On Sunday 12th December 2025, the Kent County U16 Girls squad travelled to Romford & Gidea RFC for the first of their four inter-county playing opportunities this season.
The day started early with an 8:45am meet, with the first games kicking off at 10am. The format of the day was to play two 20 min, 12-sided games. The emphasis for the day was to keep the ‘Ball Always Moving’ and for the players to get ‘Back in Game’ as quickly as they could. Matches were structured to assist with this by a reduction in numbers at the scrum down to five and with the elimination of competitive scrums. Positions were also deemed not so important.
48 players were available to attend, these were split into three equal ability teams: Kent Blue, Green and Red.
Kent Blue – Coach: Tony Wood
The Kent Blue team’s first match was against Essex Red who decided to kick off by putting Kent under immediate pressure. A few simple mistakes early on gave Essex the scrum, from which they took advantage and took the lead, but not before a very impressive try line defence effort from the Kent team. Undeterred they hit straight back and pressurised the Essex defence with a series of hard running, accurate passing and some well-timed offloading, which led to a well deserved try and conversion and the lead for Kent. Straight from the re-start Kent was back on the attack and from the kick off the Kent 9 spotted a massive gap in the Essex defence around the ruck, so picked and ran 60m to score an amazing solo try. There was just enough time for the re-start before the referee blew his whistle.
With improvement points identified, the team had their second match against Essex Gold. The girls were straight into the attack and took advantage from an Essex knock on with one of the second row players driving the ball 25 meters up the pitch before setting up the ruck to allow the backs to score under the posts. Essex hit back immediately smashing into the Kent defence for a good 5 minutes. The Kent defence never wavered, they forced Essex back and after a strong counter-ruck, the girls drove their way up the pitch with the other second-row player scoring from 22m out. This was closely followed by three more tries for Kent before full-time was called.
Kent Green – Coach: Jeff Anderson
Kent Green team rise to the challenge…
Kent Green was the last team to enter the competition, with both Essex sides already having a full 20 minutes under their belts. It was a testing moment — the girls had to get their preparation spot on as they faced an Essex Gold team who were well warmed up and ready for action. But belief runs deep in Kent. From the first whistle, the girls hit the ground running with determined carries and sharp offloading, breaking through Essex tackles time and again. Their relentless effort was rewarded with two tries and a conversion, edging out Essex Gold’s single score.
Game two brought a different test against a smaller but sharper Essex Red side. This clash was tighter, with Essex piling on attack after attack. Yet Kent’s defence stood firm, holding their rivals up over the line on several occasions — proving that big defensive moments win matches just as much as tries. In the end, grit and resilience carried the day, with Kent sealing the victory by two points.
Kent Red – Coach: Steven Powell
Kent Red vs Essex Gold
The game was fast-paced, much to the surprise of both teams, and both teams looked to offload the ball as often as possible. The twenty minutes was filled with some superb handling and individual skill that eventually saw the Kent centre penetrate the defensive line and dummy the fullback to get over the line for a converted try. Essex Gold continued to pressure the Kent team and got very close to the try line, but last-ditch tackles kept them from breaching the whitewash. Further pressure from Kent Reds led to an overlap and a stretched defensive line ensuring the win with a second unconverted try. The structured game produced good support play from both teams, plenty of attempts to keep the ball moving and some very entertaining rugby.
Kent Red vs Essex Red
The fast-paced nature of the first game played into the hands of Essex Red in this game. Kent spent more time defending the continued tight attack from Essex Red which inevitably led to a breach of the defence. The Kent team continued to play the ball out of tackles and look for offloads to keep the ball moving. Fatigue and some aggressive tackling from Essex saw the ball turned over on too many occasions and although competitive, Kent just couldn’t get over the line. It was great to see the focus on ‘keeping the ball moving’ maintained until the end. In summary, the players from all three teams stepped up to the challenge and adapted to the match situations very well, with many of the girls playing out of their preferred positions. Although there is much to work on, five wins out of six is a brilliant start, demonstrating that the Kent players are well on their way to achieving the goals of their first five training sessions. This weekend they have shown that with belief, teamwork, and spirit Kent can rise to any challenge, and with momentum building they’re already hungry fo
