The Newbury Ladies team are exceptionally proud of their Gallic flanker Gaelle Marcassus after she progressed from county rugby to being selected to try out and being ultimately successful for the South West Divisional side.

They always say that one person doesn’t make a team but in the case of Gaelle or simply “French” as she is affectionately known she brings an extra ‘Je ne sais qua’ that lifts the whole team week in week out whether it be in a league game, friendly or post match boat race.

This is her third season with Newbury after travelling over from France to pursue a career in teaching that began with a placement at the Trinity school. When she first joined she was quiet and unassuming but as soon as she put on her boots it became clear that she was a talent that we wanted to hold on to and nurture.

I am sure our coach would be able to tell you how many times French has crossed to score a try wearing the Blue of Newbury since she started. I can merely only confirm the tally from this season which, from 9 league games stands at an impressive total of 20 trys with 5 games to play.

It’s not just her scoring ability that makes her an amazing asset, her versatility being able to cover every position on the park, apart from front row (although we may try this in one of our matches that has uncontested scrums) has enabled us to put out a strong side for every game.

In the words of our Captain Laura Smith: “Congratulations Frenchie! This is excellent news for French and the rest of the team. We all are particularly proud of her achievement and wish her the best of luck with it. We'll support her every step of the way and look forward to the experience it'll hopefully bring to Newbury. We just hope she doesn't forget us when the International scouts come knocking on her door…”
The Newbury Ladies are all immensely proud of not just Gaelle who was selected for the team but also Ashley Hunter who made divisional trials. We had further representation in the county team with Louise Goodall, Emma Newport and Emma Button all making the initial cut but were also able to help when there were injuries to the side with two more of our players, Kim Myers and Donna Gardiner, stepping up to the mark.

We wish Gaelle the best of luck with the Divisional team and will be out in force to support them when they travel to Monks Lane on Sunday February 26th for one of their fixtures.