A RUGBY union side continues to go from strength to strength, and acted as flag-bearers when England’s Red Roses beat France earlier this month.

Witney RFC’s girls team was disbanded more than a decade ago due to numbers and RFU stipulations on banding with age groups, but a huge increase in girls playing in recent years saw the Witney Angels form a feeder team in the Witney Cherubs.

The Cherubs are about to start their third season, and now boast more than 50 girls across the Under-12s, Under-14s and Under-16s.

The latter age group saw eight players, plus four members of coaching staff, head to Gloucester when the Red Roses defeated France 38-19 this month.

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Cherubs coach Sarah Dunbar told this newspaper: “We were contacted by an RFU representative, and they primarily wanted female representation, so I put us forward.

“We put it out to our girls, and everyone wanted to go of course, so we had to pull names out of a hat. It was a really good day and the girls loved it.”

On the development of the Cherubs, she added: “Numbers have grown through girls bringing their friends, and it’s like a spider’s web in which it just naturally grows.

“It’s really helpful to build their confidence. It’s a varied mixture of girls, but when they have a go, they then love it. It’s a real family environment we’ve got.

“We’re trying to push more parents to get coaching, and what would be really nice is if we can entice more parents into doing that.”

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Fellow coach Kate Nicholls said: “We’ve made our own schedule and calendar of fixtures, and I feel like that really helps. They want to play as locally as they can.

“The coaches are all Witney people and that resonates with our girls.

“We’ve also been doing things like the Friday nights under the lights. There’s a really jolly, social feeling on the Friday nights, and it’s appreciated by those that come.

“Our girls also played through the whole of the summer, whether that be touch rugby or just fitness classes, and the girls have loved getting involved in those.

“We’ve had one girl make the step up through the feeder system, but hopefully we’ll be able to fill the Angels with Cherubs. That would be the dream.”

Discussing the flag-bearing for the Red Roses, she added: “It was a great recognition by the RFU of what we’re doing here. We hope the World Cup next year will inspire more girls, and hopefully we’ll see a big influx because of that.

“We’re really grateful to the RFU for helping us to keep pushing things along.”

Cherubs’ Under-12s and Under-14s start their season at Brackley on September 29, while the Under-16s begin at RAF Halton on October 6.