Rugby is one of the country’s fastest growing female sports and Dame Allan’s Schools have pledged to increase participation among the girls and schedule more fixtures this term.

The Schools’ sports department wants to give all senior school girls the opportunity to play rugby, either for fun or competitively, and plans to enter several teams into the county festivals this spring. 

The Year 7 girls’ team had its first competitive rugby fixture at Ponteland High School on January 20, having last term taken part in a training development session with Newcastle RGS. They went on to win the Super Sevens tournament at Royal Grammar School in February, beating five other schools. 

Sport Intern Michael Searle, who joined Dame Allan’s in September following 18 months as a Community Development Officer at Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club, has ambitions to make rugby as popular with the girls as it is amongst the boys.

“Rugby is such an inclusive sport, and I’m a strong believer of giving the opportunity to all children to explore, experience and appreciate the game,” said Mr Searle, a part-time rugby coach. 

“It’s an invasion game quite unlike netball or hockey that will challenge the girls to think very differently on the pitch, and to grow, both as individuals and as teams.”

Pupils Isabel Golding and Holly Burdon, who both play rugby at county level, have welcomed its introduction at school. 

Isabel, in Year 11 who plays for Newcastle’s Novocastrians RFC, said: “Rugby is great; it is a fast-paced game that involves decision making, agility, fitness, and, of course, teamwork. 

“Playing rugby games and fixtures at school will encourage more girls – who haven’t yet had the opportunity to play – to take up the sport, and I know they’ll really enjoy it.”

Women and girls’ rugby has experienced significant growth at both elite and grassroots levels. Over the last five years, the number of adult females playing the sport has grown from 25,000 to 40,000 in England and the RFU (Rugby Football Union) wants to grow the number to 100,000 by 2027. 

The success of the England international women’s rugby team, who reached the final of the Rugby World Cup in November, has helped inspire young girls to take up the sport. Many players, such as South Shields-born captain Sarah Hunter, MBE, have become inspirational role models. 

Year 12 pupil Holly, who has played for Northern FC Rugby Club since the age of 12, said the introduction of girls’ rugby teams at Dame Allan’s Schools demonstrates an important equality in the sport.

She explained: “I enjoy that rugby is a contact sport, that allows you to be physical and powerful, but also that it is a team game where players truly care about one another. 

“One of my sporting role models is Nathalie McGloin, the only tetraplegic female racing driver in the world, competing in a male-dominated sport. I would love to emulate her success in her sport in my rugby and continue to show that women can compete as equals to men on the pitch.”