…….and there was a little bit of History right there. On Saturday we got together with our friends from Racing Rugby Club for an inter club all-girls practice match.
It was a fantastic occasion and for those of us who were there to support our daughters, granddaughters, sisters, friends and club-mates, we were certainly in our “rugby happy place” as the girls exemplified the spirit of rugby and made us very proud to share in their day.
We assembled both teams for some pre-game skills and drills and within minutes they were catching strawberries, dipping them in chocolate and passing to their friends (although it was actually a rugby ball, there were no strawberries….or chocolate…. but hey, whatever works for Victoria’s youngest girls teams!).
Then both teams, lined side by side, ran onto the field. Amelia as Captain, led our girls out and it was game on. Right from the start the pace was off the scale! Under the Viva 7’s rules, both teams had trained, yet both teams played a different style of game which was great to watch.
Racing brought a free-flowing “2-step & offload when tagged” attack, often opening up the field and finding space. Amelia soon arranged our girls defensive lines by simply going back to the basic training drills (back 5 & rugby octopus), closing down Racing’s space.
Our Redbacks used a “ball placement when tagged” attack, forcing Racing back down the field and applying pressure before passing out wide. Both teams traded exciting fast paced tries with Alice and Bella running in some wonderful tries for the Redbacks.
Poppy & Lola chased and tagged from start to finish, trying to slow down Racing’s great ball runners.
Jaimie and Alannah worked well through the middle, constantly pushing the opposition backwards with quick ball placement and Sunday was always in support and moving the ball wide.
By the end of the game with scores even, both sides were exhausted but everyone exhilarated, having played a part in something quite special. Both teams had medals awarded to their Team Player of the Day and lined up with their teammates for photos.
The two different styles of play from both sides showed us how this format of non-contact rugby has a future and importantly, caters to teams with wider age groups and all abilities. A huge thank you to both the Kiwi Hawthorn and Racing girls for a tremendous effort, for playing the game in great spirit and for putting smiles on our faces…..and who knows, in only 3 Olympics you girls may well be playing for the same team, and the medals above may well be Gold!
Thank you again to Racing Rugby Club and to everyone who supported the day and see you all again at training on Tuesday night………
Kiwi Hawthorn Junior Rugby 