Colchester Rugby Club’s girls tag tournament was part of their drive to reintroduce the game for women and girls to the town and served as a trial for the Essex Youth games.

Five schools took part: the Colne Community School from Brightlingsea, Alderman Blaxill, Sir Charles Lucas, Stanway and St Helena, with girls from years 7,8 and 9 making up the teams. All the games were very close with Sir Charles Lucas running out champions, winning three and drawing one with St Helena.

Four of the five sides had been coached by Colchester RFC’s Director of Rugby Andrew Sarek as part of the Essex Active Sports initiative. “There are clearly a lot of talented players in the area and we have already spoken to some of the girls and asked them to train at the club on Sunday mornings,” he said.