"Baywatch Tour " Easter weekend

Over the Easter weekend, the girls from the Basildon & Rochford clubs went on their tour to the west country.

Staying at Exeter University campus, the girls played games against "local" opposition.

This years theme of Baywatch required all parties including parents to dress in beach wear and carry an inflateable.

Special guest appearances on the weekend by Mr Simon "The Hoff" Hughes and

Mr Gavin"Pammy"Scott.

All those touring entered into the spirit of the theme including parents and some grandparents.

A big big thank you goes out to Tina and Paula for all the hard work they put into making sure the tour was a success.

Thanks to the sponsors of the new kit and jackets for the players ( Rayleigh Chiropractic clinic, PAS Cleaning Services and Phil French.)

On the Saturday the U17 team were to face a strong Tavistock side. The team were slow to start after the long journey with the half time score of only 12: 7 with a try from Gemma Galbraith converted by Cherelle Alphonse and a second from Emily Scott. The second half saw the Basildon & Rochford side find their rhythm with some strong runs from Natalie McClarnon and Sarah Carmen. From one of these runs McClarnon powered over for the first score of the second half. With Scott and Rachel French combining well in the midfield a move led to Sarah McIlwain-Bates making a cat like leap and scoring her first try for the club. The final score of the game was again by Scott, and with Alphonse converting two more saw a good opening win for the tourists 31:14

On the Sunday the girls played in a three way tournament against a touring side from Buxton and a strong home Exeter side consisting of a number of South West regional players. The first game was against Buxton and the team had a convincing victory 42:0 with tries by Siobhan Allison, Emily Scott (3), Natalie McClarnon, Charlie Micallef, and Gemma Galbraith converted by Scott.
With Exeter also winning against Buxton it set a winner takes all final against the home side. Again the Basildon and Rochford side proved to strong for the opposition with some good work in the tight by Sam Smith and Jemma Sommers the touring side were winners 17:12 with tries from Charlie Micallef, Natalie McClarnon and Gemma Galbraith, the game was completed with a great touchline conversion by Scott.

The U14’s also played an Exeter side on sunday that fielded some of the South West Regional players and from the whistle went straight on the attack.

Some excellent play from the forwards allowed the backs to run at the Exeter line time and time again.

With the forwards in total control, the backs had freedom to use the space to run in a commanding score

Tries from Alex Grant (2), Yazmin Pemberton (3), Layla Pickering (2), Megan Robson(2),Ellie Martin, Alice Wright and Frances Hughes along with conversions by Jess Harris (3), Yasmin (4) gave a winning score line of 74-21. Although not on the score sheet themselves, special mention has to go to Emma "Mouse" Dorrington and Billy Forbes for some excellent support play and defence.
A great time was had by all, playing and partying hard.