Women’s and girls’ rugby:
Some many months ago a handful of ladies turned up for the first evening of summer pre-season training. Back then I think it would be fair to say that there was some doubt as to whether the ladies section of the club could produce a team for the coming season. Sadly the team had lost some key players at the end of the last season to retirement, family and work commitments.

The ladies section has been well established at the club for over a decade and like with all teams players and coaches come and go but thankfully for this team there is a strong core of players that continue to rally round week in week out. This core group of girls has, over the last couple of months, enticed old players to dig their boots out again and welcomed new players who have been eager to try a piece of the rugby pie!

During the following weeks training the girls worked on various points and the vibe was building nicely for another tough game against a very big East London side, who again had been playing very well and were very well drilled. The ladies looked good and everyone felt good. Unfortunately, the ladies played to the oppositions strengths and kept it close around the contact area and they just couldn't get the break they thoroughly deserved. The ladies lost 44-19, a game which saw some real disappointment from everyone. The girls knew it was a case of us loosing rather than them winning. Credit must be given to East London though who played to their strengths and came away with the win.

Again the ladies learnt from this and numbers were high are training to right those wrongs and develop their own games. With the first home game approaching the ladies knew they owed themselves a massive performance and they delivered. What's great with this team is despite having to rely on each other on the whole for coaching and leadership they constantly do keep learning and moving forward.

They approached the home game against local rivals Harlow with a new vigour and having learnt from previous mistakes they stuck to their game plan. This was emphasised when during the game the Chelmsford pack had to dig deep and showed real character when the Harlow pack was trying to bully them and impose themselves. The Bluebirds didn't give in and their skill and fitness told in the end winning 22-7. What a fantastic end to the first part of the season.

So that's the first part of the season complete. On reflection there are many positives to take forward into the next section and the team have secured that ever important first win. This is an outstanding bunch of ladies who together will do great things. The new ladies who have come into the team have already shown some real class and most importantly the right attitude to learn and implement. The older ladies have, yet again, shown their worth not just to the team but to Chelmsford Rugby Club.

On that note.... Let's go Bluebirds.