'New and Emerging' Schools Girls Under 14 Rugby Festival - Hertfordshire Section

Following the success and enjoyment of the event last year, this seasons New and Emerging Schools Girls Under 14 Rugby Festival (Herts Section) is being held at Welwyn RFC, Handside Lane Playing Field, Hobbs Way, Colgrove, Welwyn Garden City AL8 6HX on Friday 29th February 2008.

Teams are classified as Under 14 which means that you may include players up to and including Year 9, and consist of 12 players with a maximum squad size of 15.

Actual timings will be advised once we know how many Schools are taking part, and there will also be some coaching available on the day. If you would like some help or want to ask questions please get in touch.

Final date for School Entries to be considered is Friday 8th February 2008.

Schools in Herts are invited to get a side together; it will form a Development Day for Girls Rugby; and it will also allow the Winning School to represent the County in the Regional Finals on 12th March 2008.

Please return either by email to: paulfreestone@rfu.com

or

by post to: Peter Engledow, Rugby Football Union, Hertfordshire Sports Village, Hatfield Business Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9EU

We look forward to hearing from you.

Paul Freestone
Community Rugby Coach
07738 029262

Girls Under 14 Competition Squad size & rules

Years 7,8 & 9 each School should only bring 15 players
· 12-a-side
· 6 Player uncontested Scrums (3 front row, 2 second row, No.8 (No.8 may NOT
Pick up from base of scrum)
· Midi Rugby Pitch (Half a full size pitch)
· Hand-offs allowed
· No kicking out-of Hand or for touch
· Kick-Offs replaced by scrum not drop kick
· Lineout – no supporting , 5 players in lineout, scrum half may not join, no “quick” or “Long” throws
· Rolling substitutions
· An Under 14 team can be made up of Yr 7s,8s &9s. However, it is worth remembering that some squads will be made up of all Yr 9 while others may be all Yr7s. Please take this into account when selecting your squads.

Please ensure that mouth guards are worn, and that players have warm clothing and a change of clothes.

Full RFUW Rules, Regulations and Guidelines for Under 14 Girls Rugby can be found on http://www.rfu.com/ (click on Women’s Rugby)

New Herts club blog launched

Saracens Girls are the latest team to launch a club blog to go alongside their "official" club website.

Saracens Girls Rugby covers the now familiar territory of clubs news, majoring in this case on their U15 team as well as the performance of their girls in county tournaments. As with other blogs, there are plenty of photos and match reports to enjoy along with an interesting and striking use of multicoloured text.

The site also produces a "newsfeed" that allows you to keep in touch with Sarries news from your own computer home page - or, come to that, from within this blog as the feed appears at the bottom of the right column!

East Region Trials - Herts County Player Selections

Following the East Region Trials that took place on 20th January, the following Herts County Players have been notified that they have been selected for the East Squads:

Under 18:

Tia Arberry (Welwyn)
Ema Burgess (Welwyn)
Frankie Dawson (Welwyn)
Hannah Gallagher (Welwyn)
Hayley Guilder (Letchworth)
Hannah Marques (Welwyn)
Alex Robertson (Welwyn)
Casey Shults (Welwyn)
Geri Thomas (Welwyn)
Sophie Tyler (Welwyn)
Megan Williams (Welwyn)

Under 15:

Courtney Arberry (Welwyn)
Megan Childs (Saracens)
Becky Dawson (Welwyn)
Alice Finn (Saracens)
Sydnie Grace (Saracens)
Rachel Mccullough (Welwyn)
Alice Nee (Saracens)
Georgia Peedle (Hertford)
Claire Shutler (Saracens)
Sam Voyle (Welwyn)
Emma Wilson (Welwyn)

Draft dates for 2008-9 published

The first draft of the 2008/9 season has been published.

2008:
County dates: 28/9, 19/10, 9/11, 30/11, 14/12.
National 10s: 12/10, 23/11

2009:
Regional dates: 11/1, 25/1, 1/2, 8/2, 21/2, 22/2, 8/3, 15/3.
National Cup: 22/3, 5/4, 26/4

All other dates are club training or match weekends.

U15 East Region Trials - 20th January 2008

The following U15 Herts Players have been nominated to go to the East Region Trial on 20th January:

Courtney Arberry
Jo Busch
Megan Childs
Becky Dawson
Charlie Faloona
Alice Finn
Sydnie Grace
Shira Kilgannon
Abi Lee
Rachel Mccullough
Alice Nee
Georgia Peedle
Claire Shutler
Sam Voyle
Emma Wilson

Support England in the Six Nations

February 2nd: England ‘A’ v Nomads 12:30, England v Wales 14:30
March 15th: England ‘A’ v Nomads 15:00, England v Ireland 16:45

Tickets (adults £8, U16’s £2) available on the gate.
Venue: London Irish, The Avenue, Sunbury on Thames, Middlesex,TW16 5EQ. Nearest train station: Sunbury(5 minute walk)
For further information telephone RFUW 020 88317996 or visit: www.rfu.com/women’s rugby

U18 Regional Trials - 20th January 2008.

The following girls have been nominated to go forward for the regional trials on the 20th January:-

Letchworth: Hayley Guilder, Jess Robinson, Laura Watson.

Welwyn Warriors: Tia Arberry, Ema Burgess, Frankie Dawson, Milly Fuggles, Hannah Gallagher, Mel Harcourt, Hannah Marques, Alex Robertson, Casey Shults, Charlie Sims, Hannah Smith, Geri Thomas, Sophie Tyler & Megan Williams.

Trial Venue: The Coopers Company & Coborn School, St Mary's Lane, Upminster, Essex, RM14 3HS.
Timings: Check-in starts 10:00am Trials start 11.00 a.m. Finish by 4:00pm
What to bring: Everything you would normally take to a game / tournament in Winter.
Registration: There is a new registration procedure this season which is on-line. You can register now. Please register as soon as you are able to. The process is:

· www.rfu.com
· Click on the ‘Womens Rugby’ tab (which should take you to the RFUW Home Page)
· Click on ‘Regional Programme Youth Trials now registering’ tab.
· Follow all instructions and register your details. Please answer all questions asked. NOTE THAT THERE IS A £5 REGISTRATION FEE THROUGH PAYPAL, SO YOU WILL NEED PARENTAL HELP TO DO THIS FOR YOU ON THEIR CREDIT CARD.

· You will receive confirmation e-mails from both the RFUW and Paypal.
· On the RFUW e-mail there are links with other info including the Regional Player Information Form (Permission from a Parent for you to take part) which must be signed and brought with you to the Trial.

As soon as you are able to, please could you contact me to tell me that you have received this invitation, confirm that you want to be put forward to the East Region Trial and Training / Games Programme and confirm which School you go to.

It may take a couple of attempts to complete - if the page does expire click this link http://www.jotform.com/form/73441646257

 to save going all the way back through the RFUW page.
If you have any problems registering, please telephone the Regional Coach, Clive Cramphorn for assistance.
Those successful will be contacted on the Sunday evening with confirmation of that.
Dave Marques,
U18 County Manager