Two High Schools from North East Wales broke new ground on Thursday by playing a game of Girls Rugby League.
Elfed High School from Buckley played hosts to St Joseph’s High School of Wrexham in a game of Touch played under lights on the Elfed’s all-weather pitch.
The game was played over four quarters to allow both teams to make structured interchanges and ensure all the girls got plenty of decent game time.
The Elfed started the game a little on the nervous side and the St Joseph team applied good pressure with a well drilled defensive line which forced the home side into a number of handling errors.
St Joseph capitalised on plenty of possession to score early on through Natalie Griffiths to make it 4–0. The Elfed girls defended stoutly but were undone again by the speedy Grace Amedor who crossed for St Joseph’s second try and the first quarter ended 8–0 in favour of St Joseph’s.
The second quarter saw Elfed hold onto possession and begin to press some enterprising attacks on the St Joseph line. However the St Joseph defence continued to be superbly well organised and kept the eager Elfed attacks at bay. It was still 8–0 to St Joseph at half time.
The third quarter saw the game ebb and flow between the two try lines with both defences working overtime to keep the opposition out. The Elfed girls were now well into the game but still St Joseph’s defence remained water tight.
A couple of strong St Joseph surges down the right side of the pitch opened up the pitch and a sweet passing move gave Grace Amedor just enough time and space to cross for her second and St Joseph’s third try to make it 12–0 to St Joseph’s at the end of quarter three.
The Elfed girls put in a huge effort in the final quarter to get on the score board. They launched wave after wave of swift passing moves at the St Joseph defence but the visiting girls worked tirelessly to keep the hosts scoreless and the game ended 12–0 to St Joseph’s.
Community Rugby League Coach Allen Jones was delighted with the game.
“The girls from both sides served up a real treat for those lucky enough to watch the game,” he said. “The effort and enthusiasm of the girls was amazing and it was plain to see that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. At times the passing and catching skills executed were very good and the girls showed that they had some pretty good footwork and evasion skills as well. We are already looking to stage another girls game before Christmas as we have a group of Year 10 girls at Darland High School, Rossett pretty close to being ready to play.”
Jones was also quick to praise the PE staff from both schools.
He continues: “The staff at Elfed and St Joseph’s have been so supportive and have done a wonderful job in promoting Rugby League within the schools and in coaching these groups of girls. Without their help and the help of the Sports Development Staff at Wrexham County Borough Council and Flintshire County Council, we could not run such a comprehensive and successful schools programme as we do.”