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Home Sport Walshie's Week

Five minutes with….Workington Finches’ Charlotte Cammack

by John Walsh
07/04/2023
in Walshie's Week
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Charlotte Cammack

Workington Finches will be flying the flag for Cumbrian Ladies rugby union when they play at Twickenham on May 1.

There’s great excitement about the game-of-a-lifetime so I thought it appropriate to have a word with the Finches captain Charlotte Cammack about the team and the ladies game in general.

Just to start with Charlotte can you tell us about how you came into rugby, and what about the other sports you’ve played?

I started Rugby in 2013 when my friend Sarah asked me if I fancied giving rugby a go. I had previously done some rugby at school, mostly tag but then we had our first contact game which I absolutely loved.

I used to swim for Workington and danced from the age of three for Blacklock and Weaver which then took me to WADAMS where I performed in musical shows and Pantomimes.

Who got you into rugby and how did you end up with the Finches?

Rugby started for me when I was in junior school where we played tag rugby. I then progressed to senior school where I played my first contact game  and I loved it. I can remember thinking It was so much better than tag!

After school there wasn’t really any girls’ rugby in Workington or so I had thought. Social media wasn’t a big thing then so it was more word of mouth, so I focused on my swimming and dancing.

Then when Sarah messaged me in 2013 saying they were trying to set up a women’s team and would I like to give it a go, I was like well yes but am I not too old ?

I can remember sitting in Australia where l was visiting my brother and ordering my first pair of rugby boots.  I remember rocking up in them to my first training session with the Finches.

From then the progression with the women’s team has grown so much I can remember turning up and being in a small cramped changing room as the other changing rooms belonged to the lads so we had to fit in where we could which we kinda liked it as it was quirky.

We played our first game in their horrendous old red tops which weighed a ton especially when they got wet! We used to call them the binbags because you ran forward and your top pulled you back. We laugh about it now but its where we started

My first game for the Finches was away to Halifax and what a game it was. We got beat by a huge score line but what sticks with me is that everyone enjoyed themselves and turned up for training aching and ready to go again.

Then from there the team has just grown. I think when Kevin ‘Loppy’ O’Neil came to coach us we were more integrated into the club and that was great and we got our first kit!

We joined the men’s presentation night and things just moved forward which has been fantastic to see within the club.

I have been fortunate enough to have already played at Twickenham. Myself and Sophie were selected to play North v South grassroots which involved training and meeting other people from other teams.

At Preston we were coached by Maggie Alphonsi which was amazing while the South were coached by William Greenwood and then we headed to Twickenham.

It was a memory I will never forget and didn’t think would ever happen again ,so to say that I am mega excited is an understatement. But this time, in my team kit with the Mighty Finches, is super exciting and beyond our wildest dreams. 

It’s a boom time for women’s sport – football, union and league – how big do you think your sport can become?

I think Union has become massive, but can still become bigger! When I first started we had to travel up to three hours to get a game as there wasn’t any local teams at the same level as us and now we have six Cumbrian teams.

We had to play so many friendly games before we could enter into a league! The England Red Roses have made a huge platform for girls and women’s rugby but this is just the start!

Hopefully League can follow suit as there is the new Workington League team that has just started up which is exciting for Workington to have both a union and a  league team and then there is the football which have a great set up with lots of different teams out there to choose from. 

Tell me about the road to Twickenham. Who have you beaten to get there and what was the highlight?

The Papa John’s Intermediate plate game started in October when we faced the Old Brodleians and we won 21-5. This was a tough physical game but nice to run out at home with a home crowd, that’s always good.

We then faced Scarborough Valkyries away who unfortunately gave us the walk over as they couldn’t field a team so we were straight through to the next round where we faced Penrith.

Penrith are in our league and we had played them the week before and they beat us so it was one apiece  as we had beaten them at the start of the season so this game was all to play for!

We were at home and it was a very good game. We really turned up and we were ready for it, beating them 17- 5 and the bragging rights! 

We then played Litchfield 2nds and this had to be the best game all season for me. We scored first then Litchfield came back to make it 5-5. We then got a penalty which we took and Nicole kicked it to move us 8-5 ahead at half time.

Litchfield scored an unconverted try on 50 minutes to go 8-10 in front before, in the 78th minute, we got another penalty and we missed the kick and it went back in to Litchfield’s hands.

We then managed to win a turn over ball and the referee blew his whistle as we had an injury . At this point the referee came up to me and said that this would the last play!

Everything was going through my head. Do we kick? Do we go for the try? There was two points in it.

We were going to kick but then when I saw where the ref had put the mark I had said to the team let’s maul this ball as far as we can and then out to the backs. And that is exactly what we did.

It was a team try. We dragged in the defence and played through hands and scored in the corner through Megan with her second of the day and Nichole’s conversation left us winning 15-10.

The game was tight from start to finish and it was a real good tough physical battle. The highlight for me was the last try and our celebration after the game and realising we were going to the Final! 

How much had you to do as a club to get the RFU to change their minds and play the final at Twickenham?

We found out the final was at Twickenham as this information was online from September. Avonmouth had confirmed it when they had put out they were going to Twickenham so we were all really excited.

Then I had a phone call from our chairman to say that Avonmouth had been in touch to say they had heard we weren’t playing at Twickenham.

So we sent an email to the RFU and they had confirmed it was going to be played at Worcester! We were all absolutely gutted to say the least and thought it had been too good to be true in any case.

There was a lot of work behind the scenes emails sent from several different people within the club – the list is endless, all fighting for us to be playing at Twickenham.

There was lots of messages after we put out on social media that we were not going to Twickenham from teams who we had previously played ,so angry for us and they had emailed the RFU. Which we were really grateful for.

The community of Workington really came together and shared our story. The RFU then come back to revert their decision. And I think for the RFU  to say it was a TYPO error was devasting for us.

So I’m glad they have reversed the decision as that typo has been in there since September 2022!. 

Tell me about your season. Clearly the knockout competition to reach the final was tops but what else has stood out?

Our season this year has been very mixed. We have had a few injuries including myself and we have had players leave to travel, and players move on to higher teams.

We have had new coaches take over the team and they have been finding their feet.

We have had some fantastic highs but we have also had some frustrating lows games we should have won but we couldn’t get out on the pitch what we can do. But the highs certainly weigh out the lows I guess that’s sport to a T.

But for me it’s the way the team pulls together with the last minute position changes, new positions, new players that have really stepped up who have just started their rugby journey and I’m excited to see where they go.

The support that everyone gives everyone to better themselves and others, it just makes me a really proud Captain. Every time we run out on to the pitch we do it for each other. 

Now a little about the Finches. When do you train, where are the players from and what are the plans for the Twickenham weekend?

We train on Tuesdays and Fridays 6.45pm to 8.15pm at the Ellis Sports Ground in Moss Bay, the home of the Zebras. 

Our players are from all over – Whitehaven, Egremont, St Bees, Threlkeld, Workington and Maryport. It’s a real mixture.

The weekend of Twickenham we are leaving Workington Friday teatime and traveling down to London. We are then going to watch the England Red Roses make history with a world-breaking crowd against France and to get a feel for the stadium.

Then on the Sunday we are having a captain’s run through for final preparations before Monday.

We are still unsure of KO times etc for our game so once we find out that info we can make a more sturdier itinerary for game day.

We have supporters coming down to watch which we are very grateful for – the more the merrier. We are doing a lot of fundraising to get us there and our crowd-funder page at the moment is over £6,000 so we are nearly at the £8,000 target. 

Looking beyond Twickenham what are the aims and ambitions of the Finches?

Beyond Twickenham our aims are to go again in our league and progress upwards in the league. We want to make a pathway for girls to join in too.

Which brings me nicely on to – have you a junior girls section at the club to provide future Finches or is that in the pipeline?

We want to get the Under-18s fully situated and grow the squad. From when I first started and there was seven girls turning up at training to now having 27. is fantastic but if we can grow that even more it would be a dream. 

I always finish with this one Charlotte. If the Finches were given a shed load of money by a generous benefactor, how would you spend it?

If we were given a shed load of money by a generous benefactor, we would use it to upgrade and invest in the future of the club  putting us on the map as a great team and into developing the youth of the area.

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