THE strength of girls rugby at Crediton Rugby Club shone through in North Devon as the Kirton Girls - even though they were playing combined sides gleaned from three other clubs - provided more than half of the more than 100 girls attending the fixtures played at Barnstaple last Sunday (October 7).

And it wasn’t just the attendance numbers that impressed, as successful days for all ages ensued as the Under 13s, Under 15s and Under 18s all travelled home with impressive wins under their belts versus the combined opponents of Barnstaple, Bideford and Camborne.

UNDER 13’S

The 19 girls of the Under 13’s squad travelled to Barnstaple to play against their clustered opponents in an 11-a-side game that they dominated from start to finish. With some first rate tackling and a big improvement in ball handling and passing the youngest of the black and amber squads proved far too good for their red and white adversaries.

These improvements, aided by some much better communication amongst the team, allowed the ball to be spread wide and exposed the gaps which led to a plethora of tries and a final score of 70-35.

The U13s coaches were delighted with the display commenting: “It was a display of which the girls can be really proud. We do still have work to do around the breakdown and ruck situation but with this foundation to build on and a great attitude from the girls we are looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Try scorers: Ellie-May, Gracie, Poppy Harrison, Holly S, Charley, Lucy, Livvy and Katie.

UNDER 15’S

The Under 15’s overcame their own brief torpor to comfortably put away the combined threat of Barnstaple, Bideford and Camborne in Sunday’s visit to North Devon.

A rather chaotic pre-game preparation where a literally last minute change to a 13-a-side game threatened to throw a spanner in the works was, initially, shrugged off as the girls immediately took up where they left off from last week’s tryfest by providing the opening three tries against the red and white combined opposition.

Driving runs and good support were the crux of the advantage which saw them assert themselves before the home team could reply with a score of their own. The game then became more even, as the combined team started to come together and play to their strengths.

The rest of the half meant hard work for the Kirton girls who rose to the challenge and with some fantastic tackles, all over the pitch, evening out the physical advantage of a generally bigger opposition.

The half ended 33-12 but Crediton had to dig and the gap in scores didn’t really reflect how close most of the half had been.

The second half looked to be going much the same way as the black and amber’s put the first try on the board before, inexplicably, taking their foot off of the gas to allow the home side a period in which they were totally in command of the game, running in three tries consecutively to put what had appeared to be Crediton’s unassailable lead very much under threat.

However, after some stiff words and a challenge issued to repair the situation that they had allowed to develop, the girls, to their enormous credit, found their missing mojo.

They worked out and implemented the areas where they were superior to finish the game with a flourish and flurry of four unanswered tries to furnish the final scoreboard with a much more comforting 60-29 finale.

After the game the coaches had both praise and puzzlement in their summary, saying: “It was an odd game in many ways. When the girls get the basics right we are absolutely a match for any team and will win most games, and most of those games very well.”

UNDER 18’s

Despite Crediton taking their most depleted squad so far this season to Barnstaple on a fair autumn afternoon – only the bare 15 required - and the girls thinking they were in for a tough afternoon with no subs against a clustered Barnstaple/ Bideford/Camborne who collectively had a squad of around 20, they proved far too good for their opponents.

For the trio of Eva, Grace and Clara, (Barnstaple-based), this was their first game as Crediton Girls on their home turf. Pre-game the coaches warned that they would be reviewing workrate and tackling during the game and this definitely provided the girls some focus.

From the first whistle and initial exchanges the Kirton Girls worked together, with some fantastic support play – taking the ball into contact and getting the offload to a player at pace, coupled with some crashing runs taking out a number of defenders and the ball then worked out to the wings. The tries started racking up.

Throughout the game the team showed endeavour and togetherness all over the pitch. Fiona and Laura had some great linking play, covering at least a third of the pitch in the first quarter.

Eloise and Eva improved their communication in the backs and the combined efforts, both in name and number, of the opposition time and again proved to be not up to the standard being set by the girls in black and amber.

Crediton dominated in most areas, just struggling in the scrums with a depleted pack, and with lineouts in the wind, however the rucking side of their game improved again with a much more aggressive tone set and great clearing out of the opposition.

Players that caught the eye in the performance were Emily whose quiet but strong leadership, leading by example, was exemplified by a cracking try saving tackle in the last quarter and the joint players of the day.

Lucy for her outstanding workrate, tackle count and unbelievable ball recovery, and Fiona for her continued and unstinting support play which resulted in her scoring the last - and very much deserved - try of the game and unanimous recognition from her team mates.

The Final score of 50(+8)-0 was fully deserved.

Most tackles- Lucy, Holly K and Grace; Try scorers – Beth, Emily B, Grace, Eva, Caitlyn, Eloise, Clara and Fiona and Conversions – Clara (4).

The squad’s coaches were justified in their praise for their team, saying: “A display such as this shows the improvements that we have been making over the weeks. The improved decision making - playing what’s in front of you - really helps and the coaches from Camborne commented that they could see how we had developed from the last time we played them.”