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WIMBORNE
RUGBY CLUB
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Girls
Homepage - Season 2007 / 2008
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We have justifiably got a reputation for playing tough, fair rugby with a high level of sportsmanship and fun. We love the game. We are always looking for new girls to join us and share the fun and glory. So if you want to be part of something quite special, get fitter, have some great times, and hopefully win some medals along the way just call Emma. |
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Latest Headlines: We have won the London & SE division one league. also.... end-of-season do on Friday And finally....... Thanks to the entire management team, in alphabetical order: And to the parents, who have supported their girls during the season and provided transport when they could. This wouldn't be possible without you either. It's goodbye to Becki, Emma, Louisa and Sam. Old enough to vote, too old to play for us. You'll be missed, but I hope we'll see you in the future. And we have to say farewell to "Corporal" Carole who
is leaving for pastures North. Next season here we come....... (oh, see you down the beach......) PaulSaturday May 24th National 7s runners-up and silver medal winners! Wimborne U18s played their final games of the season at Leighton Buzzard, together with 30 other teams, who had all gathered to play the National 7s. On arrival, our first move was to pitch as close to the hedge at the top of the field, to avoid the whistling wind (please note that in our pics, it was not a bad hair day, just the wind!) Wimborne U18s don't normally think of themselves as 7s players, but the day was to prove otherwise.
Our first match was against Waterloo/Tydesdale, who unfortunately had only brought 7 players. The unfortunate part was that after 2 unconverted tries by Donna Rose, there were injuries to 2 of the Waterloo players, one bumped head and one dislocated knee (an old injury that reoccurred.) The match was abandoned after a few minutes, with the result of 10 - 0 to Wimborne. Next in the pool came Exeter Saracens, who ran away with the game in the first half and only a late try by Donna, in the second half, put us onto the scoreboard, with the final score 19 - 5 to Saracens (the eventual winners of the competition.) We took until the 3rd game to get into our stride and Wisbech Grammar School were our next opponents - research on the web said they were an up-and-coming team, with some ex-footie players. We expected a game of fast running and challenging tackles, but most of that came from the Wimborne side. Jess Weymouth and Donna scored in the first half with some excellent runs. In the second half, our defence held firm and after a breakaway run from Leah Thompson and slick passing to Donna, we scored again. With only a minute to go, Amy Shipley made another of her trademark runs to score under the posts, which was duly converted by Bryony Cleall. The final score was 24 - 0.
Everyone then waited for all the permutations to be calculated and our next games to be sorted out. We spent the time chatting to friends from other teams and exchanging friendly banter with Reading who were camped next to us. Guess who we faced in the quarter-finals? Yes, our old adversaries - Reading. We told them that it was our turn to win, as they had won our last encounter, and just like the last meeting, the game was incredibly close. In the first half, Reading led with the score, 10 - 0. In the second half, Vicky Horsfield scored and from a scrum near the line, Amy dotted the ball down under the posts. Both tries were converted by Donna and we had our narrow victory of 12 - 10. For the second year in a row, we got to the semi-finals. Perhaps we can play 7s after all! Our opponents were Basford, in their bright yellow and red kit, an imposing sight. Most of the match was spent wrestling for the ball, with Wimborne proving they can scrummage with the best. The match ended as a 10 all draw, with tries from Leah and Bryony and we were back to the golden try, as at Dorking. This time, however, we scored first, with Leah Thompson making another flying run to score the Golden try.
We had gained a place on last year and hopes were high as we met Exeter Saracens again in the final. Alas, on the day, they were too quick for some tired legs and although Leah scored a try at the end , Saracens won 22 - 5. This did not spoil the party however, as we proudly added another
medal to our collection and everyone who played deserves praise.
Finally, a note from the parents and coaches to the girls - thank you for giving us a fantastic fun day out. My memories will be of players mingling with other teams, lots of laughter and some seriously good rugby. Looking forward to the end of season dinner on Friday 30th May at the Swan Inn.
Sunday May 11th Dorking 7s - joint 3rd again! Our thanks must go to Dorking for providing a superb venue and
a great day of sevens. The weather was incredibly hot, the scenery
idyllic and the competition hard fought against some new teams that
we had not played before. Wimborne were in the pink again, literally, as they sought to help out the refs who couldn't decide whether we were the black or the green team! All the players donned florescent pink leggings, with 'handmade' printed T-shirts and the results can be seen above! First up were Chobham and after an initial try by the opposition,
Wimborne fought back with tries by Jess (2), Amy Shipley (2), Sam
Rex (1) and Donna Rose completing a great run by Lucy (1). The interval between games was long and filled with water fights to keep cool. Our 2nd match was against Middle Weald and after tries from Emma Jones, Vicky and Jess, Wimborne led at half-time, 15 - 0. Middle Weald started a fight back and scored 2 tries and just as things were looking tight, Donna scored the winning try and the game finished 20 -10. That completed our pool and we went through to the semi-final against Worthing, who were looking good. All the scoring happened in the second half, with a blindside break by Tash who passed the ball to Amy to score a try under the posts followed by an equaliser from Worthing. With the game finishing 5 all, the tension increased, as the game went into extra time, playing the golden try rule, first to score would win. It looked like deadlock until in the final minute of extra time, Worthing managed to escape our defence - once more we were destined for 3rd place on the day! We got back to the serious business of waterfights and cooling down, when Middle Weald asked for some volunteers to help them in their semi-final against Dorking, as they had several injured players and could not make up the team. Several Wimborne players became honorary Wealdists and battled well for their adopted team, but Dorking were playing an excellent game of sevens and despite some superb runs and tackles, won the game. This did mark the end of our tournament, but everyone had some
good laughs and would all like to say a big thank you to our coaches,
Paul Scotson, Gwyn Jones and Alan Rex for all their support, with
special thanks to Colin, whose bag of tricks included some extra
fizz this week.
More pics here . Sunday May 4th Wimborne U18 girls travelled up to Lichfield as the Southern 10s champions and on their way to play Reading (Southern runners-up), Letchworth, Worcester, Darlington Mowden Park and Tynedale. Travelling up in separate cars, we were the first team to arrive, complete with wet weather gear. Hannah Walraven brought her friends to support us, but had injured her other ankle (not a rugby injury) and was unable to compete. Poppy Cleall also came, complete with fractured arm, which is healing well and we are glad to say that she will be back in the new season. Our first game against Letchworth was a repeat of our first Southern divisional game and ended in a draw - we started slowly and Letchworth took the first points. Just before half-time, Bryony Cleall took the ball from the kick-off to run in the equaliser and the first half ended 5 - 5. In the second half, a run from Donna Rose was finished by Bryony to score another try. It all looked as if this would be our first win, but Letchworth fought back to run in a try in the last minute and our first match was a draw, 10 - 10. We now knew that we had to win every match to beat last year's record of 3rd place and we faced Reading. Having only just beaten them twice, confidence was good, however Reading scored first, converting their try to lead 7 - 0 at half-time. Donna then snatched the ball from a lineout and ran in a try, which was converted by Bryony. The clock ticked on and another draw looked certain, but Reading snatched a try in the very last minute and we lost 7 - 12. At this point, the team took stock and decided to come out with
all guns blazing. We faced Darlington Mowden Park for the first
time and took the lead in the first half, via Donna, with a conversion
by Bryony, 7 - 0. In the second half, there followed the try of
the tournament, with a superb try scored by Alice, Donna and Bryony
interchanging the ball, until Donna finally touched down under the
posts. Donna scored another breakaway try from a lineout and the
game finished 21 - 0. Then came Tynedale, another unknown opponent, but Wimborne were into full swing and finished 29 - 5. Special mention must be made of Sam Rex's scrambled try, a just reward for some excellent forward play, (despite suffering from a sickness bug) made after a superb run by Vicky and Amy Shipley's run down the try line to score. Our final match was against Worcester, who had nilled every other team and who were looking forward to claiming their second cup (they are the current National 2008 cup winners). Worcester won the first half, 12 - 0. Worcester scored again early in the second half and it all looked over when Donna ran in a try and Bryony converted. One more score from Worcester meant that the match ended 24 -7, but we scored the only try against them on the day. Because of the team's excellent efforts, with everyone contributing to the day, we ended up due to points' difference pipping Letchworth into 3rd place, and can take pride in still being 3rd in the country for the 2nd year. Donna's 9 try tally meant that she met Colin's challenge and he duly paid up (I hear that he has doubled the number of tries needed to claim the reward in the next game!) It was a good day out, with only a few minor knocks and bruises and everyone voted Lichfield as having the best slopes ever for rolldowns! Next week, our regional players are back at Lichfield for the Regional finals and the rest of the team are going with high hopes to Dorking 7s on the 11th May. Sunday April 20th 2008 Click
here for more photos from the Regional 10s, National 10s and
National 15s.
Wimborne travelled to Petersfield to play 5 other teams in the South Divisional 10s play-offs, where the top 2 teams would go on to the National 10s final in Lichfield in 2 weeks time. The first game against Solent Sirens was a draw, 5 - 5. The second against Reading was close, with Wimborne winning 7 - 5. By the third game, the girls were finally warming up and getting the hang of playing 10s, winning their game against Worthing, 29 - 0. Then came lunch, with the weather turning hotter and the pressure mounting onto the last two games. If we could beat the Exeter Saracens, we were through to the finals! The girls played fantastically and won 27 - 7. This left the last game against our league rivals, Welwyn, who had only narrowly beaten us to the National Finals, when playing as Welwyn/Basford. The first half saw Wimborne take the lead 14 - 0, but Welwyn kept fighting and scored 2 unconverted tries in the second half, with the final score being 14 - 10 to Wimborne. Congratulations must go to all the girls who helped in a tremendous team effort to win the South Divisional 10s for the second year running - a great achievement. Everyone played their part and the try scorers were numerous, including Bryony Cleall, Emily Hardwicke, Natasha Scotson, Rowena Hunt, Amy Shipley and Donna Rose. The other team to come with us to Lichfield are Reading, as runners-up and we will be meeting Letchworth again as they are through with Worcester, representing the Midlands. It seems that as mentioned in the Letchworth blog, our 3 way training session at Reading last week worked wonders as all three of us are in the finals. Sunday March 30th 2008 Wimborne Girls are Joint 3rd in the National 15s
Sunday, March 30th was a total contrast in weather to the previous weekend, sunny and perfect rugby weather. Wimborne were hosts to the 3 way play-off for the National Final, welcoming Solent Sirens and Welwyn/Basford combined side. Wimborne's first match was against the Solent Sirens and proved to be a very evenly contested contest. Solent Sirens struck first with a converted penalty in the first half, but Wimborne had the last word, with an excellent run for the line by Amy Shipley, converted by Bryony Cleall. The final score to Wimborne was 7 - 3. Solent Sirens than played Welwyn, who narrowly won the game with a try to finish, 5 -0. This set up the 3rd game, between Wimborne and Welwyn, as the final decider. The teams battled it out with Wimborne scoring 2 penalties by Bryony Cleall to lead 6 - 5 at the end of the first half. This lead lasted until the last 3 minutes, when Welwyn slipped past the defence to score a last gasp try and win by 4 points to face Worcester in the National Final at Lichfield on April 13th. Wimborne are now looking forward to playing the National 10s next week, where they hope to beat last year's record of 3rd place. On Sunday 13th April, Wimborne girls are travelling to Reading to play against Letchworth and Reading in triple friendly (report to follow.) Saturday March 22nd 2008 Lichfield/Burton tour friendly ![]() On a cold and very gusty day at Leigh Park, the visitors arrived with loud hailer and chicken in tow. In freezing conditions, the girls stood frozen in place, hampered by the frequent stoppages. The game itself was evenly balanced, with the girls nearly crossing the try line several times. This was reflected in the final score of 0 - 0. Wimborne girls would like to thank the visitors for coming to the game and hope you all enjoyed the after match chocolate fest. Cup
1st round We were made very welcome and were greeted by the Oaks coach with the news that the 3rd team, Plymouth, had cancelled, so instead of the 3-way tie we'd expected, we had a straight winner-takes-all match vs Oakbury, a combination of Oakmedians, Salisbury and North Dorset. It turned out to be a battle between two halves of the Wilts and Dorset County squad, plus our Hampshire girls. As we'd had two late player cancellations we started from the kick-off facing up with only 14 players against 15 plus about 5 reserves. We needn't have worried. What it did was to focus the girls and the advantage of playing with a team which has played together for around 3 years showed. Every team member played their part with the game going to uncontested scrums fairly quickly and scores coming from (in alphabetical order) Amy, Bryony, Donna, Emily, Hannah, Poppy, Sam and Vicky and but for an unfortunate toe over the touchline, Lucy would have been on the scoreboard too. I'd like to thank the Oaks people for their hospitality and wish them better luck next year (but not too much). The only downer on the day was that the game was called early due a neck injury to one of the Oaks players who was taken off to PGH in an ambulance. The good news is that she has "only" damaged soft tissue and although she'll be out for the season, we can look forward to playing against her next season. West Surrey District 12 - 68 Wimborne The game was a little disappointing from the perspective that Surrey only managed to field 13 players, but after agreeing to play the match with 13-a-side, The match went ahead. Surrey were overpowered in the scrum to the extent that the match went to uncontested scrums inside the first half. The scoreline was fairly representative of the game with Wimborne's points scored by a good cross-section of the team. Everyone without exception played well. Tries scored by Poppy, Bryony, Sam, Donna and Amy. 4 Conversions and the first drop goal I've ever seen at a girls Rugby match. Surrey played in determined fashion right to the end keeping pressure on Wimborne for the entire match and choosing to play out the entire match which was appreciated by the Wimborne girls after travelling 2 hours to get to Guildford. News from the Wimborne girls playing Regional for South: "The girls won at the weekend 87-0, Hannah Walraven, Bryony Cleall and Poppy Cleall x 2 all scored trys with Bryony adding extras in the second half. Hannah was awarded man/lady/girl of the match. So all in all a good performance from the Wimborne girls." Wimborne RFC U18 Girls Team go Live! Wimborne Girls Rugby team are hitting the airwaves and becoming one of 'Julian's People' on the Julian Clegg's breakfast show, BBC Radio Solent. The first interview will be live on Friday 1st of February and can be accessed online from the BBC Radio Solent website. They will be following the girls' progress throughout the remainder of the season every 5 - 6 weeks. Julian's program starts at 6:30am and finishes at 9:00 am, and for all you early risers, the girls should be on air at 6:40 am with hopefully, repeated extracts. The opportunity to be on air is due in part, to their highly successful 06/07 season, when they made both the National 15s and 10s final and they hope to raise the profile of girls' rugby in Dorset and the Wimborne Rugby club. (posted 30th January 2008) Wimborne
vs Dorking U18 Girls - South East League (Division One) Match On Sunday 27th
January, Wimborne were playing a league match in their new green
and black kit, for the first time. It was to be a fitting start
for the new strip provided by our sponsors, 'Sport Relief' and the
'Community Foundation for Bournemouth, Dorset & Poole'. The second half of the match was a battle of the forwards, with Wimborne gaining the upper hand. Another forward try was scored by Hannah Walraven and a great match was finished in style by a storming run up the touch line by Donna Rose. The final score was 22 - 5 to Wimborne. Emma Jones, the team captain, congratulated her troops and said, "It was an excellent performance from everyone, and the award for the player of the match is to Chrissie Green." Thank you to Dorking for an enjoyable, if hard fought match. At the end of
the match, a photo was taken, showing the victorious team in their
'Sport Relief' and 'Community Foundation for Bournemouth, Dorset
& Poole' sponsored kit. (posted 16th January 2008)
Wimborne 34, Reading 14
First run out in new kit. Looks very professional. (Thanks Sam for not tearing the sleeves off this shirt). First proper game for Bryony and Rowena after coming back from injury. Nice to see them back on the pitch. Scorers for Wimborne Tries: Poppy Cleall, Bryony Cleall (3), Hannah Walraven, Amy Shipley Conversions: Bryony Cleall (2) Impressive performances all round Thanks to Reading for coming down and giving us a very good match in very good spirit in difficult windy conditions. Good luck in the Thames league and with the fund-raising. Thanks to Corfe Hills for allowing us to use the pitch (in great condition, I might add)
More Silverware for the cabinet (posted 18th December 2007) As a result
of Dorset and Wilts winning the Girls U18 regional South West Region
County Cup after a 10-5 win over Cornwall, Wimborne get to put the
silverware in the Club cabinet due to Wimborne having more county
reps than anyone else. Amy Shipley
(And thanks to the adults who provided the transport.) WIMBORNE PLAYERS GO COUNTY (posted 18th November 2007) Wimborne has
representatives in both the Dorset & Wilts and the Hampshire
county sides. For Hampshire,
Poppy Cleall, Bryony Cleall and Hannah Walraven Next up for the Hampshire girls will be against Sussex at Petersfield on November 18th ' For Dorset
& Wilts, Emma Jones, Becky Lewis, Natasha Scotson, Sam Rex,
Ellis Collins and Annabelle White We will keep
you posted on their progress. Wimborne double up at the England U18 Talent Development Group Following intensive trials throughout the summer, Poppy and Bryony Cleall have both been selected for the RFUW's U18 Talent Development Group. Both girls currently play for Wimborne, Hampshire and the South, the current National Regional Champions. The Talent Development Programme represents the RFUW's commitment to the identification and development of talented young players and has selecting the top 30 girls from across the UK. It will run over the course of the year, focussing on core rugby skill development and game understanding, providing players with strength and conditioning education and development workshops, nutritional advice, sports psychology, performance lifestyle advice and an online training diary. The TDG will be a step up from regional rugby and will underpin the standard of England rugby for many years. The TDG will take place on days during half-term holidays. Last year Bryony was in the U17 TDG squad and has been joined this year by her sister Poppy, both girls played in the successful Wimborne side that reached the finals of the National Cup, won London SE league, were the Southern England champions and came 3rd best in the country at 7's. They represented Hampshire who were unbeaten in all their games last year but the icing on the cake was to represent the South in the National Regional Festival at Rugby, the birthplace of the game. Bryony scored the winning try and conversion and to take the silverware in the last minute of the game to become National Regional Champions Congratulations
and 'Good luck' to former Wimborne RFC girls Hannah Brady and Alison
Wright who have both made it through to the final trial for the England
U20's 2007-08 squad. |
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Girls
Homepage - Season 2007 / 2008
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WIMBORNE
RUGBY CLUB
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