The girls – from Bacon’s College, Irlam and Cadishead Academy, Glenmoor and Winton Academies, The Totteridge Academy, Huish Episcopi Academy and Campion School – began their day by travelling to Richmond Rugby Club in London to compete in a rugby tournament.

Following this, the girls then headed down the road to Twickenham, home of England Rugby, for a girls’ rugby showcase event. This offered them the incredible opportunity to show their skills in a competitive but friendly environment on the famous pitch. The event occurred between finals of the Continental Tyres Schools’ Cup, the RFU’s annual national school rugby tournament.

At the event, which formed part of RFU’s Love Rugby initiative – a campaign to get girls into rugby – the girls also met England player Amber Reed before stepping onto the Twickenham turf. They thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to meet other girls who are similarly interested in playing rugby and raising the profile of the women’s game in their schools and local communities.

The day also formed part of PARIS 2024, an initiative from United Learning celebrating the run up to this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games. Tying in with this, the tournament was the 24th rugby event United Learning has held as part of the wider initiative supported by the RFU.

Shaun Dowling, Head of Sport at United Learning, said:

“There was a fantastic atmosphere at Twickenham with so many schools taking part and we are grateful to the RFU that our Year 7 girls had the chance to be part of the day. The girls very much enjoyed the opportunity to hone their skills and of course to meet Amber who both encouraged and inspired them.

“Having kicked off PARIS 2024 last month, it was brilliant to continue the initiative with an event which spotlighted girls in sport and showed that rugby is for them too. As we continue to roll out our exciting programme of events in the lead up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer, we will look forward to keeping this positive spirit alive as we aim to show our students how joyful and enriching taking part in sport can be.”