How to summarise Woody's 7s for the U12 Girls? "Outstanding". They arrived on the back of a long season where they had started as a largely disparate group of girls but finished as a cohesive team who worked hard together. In attack, the rugby was fluid; multi-phase; powerful; and at times ruthless. In defence they pressed aggressively and quickly to put their opponents under pressure and tackled hard. The pool stages on Saturday consisted of three games against Knights RFC, Maidenhead RFC and Medway RFC.

The opening game against Knights RFC was a tough test and brought the girls together immediately. They had to work hard to bring down some strong opposition players and were equally determined in attack. What they did show was that they were up for the fight. Their rush defence was immense and resulted in a lot of turnover possession either by the tough tackling or by simply applying pressure and forcing the error. The second game against Maidenhead RFC proved to be another tight match but unfortunately, we couldn’t convert all the pressure into points. The opposition's quick winger was allowed too much space, and it cost us. Our final match was against Medway RFC and it was here we saw the girls playing their best rugby so far. The tries flowed and confidence was apparent every time we had possession. Two wins and a close loss was a great way to start the festival and build the girls' confidence for the second day.

On Sunday morning we faced Base3 Barbarians and from the starting whistle, the girls showed how the day before wasn't a one-off. They quite simply dominated from the first minute to the final whistle. They worked together on and off the ball and were scoring for fun. With that win, we found ourselves in the Cup Final for the top prize of the U12 Competition. The final against ATL Rugby, eight hours later, proved to be the toughest match so far and sadly it proved a game too far for the girls. Despite a valiant effort, we came off second best to a very strong team who proved to be deserved winners on the day. The girls put up a fight and gave it every ounce of effort and we couldn't be prouder of them. The rugby throughout was a whole team performance with every girl playing their own best rugby. The teamwork they showed was truly impressive.

The tour was a great opportunity for the girls to gel as a group and build a cohesion that will see them start next season in a strong place. They socialised in camp; took part in Court Sessions; paraded in hat competitions; stole pegs; posed as soldiers and wore war paint. The tour was well organised, and we are very grateful for those volunteers from the Lichfield Girls Section who pulled the event together. The support we received from all the other members of the girls’ section in the final was amazing and really helped the U12s keep their heads up in-spite of the tough match.

Megan, the elected team captain, was a strong presence in the middle. Her role as first receiver allowed the other girls to work off her. In attack she was always looking for space and opportunities to release the other girls. In defence she was tenacious in her tackling and worked hard to secure ball at the breakdown. Eveie was the powerhouse in the middle and yet again drew in defenders to create space for others to run into. In defence she faced up against the opposition's strong runners and stood her ground. Ella-Mai was excellent in attack and found the space created by her team-mates to run into. In defence she made some strong tackles and did an exemplary jackal, straight off the training ground. Molly was on another level with her tackling. No-one got past her. She was so dominant, opposition players notably avoided her. In attack she ran hard and drew defenders in. Phoebe finished her season-long development at hooker with a display that was faultless. She didn't lose a single scrum on our put-in and won more against the head than she lost. The scrum is a weapon that we exploited throughout. In open play she used her running to create space to release the runners. Amelia H played well at scrum half and was a strong presence at every breakdown, getting stuck when necessary. In defence she tackled hard and in attack her side-stepping made her impossible to catch. Caitlin discovered the benefits of carrying the ball two-handed and excellent in attack, repeatedly punching gaps to break the gain-line. She kept the momentum up in one attack by catching a difficult pass, at pace, to keep the team moving forwards. Amelia C fought hard throughout. In attack she used her speed and agility to create space where there was seemingly none. In defence she was fearless at getting stuck into tackling any player who came her way. Finally, a huge thanks to Aneya for driving from the south coast to join the team. This must have been a very daunting experience, but she did it and became an honorary Lichfield U12. Her speed was amazing, and she was able to use it to exploit gaps and race down the wings. In defence, she tackled anyone who came her way. We hope to see you again!

A huge thank you to all the parents for bringing the players and allowing us to field a strong team. They gave us all memories on the pitch, and we hope the girls made plenty of memories off it. Their behaviour was exemplary throughout. It wrapped up a great season of rugby and as coaches we couldn't be prouder of their performance. Despite the loss in the final, they gave everything and played amazing rugby and produced their performance of the season in the semi-final. They will learn from this experience and be stronger both individually and collectively in the future as a result. They did the club proud!