The Kings of Wessex Academy girls’ Under-15 rugby team played in the national finals at Twickenham.

THE Kings of Wessex Academy girls’ Under-15 rugby team played in the national finals of the RFU-organised schools tournament and won through to the play-offs.

Unbeaten in the pool stages at Richmond Rugby Club, where they played against teams from across the country, the girls won through to the play-offs held at Twickenham.

The Cheddar girls played at the home of English rugby in front of thousands of fans who had gathered for the annual Army-Navy match and triumphed in a tough match against Park House, Newbury, to secure a national third place.

In the pool stages, Kings captain captain Emily Czechowski led from the front by scoring a hat-trick of tries. There were also scores by Beth Adams, Amy Godwin, Ruby Wilkinson and Ellie Darby.

Taking to the pitch at Twickenham in the ensuing play-off match against Park House, any nerves that may have been present quickly disappeared as Kings settled into their game.

Gathering a loose ball, Liliana Podpadec broke the line and made a powerful run before offloading to Ellie Darby to score the opening try. Park House responded well to level the scores.

The move of the match was started by Ruby Wilkinson running out of defence. The ball was moved swiftly through a dozen hands until it reached Alicia Pollard whoburst through the Park House defence to score the winning try - her first this season.

All the girls in the Kings team also play for Winscombe and to finish the season on such a high note is just reward for a group who had little experience of full contact rugby a year ago.