The UON Women’s rugby team made their BUCS debut yesterday which resulted in a disappointing loss with a score of 7-29 against Coventry University Ladies.

This was a very tough match for the home side against a hugely competitive and much more experienced opposition.

Despite their loss, the Scarlets were still proud of their performance.

Vice-Captain and President Cary Wellicome said: “It was absolutely amazing to get out there with the girls today, they absolutely smashed it.

“They switched their heads on, went full pace and some of the tackles they put in were great so I’m really happy with their performance.”

This was the first match for the UON women in over 5 years, due to a lack of female rugby players at the university.

Not only did the UON team make their debut in the BUCS league, but this was also the first match for the majority of their players who are complete novices to the sport.

“This is only our twelfth week of training so to have a game so early on and for them to perform the way they did is just outstanding,” said Wellicome.

“Obviously there’s things that we could have prepared more, I think rucking and scrummaging is definitely something that we need to work on, but that will come with more practise.”

Assistant coach Pat Kitson is using the match as a stepping stone for future fixtures.

“The first step is to get consistent fixtures in place and then we can start building properly.

“We’ve got big ambitions, the key thing today was everybody, even the ones who have come off injured, they had a smile on their face, they enjoyed themselves and that’s the fantastic bit.”

The Scarlets are now looking ahead to the new year where they plan to face Coventry again in an away match and they also have high hopes of competing in Varsity 2024.