From the first moments of the warmup it was clear we were taking part in something special. Not just bringing together a team of women who had never played together before. Not just a team featuring six debuts (most not just new to the Vixens but brand new to rugby), and not just that this team included a founding Vixen - someone who'd been there at the very beginning. But overall a team representing the explosive growth of the East London women's side. The first league game for the brand new Vixens 2XV.

While the Vixens first team headed west to Wasps, we faced Harlow Ladies, recently arrived in the NC3 league from NC2. A team clearly familiar with playing together and at a higher level. They were tough, rucked and tackled hard, and after 20 minutes were one try up. Incredible, consistent defence work from V2XV made sure they didn't get more points on the board before half time. All credit to a new team - our heads didn't drop, and we equalised shortly into the second half. A beautiful through-the-hands backline team try off a scrum, including lightning quick passing from Emma Chung and a nifty offload from Jen Wheldon - both Vixens debuts - and finished by Shannon Brown, who then kicked for the conversion but didn't quite make it. 5-5.

Scrums throughout were great, especially considering there were points where 3/4 of the forwards had never been in a live scrum before that day. We saw strong jackling resulting in turnovers and penalties in our favour, and big hits across the pitch - particularly from debut second row Belle Leuschke, who six weeks ago had never touched a rugby ball.

Substitutions were made soon into the second half, bringing on Bee Edwards for the backs, and debuts from Ru Asim and Shay Perera, both front row and also part of the Pathway to Rugby training programme along with Jen and Belle. Both delivered big carries and strong defence, freeing up Aoife Farrell - a founding Vixen - to kick and create opportunities all over the pitch. Harlow pulled off a second try which they couldn't convert, taking them to 5-10 ahead.

A big chance then came for the Vixens midway through the second half, with a strong break by Bee who was able to pull away from Harlow far enough to ground it under the posts. A successful conversion by Shannon followed, making it 12-10.

Harlow's tempers were starting to fray, resulting in them losing a player to a yellow for backchat. Vixens were able to turn this to our advantage with a penalty kick neatly put through the posts by Aoife, taking us to 15-10.

I think it was pure adrenaline which got us over the line, but we got there with the win.

In summary

To field a deeply inexperienced team and beat a far more seasoned side is a huge achievement, and speaks volumes about the level of commitment and collaboration on and off the pitch. Pure grit and resilience got us through the first half with only a single try against us, defending for 20 solid minutes, before taking back control (and having a lot more fun) in the second.

I am incredibly proud of such a strong start, such heart shown by all players - new and old - and look forward to what the rest of the season brings.

Since 2023, women's rugby in the UK has shifted from promising growth to mainstream momentum. England's record crowd of 58,498 for the 2023 Women's Six Nations decider, followed by 82,000 for last year's WRWC25 final at Twickenham showed that women's fixtures could command stadium-scale audiences.

The domestic and grassroots game has since benefited from Impact '25, the government-backed World Cup legacy programme spanning England and the home unions. By February 2025, 850 clubs had received funding or growth activity; 22,795 girls played in England in 2023/24, up 9.3% year on year; and 1,456 women had newly qualified as coaches or match officials. By August 2025, registered age-grade girls had risen 35% since the programme began, with more than 37,000 women and girls reached in its third year.

The home World Cup has only amplified that progress. The Red Roses' victory in 2025, record crowds and dramatically higher viewing created new fans, while continued investment improved changing rooms, toilets and social spaces at hundreds of clubs. RFU reporting now puts girls' club participation 49% above its earlier baseline, at about 26,800, while women's participation at supported universities was up 38%. The challenge for all grassroots clubs now is retention: converting tournament interest into sustainable teams, volunteers, facilities, domestic audiences and development pathways.