So it was that the so far unbeaten Sevenoaks U13 Girlsteam took to the field on the afternoon of Sunday 13th March in the finals of the South East U13 girls competition.
After 4 earlier rounds the competition had been streamlined and Oaks were drawn against the 4 other top teams in the region Ashford, Sutton and Epsom, Worthing and Eton Manor.
In what turned out to be a thrilling afternoon of top class rugby all 5 teams played to the highest standard.
In their first game Oaks were drawn against a very strong Eton Manor team travelling from North London. The game was hard fought with both teams showing great attacking flair and defensive skills. The deadlock was broken by 2 superb individual efforts from Roff, breaking through the Manor defence to put Oaks in front. In the second half Manor scored immediately causing Oaks some concern. Manor called on strong subs who stretched the Oaks defence but were unable to break it further. Taking advantage of a lull in the attack and after some superb counter rucking by Sellors, Davies put in 2 more tries to put the game out of reach and giving Oaks their first win. Score Oaks 4 Eton Manor 1 (scorers Davies 2, Roff 2)
They were on their way.
Game 2 saw Oaks face their fiercest opponents of the competition in Sutton and Epsom. Previously when the teams had met the games were hard fought with little or nothing between them. It was Oaks who drew first blood, using their width and scoring a superb running try in the corner. Sutton continued to present a threat scoring a great breakaway try from their excellent winger and coming close on more than one occasion but the ferocious tackling of Oaks (especially Davies) meant they never crossed the Oaks line again. Oaks were getting more confident and began to turn the screw using fast ball from the ruck to stream through the gaps created by the opposition. 3 further tries had been scored by the final whistle as Oaks ran out winners 4-1.(Scorers Roff 2, Jones 1, Walton 1)
In game 3 Oaks faced an Ashford team who had come into the competition with an impressive track record. Although Oaks were confident and opened the score with a strong running try from Rabbitt they were rocked when Ashford drew level almost immediately. Oaks realised they were in a game and put in a superb defensive effort to deny 2 almost certain tries for Ashford. Oaks pressed and were rewarded when Jones fed Davies who broke through 3 tackles to score in the corner. Ashford levelled again through their strong centres but Oaks dug deep communicating, winning ball at the breakdown (Sellors, Davies) breaking tackles (Roff, Rabbitt, O'Donnell) and running in 2 unanswered tries ending the game winners by a margin of 4-2 (Scorers Roff 1, Rabbitt 1, Davies 2).
In their final game Oaks faced a Worthing team that they last played in September. Worthing were no match for Oaks who used their experience to take advantage of poor defence and distribution and punished Worthing by 12 tries to nil at the final whistle. (tries Roff 3, Davies 3, Rabbitt 1, Sellors 1, Jones 1 Walton 1, Jackson 1 and Owen 1)
This amazing team had played 20 games in this competition they had won 19 drawn 1 and lost none. They had scored 133 tries to 26 conceded.
Quite rightly they are the RFUs champions of THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND (SORRY KENT).
All hail Sevenoaks Under 13 Girls Rugby team
Maddie Roff, Emily Rabbitt, Catherine Davies, Tori Sellors, Anna Jones, Hannah Walton, Charlotte Owen, Zoe Clarke, Aoife O'Donnell and Isla Jackson.