Leigh ladies touring two by two
The ladies from Leigh RUFC established a fancy dress tradition for their last league game against Vagabonds RUFC on the Isle of Man some seasons ago.
Themes have included cowboys, pirates, senior citizens, and Romans but on this trip their Noah’s Ark fancy dress topped them all.
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Other travellers wanted to take pictures with them, children counted the animals in two by two, motorists beeped their horns and an ensuing video had everyone laughing.
Noah was their former No 8 and now coach Carla Winstanley, who was upgraded from Ark class to sit in the pilot’s seat.
Deflated to get through security
Security joined in the fun as some deflation was necessary to pass through. The two hippos were founder members, sisters and props, Judith Downs and Jen Nugent. Judith’s daughter and flanker 21-year-old Rachel, having scored two tries in the match, struggled to see through her home-made toucan mask as she crossed the airport. One of the leopards, Diane Westwell, still gives a good scrum half performance at the age of 65.
“The rule is you go down to breakfast in your costume and stay in it,” said Carla. “We usually stay in the same hotel each year, but they were fully booked so I wondered how our new hotel would react. We arrived in the restaurant, everyone loved it and wanted pictures with us. When we do it, we do it properly and I think because it was so extreme the Ark theme got a lot of plaudits. I think our captain Deeks (Katherine Deacle) came up with it.
“We are in a bit of a transition at the moment. Our coach Ken retired, and we have six or seven girls coming through from the juniors, so we are having to adapt, while they give those in their 40s or older a breather. We had a good game against Vagabonds, lost 33-25 with their try in the final minute. Now on 23 April we play Trafford MV in the Lancashire Trophy. It’s sure to be pretty close as we will all want to lift the silverware.”
Support from male coaches
Carla is taking her coaching qualifications as the RFU recruits more female coaches and referees.
“As a new female coach, I’ve had lots of support from experienced male coaches both at our club and others. They’ve invited me down to training, and been really helpful. I knew it was time to stop playing. We had depth with youngsters coming through and I’d had plenty of injuries. I didn’t want to leave the game, the social side, wanted to stay involved.”
Carla and the Leigh team recently held a joint scrummaging session with Aspull RUFC.
“They are a new team to union, and I was able to draw on my recent coaching course resources to support this. Given we have a mature pack it was good for us to refresh but also share years of experience.”
The team began in 1994 and has had lots of support from everyone at Leigh. “We get great backing from everyone at the club from the President down,” says Carla. “We are an intrinsic part of the club and have been since the early days. We also have a good relationship with Leigh Miners Rugby League team, with some of the girls playing both codes.
“We also know how to have fun. Travelling home, the pilot wanted to know if we were a hen party but when we told him we were a rugby team and he loved it. I told him Noah might need an Ark upgrade and he handed me his seat!”
