Women’s Pathway Lead Cerys Hale believes the Dragons Women’s Under-18s game with Leinster will be a valuable exercise for the squad as they prepare for the upcoming Regional Age Grade campaign.
Dragons lost out 50-7 to a well-drilled Leinster side at Ystrad Mynach on Wednesday evening – with back row Chiara Pearce grabbing a try.
Hale reflected on the game as a big step forward and ideal learning opportunity for the squad after just a few weeks working together.
“It was really valuable for us as a group,” she said. “Over the last few weeks we’ve had a number of girls representing, whether that was with Wales Under-20s and those going to the Commonwealth Young Games later this week.
“We have given other girls opportunities to play in these fixtures and ultimately, when it comes to the Regional Age Grade (RAG) campaign, us going toe-to-toe with a well drilled Leinster side will be so valuable for us.
“We’ve haven’t had a robust campaign over the summer, we’ve only been together for a couple of weeks, but this allowed us to see where we are at,” she added.
“I thought we matched them physically and they were probably just better drilled than us. But that is a good starting point that we can build on going into the RAG campaign.
“We competed at set piece and had some outstanding performers. They are our younger girls, the likes of Evie Hill, Chiara Pearce, and Angel Band, and those three girls still have another two years at Under-18s, so that is really exciting.
“We’ll go away, review and start building the structures around that game. We know we have got the physicality, so we will work over the next few months ready to smash the regional campaign.”
We competed at set piece and had some outstanding performers. They are our younger girls, the likes of Evie Hill, Chiara Pearce, and Angel Band, and those three girls still have another two years at Under-18s, so that is really exciting...
