The Leeds Rhinos Foundation teamed up with Wigan Warriors Foundation to run a girls competition for the best school teams in Yorkshire and Lancashire on Thursday 9th July at the First Utility Super League game between Leeds Rhinos and Wigan Warriors
The competition saw year 7 and 8 year groups along with joint year 9 and 10 teams taking part in three highly competitive matchups before the big Super League showcase, where the teams were also treated to a stadium tour from Warriors Foundation Development Officer Tommy Gallagher.
The year 7 game pitted Leeds school Corpus Christi Catholic College against Deanery High in the first matchup, seeing Yorkshire taking home the first victory with a final score of 18-12 to Corpus Christi.
Corpus started the stronger in the first half after recovering from a few early mistakes and defended excellently with some tough tackling across the team to keep out a momentum shift in the second half where Deanery High pushed the Leeds side close.
In the year 8 fixture Morley Academy came up against the year 8 North West Champions again from Deanery High. After a closely fought first half, where Morley kept pace with their opposition and within one score, the second half proved however to be a different story with Deanery High taking advantage of a tiring Morley defence running in some good tries to secure a comfortable final score of 54-28.
In the final showcase, the Huntington School year 9 and 10 team played out an extremely competitive match against Ince Rose Bridge in another fantastic spectacle for girls schools rugby league.
The game saw a tight dual between the forwards and some great skill from the backs in attack and defence seeing the game decided by a single score in the final play of the match to result in a final score of 28-22.
To cap off a fantastic event the girls then cheered on the Rhinos in their game against Wigan Warriors after enjoying their personal stadium tour.
Women and Girl’s Development Officer for the Leeds Rhinos Foundation, Lois Forsell commented:
“The Warriors Foundation provided excellent hospitality to our girl’s teams and we look forward to hosting them next year when the Leeds Schools will compete against the best from Wigan on Yorkshire soil.
“I’m really proud of the schools that really showed up against the best of Lancashire, it shows a great deal of development and togetherness to turn up and play with the skill and quality they demonstrated especially when school teams don’t play and train together as regular as club sides. It’s been a fantastic event, a big thank you to the Wigan Warriors Foundation.”