Havant girls heading for Twickenham

It's a fantastic opportunity for the girls who will relish the experience at the home of English rugby.

The team of 15 players are looking forward to the occasion.

They will also be Guards of Honour for the men's game and then take to the stands to watch, followed by the women's match against Ireland.

Havant senior women's coach Dean Dryhurst believes it is a great reward for the work put into girls' rugby at the club.

He said: '˜I set up girls' rugby three seasons ago with former ladies captain Sophie Bambridge despite being told by many it wouldn't work.

'˜We have proved everyone wrong and exceeded everyone's expectations.

'˜Now running three sides, we have this season seen the transition of under-18s into the senior ladies team which was always the end goal.'

The girls are so pleased along with the support staff to be attending the event which is a very special day for girls rugby.

Under-13 manager Julia Spacey revealed it will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for some of the girls.

She added: '˜Having the opportunity of playing at Twickenham is a dream come true for the girls.

'˜The look on their faces when they were told the amazing news was priceless.'

The under-13s team representing Havant at Twickenham are: Molly Bunker, Ella Spacey, Ella Croft, Daisie-Mae Beckley, Freya Corbin, Phoebe Edwards, Cerys-Maye Ireson, Anne-Marie Tilley, Skye Shepherd, Elise Repton, Ruby-Rose Cass, Seren Crawford, Vittoria Agosti, Mae Pettit and Emily Doswell

Now in their third season of girls' rugby at Havant, the under-13, under-15 and under-18 teams continue to grow from strength to strength.

Initially they started off with just four girls. 

They are now proud to have 60 girls across the three age groups.

Havant were chosen for this honour by the Hampshire Rugby Development Officer following the dedication of promoting the core values of rugby within the community.  

With Dryhurst's strong ethos of promoting girls rugby, both he and Paul Croft have visited local schools to put sessions on, invite girls to the club for rugby taster sessions and they are also running an after school club. 

They also ran a junior touch rugby session over the summer assisted by Lynne Piddington and an array of other coaches including some of Havant Ladies players.

The hard work and dedication has been inspiring and the girls and their parents have embraced the sport, allowing them to recruit more coaches, managers and additional support to help with the teams' continued growth this season.

The core values of rugby ring true for all team members who promote the sport with various group and fundraising activities. 

Most recently they volunteered for Help for Heroes at Tescos, encouraging collection buckets to be filled by shoppers while adding in the extra cameos of singing and dancing to add a bit of extra cheer.