LATE into September and the 2021 Girls Rugby season finally came to fruition at Crediton RFC.

On a balmy, breezy Indian summer afternoon, where any kind of exertion immediately flushed cheeks and sweated brows, around 90 girls from all across Devon and a team from Somerset got the weekend that they’ve been looking forward to since May when the only two games they’ve played in the last 18 months took place.

It was fantastic to see the fields at Blagdon strewn full of the endeavours of the female side of the game, action pulsating in rhythm to the hearts of the packed sidelines; oohs and aahs interspersed with the individual cries of parents supporting their teams and progeny.

Crediton U13 Girls 50-25 Bideford/Newton Abbot

The first game of the 2021/22 season for the Crediton U13 girls and they certainly brought their game faces!

From kick-off, the girls were bursting with energy and straight out of the blocks with some excellent rucking, resulting in some rapid and assertive clear outs rewarding them with a good rate of balls won and even a few turnovers.

The visitors, a combination of players from Bideford and Newton Abbot, were equally as keen and after a bit of a shaky start against the spirited Crediton play in the breakdown, they soon got their act together and countered with some strong and determined rucking to match.

This made for a great afternoon of rugby with some lively runs from the usual suspects, but also some fantastic performances from the girls who are newer to the game, which was great to see and encouraging for the future of this already tight team of U13’s.

A fantastic sunny afternoon of well contested rugby with the Crediton girls clearly enjoying every minute of the combined team effort.

There were numerous tries from both sides, but the Crediton girls’ tenacity, teamwork and robust breakdown play allowed them to emerge the clearly dominant side.

A great start to the season, with the expected areas to work on, but definitely some exciting times ahead – The future is looking bright for girls’ rugby at Crediton!

Crediton Girls U15s 5-24 Winscombe

Crediton Girls U15s 15-10 Bideford/Newton Abbot

Crediton U15 Girls were involved in a “Cluster” fixture whereby a group of teams come together to create a round robin of fixtures.

The afternoon made competitive by the late inclusion of North Somerset side Winscombe who had stepped in to bring numbers up and allow games to continue with good numbers on all sides.

First up for the Kirton Girls were the long travelled visitors from North Somerset.

This was a tough game for Crediton.

We moved the ball well and made many good breaks.

Defence was excellent on both sides, some of the Kirton tackles were spectacular.

Winscombe’s only real advantage over us was a better response at the breakdown, and they already had game time this season. They were able to turn us over in the ruck numerous times and used this to their advantage. With some team talk and a renewed effort we made a solid comeback in the last quarter of the game. Well done girls, made us proud!

The U15s second contest came against the combined sides of Bideford and Newton Abbot.

North and South Devon joining in an attempt to triumph over their Mid Devon opponents. But the black and amber clad side were keen to make up for their earlier misfortune.

The Kirton girls showed real strength here, this was a back to back game and despite them all looking hot and tired they started the game like they were fresh.

The passing and phase plays were really effective. With a renewed interest in rucking we were able to keep more possession and drive to the line.

The scoreline was not a real reflection of our performance, as our girls built on their experience from the first game. Super effort team, well done!

Crediton Girls U18s 48-7 Bideford/Newton Abbot

The U18s came early to brush up on some techniques and work on some moves. It’s a testament to the girls that they were willing to do this and the theme of togetherness became the thread that held the day together.

By the time kick-off had wound its way around the girls had, collectively, worked out their own warm up routine, jigged the line up to their satisfaction and were ready to ruck and roll over.

In reality both sides took a little while to shake off the game day rust, understandable with only two games in the last 18 months.

Individuals grasping the nettle was the outstanding feature of the opening exchanges rather than coherent teamwork that will come with competitive minutes under theirs belts.

And so it proved with the first try of the day. A Crediton girl cutting out wide to find her own space before straightening up to get the season off and running.

Ever so slowly it started to come together with the next score involving a bit more handling before another Kirton score out wide, however, the third try was almost a replica of the first, same player, same run, same result.

The Kirton girls started to get it together more and more and were, as they had been in training on Thursday, off-loading really well, the downside being that they tended to get ahead of the ball when a team mate was tackled to the ground, leading to the red and white hoops able to jackal back possession and move forward with their trademark strong running close to the breakdown.

Where the black and amber’s did shine was with tackling to counter those runs, the opposition never really managing to get into any sort of space, apart from literally one occasion which was thwarted by our new Full Back, despite her initial, and very visible trepidation.

Try number four came with some strong running down the touchline, and the fifth and Crediton’s final score of the half came via the best breakdown work of the half with a Creddy girl pouncing on lax defending to grab the ball and when it was half ripped from her grasp displaying dribbling skills Messi would have been proud of until, a foot from the line when the odd shaped ball did its thing.

Luckily, support was on-hand to pick up and drop over for the score.

A lack of concentration coupled to a coach that talks too much allowed a quick thinking Bideford/Newton Abbot to take a quick kick off and get down the pitch to five meters out and with Creddy concentration already having its half time break they again took a quick penalty to cross the Kirton line. Lessons learnt all around.

With a strongish breeze against them and most tries out wide only one of Crediton’s five scores were converted, but a healthy half time lead of 27-7 had been established.

The second half, or third quarter to be more accurate, (humidity and first game back conditioning had led the coaches to agree on a 4 x 15 minute match), Crediton came under pressure from the Bideford/Newton Abbot runners again and found themselves defending heavily just inside their own 22. What transpired next though was the best and most coherent rugby of the afternoon. Crediton themselves turned over ball and started to make their way back up the pitch. Off loads and good breakdown action resulted in the backs being able to stretch their not inconsiderably speedy legs and some beautiful inter changes resulting in a try in the corner. A proper team try superbly executed.

The last try of the day was the very antithesis of what had gone before.

The kick-off caught safely and the resulting powerful run, breaking tackles and opposition hearts straight through the middle of the park for a score under the posts.

Opposition injuries, the half game changes and tired legs made the last quarter a bitty affair, Crediton always the stronger but unable to cross the line, even though they came within a metre of doing so at the death.

The 48-7 win was a performance with some outstanding individual performances, especially eye catching from the youngest girls in our age group who really stood up to be counted.

Teamwork came in flashes and will undoubtedly develop over the season.

The coaches though will take the togetherness that the squad showed as the real benefit of the day, saying “Game actions and techniques are things that can be worked on during a season but to have that intangible group ethos shine bright and early is something to behold.

“We are extremely proud of what we saw and you should all be so too.”

Thank you to the parents that came to enjoy the spectacle and add their voices of support to the Kirton contingent.

Huge thanks to everyone who played their part behind the scenes - from all age groups - in the kitchen, subs collection and the hastily arranged replacement bar.

What a wonderful club to be a part of.

Andrew Drayton