SATURDAY saw the newly formed Skipton ladies rugby team, the Skipton Roses, have their first taste of contact rugby when they hosted North Ribblesdale Ladies at Sandylands in a friendly development Rugby 7s game.
The Roses were only set up at the end of March this year, when one of Skipton Rugby Club's mini's mum Kirsty Weir asked about setting up a ladies team.
From this little seed being planted, the Roses started to take root and they have grown into flowers in a short time.
The ladies took part in eight weeks of structured training to learn some of the technical parts of the game before joining the club's touch rugby sessions to work on their passing and catching.
During this short journey, the ladies have become fully integrated into Skipton RFC and made a lot of friends on the way and this showed in the numbers supporting from the sideline at kick-off, as there were numerous spectators and supporters who came down to show their support for the ladies.
Who won this first encounter was irrelevant, as it was designed to give the ladies a taste of contact rugby in an official game format, under world rugby laws and with an opposition, the North Ribblesdale Ladies.
The Roses, who included Liv Schepisi, Melanie Jayne Kidd, Kirsten Platts, Summer Knight, Kirsty Weir and Siobhan McGranaghan, performed very well on the day.
In the 20 minutes of contact rugby, the Roses all proved that they have what it takes to play rugby.
They ran strong, took the contact, tackled their hearts out, supported the ball carrier, passed the ball, found the gaps and scored tries.
The Roses would like to thank North Ribblesdale Ladies for agreeing to the game and wish them the best of luck this coming season.
The Roses train every Monday between 7pm to 8pm and are always looking to recruit.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here