Girls’ Rugby

The growth in girls’ rugby is partly inspired by the success of England’s Red Roses, partly due to support and investment by the RFU, but mostly due to the fact that rugby is an inclusive sport, played in a welcoming environment that can be enjoyed by players of all abilities, from any background.

Growing the Girls’ Game is the RFU’s guide to support clubs to support girls to live their best lives playing rugby. This resource offers advice on how to introduce girls’ rugby at your club, how to recruit  and retain players as well as coaching and general well being advice.

Additionally, the RFU has produced a comprehensive set of guidance and assets to promote Women and Girls’ Rugby for clubs, schools and colleges HERE.

Rugby is a game for everyone, and the Girls’ game is growing phenomenally!

If you (or your daughter) have never played, and want to give it a try, the best first step is to go down to your local club – the ‘Clubs’ link below will take you to contact information for all clubs in the NLD region

Following a three year review, consultation and development process between 2018 and 2021, the RFU Council agreed to change the age bandings in the girls game from the 2022-23 season.

This signaled an exciting next phase for girls rugby in England. Through the superb efforts of everyone involved in the previous 10 years, the number of girls playing rugby was at a point where moving from three age bands to four was a realistic and sustainable proposition. This set up the potential for further growth of the game over the following 5 to 10 years, as part of the Every Rose Strategy.

The new age bands are at U12, U14, U16 and U18. This means the wide three year age band at U16 to 18 is no longer required and there is a single age band at U12, better supporting the transition to girls-only rugby for current and new players.

The U11 regulations are also more flexible, enabling girls to continue to play mixed rugby; to play girls only rugby; or in exceptional circumstances, if individually assessed/approved in line with playing-up regulations, to play with the U12s.

The England Rugby Age Grade page contains more information about Girls’ Age Grade Bandings, and there is a useful FAQ document to explain the purpose and implementation of the change.

Links to the Rules of Play for the new bandings are below

Applications are now open for players interested in joining the NLD Under 16 Girls Player Development Group (PDG) Foundation Programme (formerly the England Rugby Developing Player Pathway ERDPP) for the 2025-26 season.

The Foundation Programme is part of the girls’ player pathway, for players who have the potential and ambition to develop and progress further in their rugby. Players selected for the Foundation Programme will attend 10 training sessions on Thursday nights throughout the season, complementary to club training, and have the opportunity to participate in playing opportunities.

All players who wish to be considered for the Foundation Programme must attend an assessment date on Thursday 11^th September, 6.30 – 8.30pm, at Derby RFC.

Players must be in the u16s age group in the 2025-26 season, i.e. in school years 10 and 11 from September 2025, and live in Nottingham, Lincolnshire or Derbyshire, or play rugby at a club and/or attend school in the area.

This is a self-nomination process – nomination from a club or school coach is not required. We encourage players (or their parents) to discuss with their coaches if they are unsure whether they would be suitable for the programme. We are looking for players who demonstrate coachability, hard work, courage, ambition, resilience and talent, with the ability to build on their core rugby skills and make positive contributions. The player does not have to be the ‘finished article’ but should show potential to progress.

Players must register in advance to attend the assessment (players who participated in the Programme last season and are still eligible for this season have been contacted separately and do not need to re-apply via the form). The cut-off date for registration is Thursday 31^st July. Any late applications will not be considered again until after Christmas. Please complete the online form below to register: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/hRsFRDniQr

The NLD Girls’ Conference Cup was originally introduced for the 2023/24 season to provide girls in the u14s, u16s, and u18s age groups with competitive playing opportunities. The aim is to bridge the gap between our popular development Pitch Up & Play events (“PUaPs”) and National Cup or representative rugby and to improve the playing experience for girls across NLD.

Participation in the Cup was opened to girls in full teams and in clusters and we are pleased to have nine teams/clusters from across our counties entered at u14s and u16s and four at u18s.

The priority of the Cup is safe participation for as many girls as possible in some version of competitive rugby. All games will be played in line with England Rugby’s Core Values and the ‘Game On’ principle. The format is a waterfall format so all teams will participate in a finals day on 28th April to round off an exciting season in girls’ rugby across NLD.

Schedule and Guidance for this season’s competitions are below, and can also be found on the NLD Junior Competitions page.

NLD Pitch Up & Play (PUaPs) events are to give girls in the U12 – U18 age grades an additional opportunity to play rugby.  PUaPs are particularly targeted at girls who, for whatever reason, do not get to play enough rugby with their clubs.

Click the links to get more information about NLD PUaP events and to see the Age Grade Playing Calendar for the 2024/25 season