By Vicky Diamantis – Director of Women’s Rugby
The girls and ladies’ teams from Thanet Wanderers travelled to Tunbridge Wells last weekend for a County-wide 7s tournament in their respective age groups. The girls joined forces with Dover and Deal to form ‘The Viragos’ at U15 and U18 level, whilst the U13 girls joined Ashford.
During the early part of the day, the Wanderers/Ashford U13 team beat Tunbridge Wells in the ‘Waterfall Finals’. Although the game was close at 10-5, this was an excellent start to what was going to be Wanderers ‘Super Sunday’.
Following this, the U15 Viragos showed their speed and skill against a Tonbridge Juddians Barbarians side, but this was only enough for a draw at 21-21, so their game went to ‘sudden death’. Fortunately, they came out the victors and won the Kent 7s shield. This is no mean feat as the girls do not train together weekly as a squad.
Unfortunately, the U18s Viragos met some tough opposition and didn’t make it to their finals, however, many positives can be taken from the fact that they scored some tries and are developing as a squad with some younger players at this age level.
The ladies’ development games finished off the day but regrettably some teams had to withdraw, so this meant that Thanet had to play Tunbridge Wells and Dartfordians twice. Both teams had some well-drilled players who could make some piercing runs; however, they were no match for Thanet’s speed and ball handling.
The ladies’ tackling was fierce, despite the ground being hard and the opposition found this difficult to match up against. A special mention goes to Jess, who was the highest try scorer of the match, making some great runs through the opposition gaps.
Wanderers’ scores were 28-10, 91-0, 24-10, 50-0, showing that they deserved their victory and the trophy. It was a truly great day for female rugby in East Kent!
Off-season training will now be on Wednesday evenings at 7pm playing touch rugby. All ages and abilities are welcome, as alongside the main senior games, will be other groups playing. The clubhouse will be open, music will be playing and the BBQ will be on!
The club is based at St Peter’s Recreation Ground off Callis Court Road.