17 March 2026 – MRRF Rugby Academy
There are evenings in grassroots sport that remind you exactly why it all matters. Tuesday 17 March was one of them.
The MRRF Academy Girls Showcase brought together players from across the borough: Meridian, Oxted, Thomas More, Bullers Wood, Chislehurst School For Girls, and more, for a night of competitive, physical, and genuinely thrilling rugby. What unfolded over the course of two age-group fixtures was more than just a series of results. It was a statement. Girls’ rugby in this area is alive, it is growing, and if the performances on display were anything to go by, it is only heading in one direction.
U12s: Five-a-Side
Three Games, Three First-Timers, Zero Regrets
The evening opened with the U12s, and while the format – five-a-side, three games of seven minutes – was compact by necessity, what it produced was anything but small.
Three girls laced up their boots and stepped onto a rugby pitch for the very first time. No prior experience. No knowledge of what to expect. Just courage, and the willingness to give something new a go. That, in itself, deserves to be recognised.
Game 1 & 2 — MRRF vs Bromley Final Score: MRRF 20–45 Bromley
Bromley were sharp and well-drilled across both contests, running out comfortable winners on the scoreboard. But numbers rarely tell the full story at this level, and they certainly don’t here. The development on show: the tackles attempted, the lines run, the growing confidence with every minute, was the real result.
Game 3 — Bullers Wood vs Bromley Final Score: Bullers Wood 5–15 Bromley
Bromley continued their strong form to round off the U12 programme. Bullers Wood, to their credit, kept competing to the final whistle, and their five points were cheered as loudly as anything else on the night.
The five-a-side format proved its worth. Smaller numbers meant more touches, more involvement, and more moments for every individual player to express themselves.
U14s: 12-a-Side, Full Pitch
Played across a full-sized pitch, this was rugby as it is meant to be played. Physical. Fast. Intelligent.
The second half saw U15 and U16 players integrated into the game as non-contact participants, broadening the experience and giving older girls meaningful minutes in a competitive setting.
Half Time: MRRF 10–17 Bromley
Bromley went into the break with a seven-point advantage, and had looked the more settled side in the first half. MRRF had shown flashes: some powerful carries, some aggressive defence, but the scoreboard told a story of a team still finding their rhythm.
What happened after the interval was something else entirely.
Full Time: MRRF 26–24 Bromley
MRRF came out for the second half transformed. The tackles got harder. The carries got stronger. The tries started coming.
Allegra opened her account with a well-taken score. Amilya added another. Alana – who would go on to have a night to remember – crossed twice, combining pace and determination to repeatedly breach the Bromley defence.
With the scores level and time running out, MRRF earned a conversion that would decide everything. Up stepped Alana. The crowd held its breath.
She sent it straight down the middle. 26–24. Game over.
Try scorers: Allegra, Alana (×2), Amilya Conversions: Alana (×3)
Alana’s performance – six points from the tee on top of two tries – was the kind of individual display that gets talked about for a long time. Cool under pressure, clinical in execution, and a leader when her team needed one most.
The Bigger Picture: 105 Young People in 10 Weeks
The results mattered. The performances mattered more. But zoom out further still, and the numbers behind Tuesday night tell an even more remarkable story.
In the first ten sessions of the MRRF Tuesday night academy, 86 different children have attended at least once. Include the APB U12 team – still young players, still part of the rugby family – and that number rises to 103. Factor in two young photographers and videographers who have been capturing the journey each week, and you have 105 young people coming through the doors on Tuesday evenings.
“She Loved It”
Among those watching the U12 games was the Head of PE at Bullers Wood School, Andrea, who had come along to see her daughter Ellie play. It was Ellie’s first time playing rugby.
Andrea’s message afterwards was simple, and said everything:
When the Head of PE at a local school is watching her own daughter fall in love with your sport on a Tuesday evening in March, you know you’re doing something right.
Final Thoughts
The 17 March Girls Showcase was a celebration of skill, of bravery, of community and of a sport that keeps finding new people willing to give it everything they’ve got.
First-timers became rugby players. A deficit became a victory. A conversion became a moment.
There will be more nights like this. There should be. And if Tuesday 17 March is anything to go by, the girls of this programme are more than ready for every single one of them.