College on 23rd-24th April (probably U18s on Day 1, and U15s Day 2).

Letchworth took part in the first edition in 2009, but we were unable to go in 2010 as our partners last season - Saracens - did not wish to attend. Hopefully we will have sufficient players on our own this year - it may just be a question of transport.

Return of the Legends

Great news today that the "Old Girls" match on 20th December is now definitely ON!

The game was thrown into doubt last week when the original opponents for the "Legends Reunited" - Welwyn Old Girls - pulled out because they were unable to raise any sort of team. However, great work behind the scenes by Wonky and Amanda Bate has resulted in a replacement team being formed.

This will largely be based around a core of players from Hitchin (so a nice bit of local rivalry!) plus some other players from other local clubs. Kick-off should be at around 7.30, with suitable festive additions to the evening (including warming half-time refreshments).

So - if you want to play (for either side!) - please get back to me or Wonky, and failing that why not come along  and watch and take part in what should be a fun evening!

Fixture dates 2011-12

In perhaps the most remarkable symbol of the new world we have joined since the "merger" between RFU and RFUW, the dates for club, county and divisional fixtures for next season have been published - at least six months earlier than RFUW ever managed on their own (indeed it has not been unknown in the past for the structure to not be finalised until after the season had started!).

Club training/matches: Sept 4*, 11*, 18*; Oct 2, 9, 23, 30; Nov 13, 20, 27; Dec 4, 18; Jan 1*, 8, 15, 29; Feb 5, 26; Mar 4, 11 (U15 only), 18, 25(U18 only); Apr 8*, 15 (Easter), 22, 29 (*= training only)

County: Sept 25 (training/development/trials); Oct 16 (match); Nov 6 (match); Dec 11 (match)

Division: Jan 22 (trials); Feb 12 (training), 19 (match); Mar 11 (U18 match); 25 (U15 training); Apr 1 (U15 tournament, U18 match)

Nationals 7s: May 8

Divisional dates will also, obviously, be used for club fixtures and training - but not for league matches as the "Youth Structured Season" booklet also says that "Club and cluster matches should take place on Club Training or Match (CMT) dates only" (ie. the club dates above).

The major things to note are the extra county fixture (but the lack of any training dates); that the number of club weekends is roughly that same, and that the National 7s is at the start of May - which implies a Herts 7s on 29th April... unless RFUW change their minds again!

New season, new structure, new controversy

Well, its not taken long...

Only a few weeks into the new-style girls' season and it has been discovered that some counties are playing fast-and-loose with the new rules, which is resulting in angry letters to RFUW.

What is the problem? Well, you will know that this season RFUW have taken over the management and structure of the county programme, organising all games and dictating when and how many training session there should be. In some areas this was unpopular as the new programme was much shorter than many counties had had in the past, and some counties asked RFUW is they could organise some extra games and training sessions.

The answer was clear - no.

Trouble is that other counties seem to have managed to get around this rule by, basically, ignoring it. So - for example - when Hertfordshire next play on 12th December it will be their second fixture, after two or three training sessions. It will be the same for Eastern Counties, who will be their hosts. However for the third team in the triangular - Kent - it will (according to their own website) be their fourth fixture, after at least four training sessions. They - like Surrey (if their website is correct) - have been playing extra fixtures on their "training" weekends, and organising additional midweek training sessions.

In the past such initiative might have been applauded - but for counties following RFUW's rules this will seem a bit unfair (to put it mildly). And with places in the new divisional squad trials being dependent on county performances... well, having had twice as many games and training sessions is hardly going to be a disadvantage to the players involved.

Clearly this would not have been a problem if RFUW had based their new season on the best county programmes - keeping the popular tournaments that had developed - as the demand for extra fixtures would not have happened, but having made the rules they did it is up to them to enforce them, especially when the breaches are so blatant. After all, if they do nothing (or just issue a weak "tut, tut") next season could be interesting... not to say chaotic...

In the meanwhile if this season's London Divisional squad is dominated by girls from Surrey, Kent and other counties who have organised unsanctioned fixtures, don't be too surprised.

Recognise the work of your club, coaches and team-mates

Entries for the 2010 Comet Sports Awards have opened.

The awards recognise the work and performances of everyone involved in sport in North Herts - coaches, players and teams. So if you think that your club, coaches or team-mate deserves recognition then don't wait for someone else to put in a entry - do it yourself!

This year's categories are:

• Sports Personality of the Year
• Team of the Year
• Service to Sport
• Coach of the Year
• Club of the Year
• Youth Achievement (Boys)
• Youth Achievement (Girls)
• Veteran Achievement
• The Paul Pearce Disability Award
• Youth Team of the Year
• School of the Year
• School Unsung Hero
• Sporting Photograph

OAs cancel tomorrow's county training session

OAs have announced that, due to frozen pitches, tomorrow's (28th November) joint training session for girls' clubs has had to be cancelled.

Six Nations 2011 - at last we know where and when

The times, dates and venues of the men's Six Nations games have been known for... well, months - practically since the last tournament - but for some reason details about the women's games have been treated as if they were state secrets by all of the countries involved (except Wales). At times you did wonder whether they had decided to avoid repeating the World Cup's problem of a lack of seats by not telling anyone where the Six Nations games would be played.

However, some determined will-not-take-no-for-an-answer work by ScrumQueen's Alison Donnelly has finally broken the resolve of the officials across the British Isles and France and at last we know where England will be attempting to retain their Grand Slam title, and where everyone else will be trying to stop them.

England three home games will - for the first time in many years - be spread across three grounds,  and - even more amazingly - they will be venturing outside the Home Counties (presumably the RFU have convinced the RFUW that civilisation has indeed now extended beyond the M25). Scotland, France and Italy are similarly spreading things about a bit, but Wales are sticking to Bridgend for their games and Ireland are remaining at "lucky" Ashbourne.

As for TV coverage, unconfirmed rumour suggests that Sky are keen to renew their acquaintance with the game and would be delighted to be able to show England's game at Twickenham  - but the snag is that the BBC have the rights to the preceding men's fixture. Sky also often cover England men's A and age-group games, and if they do coverage of the rather more interesting game against France may be possible. On the web Scottish Rugby TV occasionally records some of their women's games, while some French games can be found on the FFR's website (occasionally with a live feed).

However beyond that... nothing (so far as I am aware). It seems the concept of a live web feed for women's rugby - something which not only the USA and Canada can manage, but even a few of the Caribbean islands - currently remains beyond the technical abilities of the Home Nations. For the time being you really do have to be there.

Times, dates, and venues below:
Friday , Feb 4th: France v Scotland (Athis Mons)
Sunday, Feb 6th Wales v England (Bridgend RFC); Italy v Ireland (Rovigo, 14.30)

Friday February 11th: Ireland v France (Ashbourne, 19.30)
Saturday, February 12th: England v Italy (Esher, 16.30)
Sunday, February 13th: Scotland v Wales (West of Scotland Club, 14.00)

Saturday, February 26th: Scotland v Ireland (Lasswade RFC, 14.00)
Sunday, February 27th: England v France (Worcester); Italy v Wales (Viareggio, Tuscany, 14.30)

Sunday, March 13th: England v Scotland (Twickenham); Wales v Ireland (Bridgend RFC); Italy v France (Benevento, 14.30)

Friday, March 18th: Ireland v England (Ashbourne RFC, 19.00)
Saturday, March 19th: France v Wales (Stade Pierre Rajon, Bourgoin-Jallieu, 15.00)
Sunday, March 20th: Scotland v Italy (Meggittland, Edinburgh)

• And if you think that and England win is a foregone conclusion, then shock results can happen. Earlier today, in the women's sevens tournament at the Asian Games, China - who had hitherto not conceded a point in the tournament, had never lost a game at home, and had only been beaten by Australia since the last World Cup - missed out on gold, losing what sounds like an incredible, incident-filled, final to Kazakhstan. Nothing is certain in sport!

See the world through rugby

Want travel, play rugby AND make a difference to the lives of children in some of the poorest regions in the world? Then this could be for you.

The Tag Rugby Trust have contacted me. They are a charity that coaches children and develops rugby in countries across the globe -  take a look at our latest tour report from India, a tour which is in progress as we speak.

The TRT have been running tours since 2002 and run at least five similar tours a year, and the number is growing. They are IRB-recognised  and all funds raised go towards building futures for children through rugby. The tours are funded through volunteers who raise money to join the adventure, and work closely with the children as coaches. Apparently many volunteers say that the tour is a life changing experience. The TRT have a website, and photo albums on Picasa, or search for "Tag Rugby Trust" on YouTube.

The 2011 tour dates have just been announced - click here to register an interest.

2011 Tour Dates

Late April – Zambia (Already full!)
Late June/Early July – Uganda
Early July – Zambia
Late October/Early November – India
November – Mexico
Romania – TBC

More information: Tag Rugby Trust, Meadow View, Tannery Lane, Bramley, Guildford, Surrey, GU5 0AB. Telephone: 01483 892894.

Alphonsi is Sportswoman of the Year

Its probably not much consolation for losing the World Cup final, but Maggi Alphonsi's performance in that tournament - aided in no small part by the success of the competition and the way it captured the public imagination - has resulted in her winning the Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year award.

Not only is this a terrific honour for Maggie, but it is the first time women's rugby has won such a high profile award. Several of her "opponents" for the award were far more well-known sportswomen from far more "high profile" sports, such as gymnastics, cycling, and the Winter Olympics.

Unfortunately the England team missed out on the team award. However, it is interesting to remember that - while Maggie's win came as a result of a public vote - the team award was made by a panel of "experts" and journalists, which maybe suggests that sports journos who are out of touch with the interests and views of the public?

Vote for women's rugby

I am normally a bit reluctant to republish messages and releases from RFUW unedited, but for once I am going to make an exception. So, take it away Keeley...

"The Women’s game of rugby has received some great news and it would be brilliant for Women’s rugby as a sport if we could actually walk away with a winner.

On Sunday it was revealed in the Sunday Times that England Women have been shortlisted for the Sunday Times’ SportsWomen Team of the Year award and Maggie Alphonsi, has also been shortlisted for the SportsWoman of the Year award.

Voting for the team of the year is decided by a panel, but for the SportsWoman of the Year it’s up to the public! As you’ll see from the link below there is some tough competition, but if you want to show your support for Maggie please vote for her at www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sportswomenoftheyear. 

Voting closes midday on Wednesday November 17th so you’ll have to be quick and the winners will be announced on Monday 22nd November."

England's top U18s

After yesterday's U20 announcement, today it was the turn of the U18s who will be part of the new Talent Development Group (there will be no U15 group this season, due to the reorganisation). The names can be found on the RFUW website. No-one from Letchworth, but its still worth looking at as it is really interesting to see the geographic spread of players.

16 of the 32 girls come from six clubs, and five are from one club - London Irish (a fact that will result in the odd comment or two I suspect). In addition Aylesbury produce three, while Gloucester, H3, Newquay and Welwyn provide two each - but that does mean that 22 clubs are represented, which is (without checking) pretty good. The appearance of a few clubs that are not normally high on the list of "big names" is also good to see - Furness (Cumbria), Malton & Norton (Yorks.), and Tavistock (Devon) for instance - but most of the clubs are familiar names and chances are that anyone who played for our U18s last year will have played against most of the girls on this list.

This season the route into the TDGs will be via the new divisions, instead of the old regions. It will be interesting to see whether this results in any change to the range of clubs getting girls into the highest level of junior rugby.

All change for England U20s

After a disappointing season last year, its all change in the England U20 squad. Only eight players from last season survive the cull, and a new coach has been appointed - former Welsh international Amanda Bennett.

It will be the biggest season ever for the national age-group squad, with games against France and Scotland as well as the reappearance of the Nations Cup (presumably in Canada). On the other hand, going by the RFUW press release, the fixture against Wales seems to have been dropped which is a pity (if it is correct) as it is a game with a real history behind it and a good benchmark to measure the progress of both age-group teams.

There are several familiar names - former members of clubs such as Welwyn, Basford and Wimbourne. Check out the RFUW's release for all of the names.

• Late news... England will still be playing Wales it seems, but only as a training fixture. Odd...

County weekend round-up

All of the weekend's county results have now been published - and some even more remarkable scores are included.

Seniors

First, congratulations for Hertfordshire - the senior women's team - who completed a clean sweep for the county with a 30-7 win over Leicestershire. Only Essex did better with a 32-5 win over Sussex, and that with a side packed with familiar names from the days of the great U18 rivalry between the counties - India Harvey and Emily Scott were both among the Essex try scorers. Pity the two counties are not due to meet - would be great to watch.

In other games Lancashire also followed on from their juniors with a 30-7 win over Yorkshire to complete the hat-trick for the red rose - clearly Yorkshire's old U18 girls have not made it into the senior ranks in the same way that those in Herts and Essex have. Devon's women also completed a clean sweep over their Cornish rivals, 27-19. And Hampshire will be very disappointed by their 20-0 defeat to Kent - especially when they could not score even when had a two-player advantage near the end of the game. But the less happy news is that, just like their U15s, Warwickshire could not raise a women's team to play East Midlands.

Elsewhere..

• Cheshire 15, North Midlands 22
• Cumbria 17, Northumberland 7
• NLD 21, Staffordshire 24

U18s


Results unpublished on Sunday now reveal that...

• Gloucestershire were the winners in a three cornered set of fixtures involving Berkshire and Oxfordshire - moreover without conceding a try with a 27-0 win over Berkshire, and a 37-0 win over Oxon.
• Cheshire beat North Midlands 32-12

So, based on the first round of games, the leading counties at U18 level are Dorset & Wilts, Gloucestershire, East Midlands, Surrey, and Hertfordshire. Will we get a better (if unofficial) idea about who the Champion County is after next month's round of games?

U15s


The headline result with the U15s is the amazing 99-0 win for North Midlands over Cheshire - though the fact that Cheshire would appeared to have only fielded 10 players may have been an important factor. Dorset & Wilts were almost as impressive in their 52-0 win over Somerset.

Elsewhere...

• Berkshire were winners of a triangular also involving Gloucestershire and and Oxfordshire
• Kent completed a disappointing weekend for Hampshire with a 26-0 win
• Northumberland beat Cumbria 20-14.

The leading U15 counties so far would therefore seem to be... North Midlands, Dorset & Wilts, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, and Devon.

Sydney scores two as Hertfordshire sweep opposition aside

Hertfordshire were overwhelmingly dominant in their county games, at both age groups, yesterday. The U18s destroyed hosts Leicestershire 78-0, scoring 14 tries in the 70 minute game (see the Herts blog for details), while the U15s swept to a convincing win in a three-way tournament beating Leicestershire 32-5 (six tries, two for Syd, one for Florrie) and then Notts, Lincs and Derbys 20-5 (these games were "only" 35 minutes, so the scoring was almost as one sided as in the U18 game).

Results of (most) of the county games are now appearing on the Rugby Roundup website (look under "Competitions" and then "Under 15" or "Under 18") - which is a great breakthrough, presumably coming from the merger with the RFU. Though the website suffers from some seriously annoying pop-up adverts, once you have waded through it all you will find full team lists and scorer information for most of the games.

Looking through these results a few highlights stand out. Lancashire U15s - not historically the strongest of counties - destroyed Yorkshire 61-0... in Yorkshire, a truly astonishing result considering that Yorkshire was a Region on its own until this season, though maybe we saw a foretaste of this with the significant improvement by Lancashire teams at the National 7s back in May.

Elsewhere in the U15s Surrey thrashed Sussex 44-0, and Devon were almost as dominant in Cornwall, wining 48-12. but other games were closer. Its good to see former East Region colleagues Essex rebuilding  as they beat Middlesex 19-10, and the same applies to Eastern Counties - in deep trouble last season - who ran East Midlands close losing only 20-12. On the other hand it is worrying to see that the Staffordshire/ Warwickshire CB were unable to raise a side - not an area that you normally think of as being weak.

In the U18s (in the games were results have been published) East Midlands almost matched Herts with a 70-0 win over Eastern Counties, and Dorset and Wilts blew Somerset away by 78-5. Other games were rather closer, but Devons U18s achieved the double with a 26-10 win over Cornwall, as did Lancashire with a 17-10 win over Yorkshire. Joe Randall's old county - Gloucestershire - had few problems beating Oxfordshire 37-0, Hampshire sneaked home 12-7 against Kent. Staffs & Warwicks did get an U18 side out, but they lost 26-20 to NLD, and finally (and perhaps a surprise result) Oxfordshire beat Berkshire 21-5.

One thing you may notice is how counties with strong U15 team also tend to have strong U18 teams, which presumably reflects the strength of the game at club level in each county (okay, county coaches may help - but  even the most brilliant of coaches would be hard pressed to make silk purses out of sows ears in only two or three training sessions!). When you think about where the big clubs are - the Lancashire U15 and Oxfordshire U18 results aside (surely Berkshire is is mainly Reading, for heaven's sake!) - there are no huge surprises. We know its good in Devon (Exeter Saracens, to name but one excellent club down there), and that the (unfortunately former) Gloucester Girls Rugby Trust did amazing things in that county. Dorset will be drawing on Wimboune, amongst others, and Surrey will presumably have the likes of London Irish behind their success.

However, the overall message that comes from - admittedly only just the first round of results - is how amazingly strong the game in Hertfordshire is. So, if you trialled for the county squad but didn't get in, don't have hard feelings - you were trying to get into one of the best county squads in England!

The time has come...

The time has come to tie down exactly who can and will play in the historic Old Letchworth/Legends Reunited v Old Welwyn match, to be played at Letchworth on the evening of Monday 20th December. The ground is agreed, the club are signed up - its all ready (apparently). All we need is YOU.

So - please can you confirm whether or not you can play on that evening. If you would like to play, but are still unsure of your availability, then please let me know that as well - a lack of reply by (let's say) 20th (at the very latest) will be taken as meaning that you cannot play. That would give us plenty of time to wind things down if it turned out that we did not have enough of you willing to play (a possibility which, it has to be said, seems unlikely based on initial responses). It will also allow us to decide whether we'll be playing 7s, 10s or a full 15-a-side game.

In addition, if you know of anyone who has not received this message but would still like to play, please pass the invitation on. The only qualifications are to be aged 18 years or more on the day, and to have worn the Black and Amber as a junior. In theory this means that well over 100 of you are qualified, so we really should be able to get a team together.

Anyway.... the main thing is that its going to be fun, the bar will be open afterwards, and all you need do to make it happen is hit this email link. Now.

Remembering Letchworth's fallen

If you are not going to Hertford on Sunday (see below) please try to come to the club at 12.45 - the end of the junior boys' training - for a special presentation for Remembrance Sunday.

You may have noticed in the clubhouse a small wooden plaque listing the players and club members who fell during the Second World War. Its a simple memorial, like many you see, but for most people they are just names. The war ended 65 years ago this year - a long time, even for their families, to remember the people behind these names.

So this Sunday promises to be very special. To mark the 65th anniversary one of the club's oldest and most distinguished members - Gordon Collinson - will be giving a brief presentation about the real people behind these names, many of whom he knew.

It'll be a fairly short event - 15-20 minutes perhaps - but an important one. Please come along if you can.

County development day

Even if you are not playing for the county this weekend, there is still a great opportunity for you to have a game.

The county RFU are organising a series of development days designed to give girls who are not in the county squads as much game time as possible on County days. The next day will be at Hertford this Sunday and girls from both age groups are invited.

Players should arrive at Hertford after 12 o'clock - changing facilities may be available, but you should come ready just in case. After a group warm up/training session players will be grouped into teams to play a game or games from about 1pm, with the day finishing at 2 - 2.30pm.

These days are always great fun, and well worth attending - particularly if you are new to the game.

Getting ready for the game: expert advice

Scrumqueens has just published an excellent article, written by Sports scientist Tessa Morris (pic left) and Scotland women's rugby international Lynsey Douglas (right) detailing how players can make themselves as prepared as possible for a match.

Its gives advice on diet and liquid intake before, during, and after a game that will maximise your fitness and performance on the day, as well as helping you recover afterwards.

Admittedly, with most games being on Sundays, I suspect that the requirements may be quite challenging for some...