Saracens 34 - 15 Bucks Jesters

So to the return. Sunday 23rd November. We were ready. Bucks were up for it and convinced they could reverse last week’s defeat. We had Megan back and therefore this week it was 12 a side. The snow had cleared but the weather was threatening. The only pitch playable was the main pitch which is huge and favoured Bucks’ speed. We had trained hard on Thursday for the game, and now needed to put it into practice. From the start we were superior in the scrum and made it tell. Claire scored the first try from an attacking scrum and converted it. Bucks came straight back and scored. More Saracens pressure eventually saw Emily go over, but yet again Bucks came back. Saracens applied the pressure again and Finn after a long spell of possession scored. We went into half time 17:10 up. The coaches gave us some hints for the second half. Bucks kicked off and we got the ball, it was passed down the line and Lauren playing only her 4th game went over to score. Saracens were now on top and though Bucks attacked we defended really well and turned the ball over. We were able to attack up-field keeping the ball alive in contact as we practised at training, but were stopped just short of the line. We continued to attack and eventually get a scrum in mid field from which Claire scored again. We recovered the kick off and the ball got passed back to Claire who kicked long down-field. We got a good chase on putting pressure on the Bucks defence. Bucks failed to recover the bouncing ball and Claire slid over to score under the posts and covert. Bucks didn’t give up and came back at us and got another good try close to the posts. It was now raining heavily but we retained possession and the referee eventually decided we’d got cold, wet and muddy enough and blew full time, Saracens winning 34:15.

Bucks Jesters 22 - 26 Saracens

We went to a drizzly Aylesbury for the league game against Bucks Jesters on 16th November. One of our best turnouts of the season saw us field a starting 11 players. We had the slightly bigger team and Bucks had the faster team. With the weather as it was, (very wet and rainy!!) it was going to make an interesting game. From the initial exchanges it was obvious that we were winning the majority of the tackle areas, but Bucks punished us if we lost the ball. From a scrum on the 22 Claire went over to score and convert, but Bucks immediately came back and scored. This was the way the game progressed. They had the initial advantage in the scrums and lineout, we rucked very well, but they were able to go around us. Eventually the game finished 26:22 to Saracens, the difference down to Claire’s three conversions to Bucks’ one. Roll on next week and Bramley Road where we can add mud to the rain…

Basford 73 - 0 Saracens/Hertford

Basford 73 Saracens/Hertford 0 We teamed up again with Hertford to play a full sided game against Basford on the 2nd November. In what turned out to be a heavy defeat orchestrated by Scotty and India and aided by Frenchie in the centre. All the TDG training obviously is paying off as their running lines cut us to pieces in the backs. Well done to the forwards for taking the game to them. Cheers to Basford for the lesson, now we know where we have to aim for. However after the match Basford were taught a lesson in the drinking department as the Sarries team captain managed to down a full pint, instead of tipping it on someone's head...shame!

Oxon Cluster 12 - 46 Saracens

The girls started slowly after the long drive to Grove on 26th October, but grew in confidence as the game went on. The first few minutes both teams were testing each other out. Saracens got a scrum just in the Oxon half, and Claire broke down the blind side to score in the corner, the conversion coming back off the post. This gave the girls more confidence, but they were still standing off in the contact area and passes were being dropped. Suddenly Saracens hit a ruck well and got quick ball just in the Oxon 22, Claire passed the ball out it went down the backs into the centre before a tackle came in, but the ball was passed out the tackle to find Claire looping around to score in the opposite corner. From another attack in the Oxon 22, more good rucking saw quick ball out to Becky in the centre to power through and score under the posts with an easy conversion to follow. Oxon came back and started to put pressure on Sarries. Sarries were defending well and finally managed to turn the ball over, it was passed blind and Finn ran from just inside the Sarries half to score. The first half finished 22-0 to Sarries.

Oxon started the second half with pressure on Sarries. Oxon broke blind from a ruck in their own half and were able to break away to score. From the kick off they immediately broke through again but were brought down just short of the line. Sarries defended the ensuing ruck but the pressure continued and Oxon were able to crash over to score a converted try. Sarries changed tactics slightly, kicking a penalty for touch into the Oxon 22. Amy won the lineout, the ball was passed to Becky in the centre who was stopped, but the ball was immediately recycled and passed to Claire running round the outside of the Oxon defence to score in the corner. Sarries attempted a similar move a few minutes later, again kicking a penalty into touch in the Oxon 22. Amy again won the lineout, the ball again found its way to Becky in the centre who was stopped but the ball was recycled to Finn this time looping round the Oxon defence to score in the corner. Sarries again drove the ball up into the Oxon 22. Committing players they won a slow ruck ball the ball was passed from Flo to Emily coming back on an inside run. Emily looked to have been stopped just short, but kept driving and broke through the tackle to score her first try for the club by the posts and Claire converted. There was just time from the kick off for Becky to gather the ball and drive into the Oxon half before being stopped. She passed to Amy who continued to drive deeper into the Oxon half, before Claire received the ball and side stepped her way through under the posts to score a converted try.

Many thanks to the Oxon cluster for a great match and hospitality.

Ampthill 35 - 45 Saracens/Hertford

Seven of our U18’s went to Ampthill on a wonderful sunny Sunday 26th October, with Jade, Lyndsey and Poppy from Hertford. It was a great match that ebbed and flowed with tries being scored alternatively by each team in the first half until Saracens scored a pair of tries just before half time without reply to retake the lead. The second half was very similar to the first half with both teams trading tries until midway in the second half when Saracens managed to score a quick brace of tries, before alternate try scoring returned. Final score Saracens 45, Ampthill 35. Tries: Claire x3, Finn x2, Lyndsey x2, Poppy and Sarah. Lauren made her debut and just failed to score while Emily, Poppy and Jade were making only their second appearance. Many thanks to Ampthill for providing wonderful weather and a great match

Saracens/Hertford 0 - 37 Letchworth

On what could be described as a typical winter rugby day gales and driving rain, we played our first match of the season against Letchworth. We were helped out be Hertford bringing some of their U18’s and hopefully we can continue to build this relationship in the games ahead. Although the weather was not conducive to free flowing rugby the girls played some great rugby. With 4 girls playing their first game ever it was always going to be a tough day especially with Sacha and Hayley back from their England U20 trials in the Letchworth team. In fact in the first half they were able to dominate and made the breaks that gave Letchworth 5 tries. A sixth was conceded at the beginning of the second half. After that the Saracens and Hertford girls started to put some better rugby together and dominated a large chunk of the half, putting lots of pressure on the Letchworth line. However excellent defence and some inexperience stopped the girls from scoring. Letchworth managing to break away near the end of the game to score the only converted try under the posts. Many thanks to Letchworth for providing great opposition on a less than welcoming day.

Welcome to the new season...

Welcome back to rugby, early mornings, cold mud baths, what more could you want! This season returns with ELV's just to make our lives that bit more complicated, and the old age group swap, good luck with the changes guys. Hopefully this season will be as much fun as the last, with more successes and trophies for the mantle piece. I hope everyone enjoys this season as much as I will...goodluck xXx

U18 HPA 2007-08

Following on from our girls’ success representing East Region, Alice and Claire have been selected to the U18 HPA which is the first trial for the 2008-09 U18 Talent Development Group. This is a brilliant reward not just for their performance during the Regional Festival, but throughout the entire season. East Region will also be represented by Alex and Megan from Basford, while Welwyn are represented by Sam and Georgia. All these girls were playing U15’s this season but will be U18’s next season. Courtney has been put forward at U15 together with Lucy, Olivia, Maddy, Layla and Abbie. Some of the current U18’s have also been selected for the HPA. Following on from the HPA news has come through that Claire is the only current U15 to make the U18 Talent Development group Trial and will now go to a 3 day camp at Hartpury College. India from Basford was the only U18 to be selected from East to attend. They will now join Alex, Hannah and Megan from Welwyn who are already TDG girls.

Sarries Girls Runners up at Herts 7’s

Sarries girls went to Tabard on the 18th May to play in the Herts 7’s in the last games as an U15's squad. In the pool games first up was OA’s and Sarries ran out 15 – 0, with tries from Claire x2 and Alice. 10 girls took part in that game, while Chloe, Sarah and CJ guested for the Barbarians. In the second game Sarries played Hertford and quickly coasted into a 17 – 0 lead with two tries from Claire together with a conversion and another try from Alice, all scored playing up hill. In the second half Hertford came back playing up hill and scored three tries to put pressure on the girls, before Claire sealed the match with a converted try to win 24 - 17. Just before half time one of the Hertford girls was injured, and we hope she is all right. At the same time Tilly, Finn and Laura played for the Barbarians in their win over Tamworth, with Laura scoring one of the tries. That took Sarries into the cup semi final against a Reading team, conquerors of Welwyn and Bucks Jesters. Saracens playing up hill in the first half were under instructions to close the very dangerous Reading fly half down and apply pressure to the reading forwards. Pressure from Saracens saw them just stopped short of the line, but Melissa was on hand to pick up the ball and dive over to open the scoring. Claire then scored and converted to give Saracens a healthy lead playing up hill. Reading hit back at the start of the second half with a good score up the hill, before Megan went over in the corner and Sydnie picked up and powered over under the posts Claire finished off the scoring to win 33 – 5. CJ and Sarah were also representing the Barbarians in their final game who ended a creditable eighth. This put Saracens into the final against London Irish who came through the other semi final against Basford by winning a penalty kick off, unluckily for Basford. Sarries started stronger and saw Finn just held up and Megan losing control of the ball at the line. In their first real possession London Irish kicked and chased, getting the bounce and scoring in the corner. Sarries came back and Finn was stopped just short again. In the second half the stronger London Irish team were able to impose themselves on the game and scored 3 more tries before Claire got a consolation try. The girls played very well but were beaten by a better team on the day 22 – 5. It was a great day well run by Tabard and the girls performed brilliantly. A well deserved second place, congratulations!

East Region in Regional Festival

It was a very hot sunny day at Lichfield on Saturday 10th May. The pitches were hard, but not as hard as the rugby! This was the third time I have seen the U15 festival and the level of skills has increased year on year. This year was by far the toughest in tackling and defensive pressure as well as attacking skills. The weather being so hot also took a toll and the biggest job the subs had in each game was getting enough water onto the pitch for the players. In the first game the East played the North East. The girls were really up for it and attacked from the kick-off putting pressure on NE and turning the ball over. Some great skills were shown during the match with offloading before or during contact to keep the game flowing. East won 24-0 with Alex, Finn, Yas and Courtney scoring and Claire converting two conversions and hitting the upright with a third. In an unfortunate incident in the first half one of the NE girls was injured trying to prevent Alex scoring. The air ambulance was called and she was taken to hospital, but was fit enough to return before the end of the day for the prize giving. After the delay for the air ambulance East immediately kicked off against Thames Valley. TV looked keener in the first half, and East were under a lot of pressure, but solid defence kept TV at bay. In the second half East came back into it, but TV pressured defence kept East out. The game ended 0-0, and East by virtue of their bigger win over NE progressed to the Cup competition. In the semi-finals East came up against East Wales. This was a repeat of the bowl final last year, which East lost 5-0. It was to be just as tight this time. East were putting pressure on the Welsh through the forwards and had good possession and territory, but could not break through the Welsh defence. Claire fell just short with a Penalty kick, but at half time it was 0-0. The Welsh kicked off the second half and started to find their rhythm creating half chances in their backs, but the East defence was able to stop them. The Welsh also fell just short with a penalty chance. With less than a minute left a Welsh attacking scrum saw their scrum half pick up and run at the East backs. As she side stepped across she managed to halt the drift of the defence and created enough space for the wing to score. The failed conversion proved to be the last kick of the game and the Welsh were through to the final. The other semi was just as tight and eagerly contested between the South and East Midlands. In a slight surprise EM shaded the contest 3-0, going on to beat the Welsh in the final. Congratulations to EM being a new name on the trophy this year. This left the East to play the South for the 3rd/4th playoff. It looked as though East were really up for it and from the kick-off drove at their opposition. In a number of attacks, great South defending repeatedly stopped East just short of the try line. Just before half time South broke away down the East right and scored. From the restart East immediately put pressure on the South again and were held up just short of the line. The Ref called half time. In the desperate defence one of the South girls was concussed, requiring the ambulance. This resulted in the second half being played on the adjoining pitch and the picture of a mass exodus of the supporters from one side of the ground to the other across the pitch as the girls tried to kick-off, much to the amusement of the Ref! Again the East attacked, and the second half was very much a copy of the first with East launching attack upon attack on the South, but great South defence preventing the crucial score. South eventually held out to win 5-0. East took 4th place, a great performance from all the girls who took part. The final thing now is after the great performances to see how many of the Sarries girls caught the eye of the RFUW staff and get nominated next week for the RFUW High Performance Academies at U18.

East Region v South

On sunday 27th April all 5 of the Saracens girls were in the squad for the game against the winners of the Regional Festival for the last two years. It was always going to be a tough game, but Sydnie was injured early in the first period and couldn’t continue. The East then conceded two very similar tries as the defence didn’t cover across the pitch quickly enough as the South looped players wide to score in the corner. Claire pouncing on a lose ball made a break but was caught by the full back with no support close by, in what was one of the few opportunities for the East to score. Courtney scored the East only try when they kept it tight and drove from a number of rucks over the line. The final score was East 5 : 38 South

County Development Squad v Kent, Middlesex, EC.

This was the second time this season that Herts had hosted a U15 County Development fixture at Welwyn RFC. The two dates were chosen to coincide with Regional dates, to give the next level of players an opportunity to gain more experience at this level. A number of girls from Saracens took part in the games. As the other Counties didn’t have as many girls as Herts, Saracens girls also represented the other counties to make up their numbers, as well as playing at least a match for Herts. The first event in March involved Herts, Kent and Middlesex and they were joined this time by Eastern Counties. Each team played each other in a round robin format, but there was no Trophy at stake. Herts had 25 Players, so quite a few of them ended up guesting for Middlesex and Kent, who were both short of numbers, to ensure they gained as much game time as possible. In the final round of games Herts Girls were playing for 3 different sides simultaneously, but we did ensure that all the Herts. Girls did play in at least one game for their own County.

For the record the Herts scores were:

Herts. 35 Eastern Counties 0

Herts. 29 Kent 0

Herts. 37 Middlesex 0

Both the County U15 Development and U12 Girls team initiatives have been very well received this season and we plan to continue them next season.

County Development Squad v Kent and Middlesex

Whilst the Regional Players were away training, Welwyn hosted a 3 way U15 County Development Fixture between Herts, Kent and Middlesex. Over 20 Girls from 4 Herts Clubs (Saracens, Hertford, Old Albanians and Welwyn) plus two friends from Basford made up the Herts Squad. There was a roll-on roll-off policy throughout the afternoon to give all the Players as much game time experience as possible. Herts drew both games: 10-10 against Kent and then 5-5 against Middlesex. Middlesex beat Kent in the other game. With a number of this seasons Herts A team in their last season of U15 Rugby, many of the Girls that played in these games will be in contention for the Herts U15 A Team next season.

Middlesex Lions v Berkshire

On the day we had 11 players available from Saracens out of a total of 22. We leant a front row player to Berkshire to be able to play contested scrums and get as many girls as possible as much game time as possible. This was a very close match, much closer than the first meeting earlier in the season. The lions needed to win to keep the pressure up on the league leaders Bucks Jesters. They got off to a great start when Tara was able to score wide out. Claire then increased the lead also overlapping to score out wide. The Lions continued to pile on the pressure in the Berks 22, but a loose pass was intercepted and berks were able to go the length of the field to score, just before half time. The second half was more even with Berks applying pressure and equalling the score. The Lions came back but as in the first half a lose ball near the try line was intercepted and run back the length of the pitch to score. Berks then got another good try after some pressure before Tara finally converted the Lions possession with a try in the dying seconds.

Happy Mothers Day!

This weekend was highly successful with a triple win against Hertford, our old rivals Welwyn, and the newbies OA's.

On a glorious Mothers Day 11 of the girls went to OA’s to play this fixture. In the first game against a very good Hertford side, the girls failed to win scrums against a much bigger pack, but tackled strongly and rucked well to get some ball. With the ball passed down the line from a turnover, Finn ran round the defence to open the scoring. The twins both just failed to score in the same move after a good break from Hannah. Claire then scored after cutting a good line through the defence. In the second half Sydnie made a good break and was stopped just short of the try line. From the resulting penalty Claire just managed to dive over and place the ball on the line. The resulting deep kick off from Hertford caused some panic in the Sarries defence, but the ball was passed to Claire who started to go one way then changed her mind and as the chase came up side stepped the nearest chaser and then had a clear 70m run to score under the posts and then convert. In the dying seconds Charlie picked up a dropped pass from the Sarries midfield and sprinted 50m to score under the posts, giving Hertford a deserved try, which they thoroughly deserved. Final score 22:7. The second fixture saw Welwyn try to improve on their previous results against Saracens. It was another titanic battle with the defences being on top and forcing the errors and turnovers from the attack. All the game was being played in the middle third of the pitch. Twice from rucks Claire broke blind and was able to find the space to get away and score under the posts making the conversions easier. Welwyn came back though and a good break by Courtney saw her power over in the corner, but she was unable to convert the difficult pick. With time up, but Welwyn keeping the ball alive, a break through a tired looking Sarries midfield resulted in a score under the posts. Final score 14:12. The final fixture saw the girls take on a new OA’s team on their main pitch. The OA’s girls have been training really hard and it showed with some excellent tackling. With a few more games experience they will be a force to be reckoned with. The Sarries girls greater game experience told as the game developed. Powerful running from Megan, Sydnie and Laura made repeated inroads into the OA’s defence. The rucking from the whole pack also secured quality ball for the girls to use. Finn opened the scoring outrunning the OA’s cover to score under the posts. From a penalty in the OA’s 22, Laura playing her first game crashed over under the posts. Megan and Sydnie with powerful runs in the second half scored also, before Claire broke blind from a ruck and put Sophie in the clear to score. Claire converted 4 out of the 5 tries to make the final score 33:0. Many thanks to OA’s for hosting some wonderful rugby, and hopefully we can find room for a return fixture in the coming months.

Lions Vs Oxford

Sunday 17th February, the Lions played Oxfordshire. It was a great, fast paced game, with lots of skill and team work giving the lions a 26 - 5 win. Well done to the girls, it was a very enjoyable match. Also congratulations to the U18's for their win. It seemed to be a long time in the making, but a fantastic step all the same. Great going!

Saracens v Welwyn v Basford

Welwyn Warriors played host on Sunday 27th as both Basford and Saracens descended on their Hobbs Lane ground. On a day when the pitches had recovered really well from the recent downpours and with sun shining all 3 teams contributed to some excellent and entertaining rugby. The first game saw Saracens take on Welwyn, and what a game this turned out to be. From the whistle the game was played at a terrific pace with neither side giving an inch. Saracens had a guest player in Alex at full back. Saracens took the lead early on with a well worked try from Finn, and continued to press to try and stretch their advantage during the first half, but the Welwyn defence stood up to everything being thrown at them. Welwyn came back into the game towards the end of the first half starting to harass the Saracens defence and mid way through the 2nd half they were rewarded for their pressure with Sam going over to level the scores. The game was being played at such a pace, with big tackles being put in by both teams all around the pitch, and Saracens managed to keep it level. The full time score of 5-5 was probably a just result, as neither team deserved to lose following that performance. The next game saw Sarries take on Basford. As with the previous games this was played at a fast pace, with the boot of Claire putting the Basford defence on the back foot on a couple of occasions. Neither of the two packs were going to give an inch, and for long periods the game was centred around the middle of the park. When ever one side tried to free their backs to run at the other team, they were quickly shut down. First blood was drawn by Basford when their winger made a break down the left and managed to hold of the last ditch tackle from Alex to go over for 5-0, with a conversion to make it 7-0. The girls soon found themselves desperately defending their line as Saracens launched attack after attack at them. When the Girls were penalised for failing to roll away just outside their 5m line, they were punished when a quickly taken penalty from Claire was spun wide to give Finn space to go over in the corner to make it 7-5. Turning round for the second half, again both teams refused to give an inch, however Finn found a gap to step inside and go over the line for her 2nd try of the game, and 3rd of the day, to give Saracens a 10-7 lead. As the game wore on the Saracens defence didn’t look like they were going to be beaten, and with it inflict only the 2nd defeat on the Basford girls this season. Again the team made some stunning tackles, literally in the case of Frank who left the field shortly before the end. However with only a couple of minutes remaining, the wing again stepped outside and made a break down the sidelines and again, despite some great tackles, managed to stay on her feet and cross over for her second try to give Basford a 12-10 lead. A narrow defeat but one that Basford had to fight for and grind out the hard way. We were very close to inflicting only their second defeat of the season. This shows a significant improvement from the game before Christmas. We would like to thank Alex for coming along and joining us for the day. Final Results:Welwyn Warriors 5 - 5 Saracens Basford 27 - 0 Welwyn Warriors Saracens 10 - 12 Basford Well done to each and every girl who played today and made it an enjoyable day for all those who watched from the sidelines

Regional Selections

Well done to Alice, Meg, Finn, Sidney and Claire for making it to East Region.

Well done to Amy for being the only Middlesex player to make it onto Thames Valley Region.

Sarries Girls Vs Letchworth

On Sunday 13th January, the sarries girls kick started the new year with a fantastic win under their belts away to Letchworth. In one of the most enjoyable games of the season, Sarries scored 12 tries to nil, with nearly everyone in the team scoring. It was a fantastic match and well done to all the girls who took part, including the Letchworth/Amptill girls, for many of which it was their first game.

Saracens v Slough

Nine Saracens girls went to Slough to play as part of the Middlesex Lions against the Berkshire cluster. Playing on the Slough main pitch the girls took the game to the opposition from the kick off. Three times in the first half the ball was moved wide to Finn who was able to score a hat-trick to give the girls a comfortable half time lead of 17:0. She could have had a 4th try from a kick through, but knocked on with the line at her mercy. The Berkshire girls came out for the second half with renewed determination and strong tackling restricted the girls to one try in the second half. Although the girls played really well the final bonus point try eluded them. The final score was 22:0.