It's been over 20 years since the fire of womens rugby has long been extinguised at LRFC, but that flame was reignited this Bank Holiday weekend when 15 women from Lochaber and 5 visiting from Highland came together for what was, for most, their first taste of rugby.

From what started as 10 week training block back in February, numbers have steadily increased, and coupled with constant coaching and mentoring from Naomi & Hamish, the result was this development match of 9 aside and 4 quaters.

On the day, the women were guided and refereed by Stu Wise who travelled from Lanarkshire for the game. His knowledge and patience were second to none and invaluble to the learning of the players. Divided equally, the women of Lochaber and Highland, saw a final score of 26-33, with tries from Mairi Duncan, Terri Fox, Emily Brown, Lyndsay Waterson, Melissa Cardosi and Mhairi Docherty.

Some words about the day from Coaches and players:

"It was brilliant to finally get to see the team showing off thier abilities that they've worked so hard on over the past few months. Thank you to the Highland girls for coming down and helping make the day as successful as it was. I can't wait to see what this team can do next." - Hamish White (Coach)

"What a whirlwind of emotions. The excitment of the unknown at how the women were going to perform and use the skills they have been working so hard to learn in training, and the sheer joy when everyone, not only, nailed the skills, but came away from the game wanting more, and totally passionate and driven for their next challenge.

From start to finish yesterday, I could not be more proud of Lochaber Rugby Club and their attitude towards supporting our new women's team. Three of the youth players piped out the teams, two of which were the sons of players and were such amazing support.

Four of our amazing youth girls section joined us for some of the touch games and it was amazing to see them play with women that in the future could turn out to be thier teammates.
The youth team were so quick to help set up the pitch, take on water/refreshments and be line judges.

Not to mention the amount of support we had from club members with cooking food, doing the score board, filming the game, and doing the bar. Every single person that helped played such an important part in making the day as positive and successful as it was.

This is the start of a very positive journey for this team, and the club, and if you are reading this article and think you want to be a part of it, then you should come along and get involved." - Naomi Duncan (Coach)

"Thank you so much for having us today, we all had a great time. You guys are a top class team, can't wait to see the exciting things you achieve next season!" - Highland Rugby Club Ladies

"Watching how everyone has progressed from training to a game has been so amazing to watch" - Melissa Cardosi (Player)

"First rugby game ever at the ripe old age of 50...wish I'd come to it earlier" - Iona Drysdale (Player)

If you'd like the get involved in rugby, no experience required, then get in touch with Naomi Duncan to find out more. Click here to email Naomi.

Image credit to Iain Ferguson Alba.Photos.