Another great day out for Farnham U13Girls. 14 teams played in 4 pools at a festival before the Harlequin Women's 'Gamechanger' v Saracens at the Stoop.

Farnham were one of only 2 clubs that had the strength in depth to enter 2 teams. We played in Pool A and B.

Pool A team won all matches against Harlequins Amateurs and some local friends from Dorking and Guildfordians. Farnham girls played terrific festival rugby, using strong runs from the forwards to suck in defence and then send the pace and determined steppy backs in to score. Most pleasing however was the recent training focus has been defense and the girls all lifted their defensive intensity, trusting each other, creating pressure, dominating the defensive line and winning almost all rucks. Fabulous team spirit and by the last match the girls began to self - coach, something we encourage at festivals to make the girls think about how they want to play and what they need to do.

Pool B saw us face up against some tough opposition from Worthing, Horsham and Lewes. We have not played these teams before so did not know what to expect. The girls all stepped up and came out of the first match losing to Worthing 2-1, but a very even match woke the girls up on a cold but sunny early start. Match 2 saw us play Lewes, awake and raring to go Farnham raced out from the kick off, tackling and rucking with intensity creating turnover after turnover, switching defense to attack in an instant running in several tries. Match 3 we faced Horsham, another quick start saw Farnham race to a 3-1 1/2 time lead, then with 2 minutes to go, the score at 4-2 we took our foot off the gas. We allowed their powerful runner to carry freely and the match finished 4-4. A great learning experience! The girls were enjoying themselves so much we played Worthing again creating a really enjoyable end to the festival.

Then followed a trip down the road to the Stoop and a very chilly group of 60+ watched as Harlequins and Saracens fought out the 'Gamechanger'.

A wonderful experience for the girls playing some different opposition and all watching the match avidly.