YOUTH RUGBYA GIRLS’ rugby team from Bishop Lovett Middle School came agonisingly close to making a dream appearance at Twickenham, coming joint second in the HSBC Rugby Festival finals in Staines.
In their pool of four teams, they were pitted against the champions from the Midlands, the south west of England and the Eastern counties.
In their first game against Aldridge from the Midlands, Bishop Lovett attacked from the first whistle putting the opposition under constant pressure, although they failed to turn their advantage into points, as the game ended 0-0.
And there was more of the same in their second match against the South West champions but again Bishop Lovett squandered several chances to win, although Libby Triggs and Leanne Mitchell had storming games.
Going into their final game, the girls knew a victory would mean an appearance at Twickenham, before the Army v Navy match, for the final.
This was a much more even game with both side attacking and defending in equal measure. Emily Rose went close to scoring early on only to be tackled just before the try line.
Amy Cooke also went close toward the end of the game but was robbed of the ball and the opposition ran the length of the pitch to score the winning try, meaning the Island side finished joint second.
The team can be extremely proud of their efforts, especially as they have only recently taken up the game.
The Bishop Lovett squad was: Emily Rose, Amy Cooke, Libby Triggs, Hannah Morris, Gabby Gask, Leanne Mitchell, Hannah Langridge, Molly Bartlett, Kaya McGregor, Kaiya Woodford, Beth Veitch, Stevie Cuthbert, Izzy Stark and Lilly Hayes.