Wales Ladies Rugby Team train at Trafford MV

By Wilf Dooley

This Summer local Rugby Club Trafford MV were privileged to host the Wales Ladies Rugby team as they prepared for their World Cup group stage games, which were played at the Salford Community Stadium.

The Welsh players used Trafford MV’s MacPherson Park facilities for 2 weeks during August, and the international players were very pleased with the amenities they found.

An excellent playing surface allowed the players to go through their moves, and changing, gym, and physio facilities were all to the standard required for their pre-match preparations.

The Women’s Rugby World Cup is anticipated to give a huge boost to the sport among young girls and ladies across the country, especially with England’s Red Roses being favourites to win the trophy in their own country.

Current holders are the New Zealand Black Ferns, who will certainly be contenders for the trophy. Trafford MV hope to see this influence locally as all the games are being shown on BBC TV, and the game is being promoted widely through social media channels.

Trafford MV have a senior ladies’ team as well as age group teams from 12 to 16 years of age. Schools are being encouraged to include rugby in their curriculum for both boys and girls in order to grow the game nationally.

Various formats of the sport are being developed to introduce girls to contact and non-contact aspects of the game. If you know of any girls/ladies wanting to play or learn about playing rugby, please contact wilfdooley@virginmedia.com for your enquiry to be followed up.

The Welsh Ladies management team thanked Trafford MV Club and its volunteers for making the squad welcome during their stay and presented the Club with a shirt signed by all the players. The Welsh visit follows on from that of the Ireland Men’s U20 squad, who used the club in 2016 for the U20 World Championship.

Unfortunately, Wales’ on-field performances did not fulfil their expectations, and after losing both their opening games against Scotland and Canada, the team was destined not to reach the quarter-finals, with a game still to play against Fiji later today (Sept 6th) in Exeter.