Friary girls took part in their first rugby tournament as students from Years 7-10 took part in a tag rugby tournament.

The tournament was played in a 7s format and our girls fought hard to compete against each opposition.

The first match was up against King Edwards A Team and it was a tough battle for the girls, however their resilience payed off and the final result ended in a a 1-0 victory. A brilliant try scored by Brogan Crawford with to her lightning pace on the wing. A special mention to Sophie Buckley and Aimee Irvine for their hard work in defending the try line.

The second two matches were against King Edwards B Team and Lichfield Cathedral School A Team and saw the Friary team drop to 6 players. The matches started of very close but Friary found it challenging to stop their opponents because of the over-lap in players which lead to them conceding. However, the girls demonstrated their impressive ball carrying skills and strong attacking lines but the muddy conditions forced a couple of mistakes which lead to a defeat.

The final game was against Lichfield Cathedral B Team and the girls were wanting to finish on a high. After learning from their errors they concentrated on finding the gaps in the oppositions defence and supporting each other in breakthroughs. Captain Isabella Lydall displayed great leadership skills and tactical awareness of the game as well as scoring a brilliant try on the wing. Another two tries came from Hannah Grimshaw with her powerful and agile running and a final one from Hannah Norton who demonstrated spectacular attacking skills. The match ended up being a successful 4-0 win!

Poppy Grimshaw, Year 11 and Team Coach, said: “Throughout the tournament the girls showed grit and determination and worked well as a team to learn more about the game and develop their skills. For some of the girls it was their first-time playing rugby and they absolutely smashed it! We hope to see more fixtures for girls’ rugby in the future and lots of girls getting involved.”