Last week, the women’s national team was in Ostrava for the Rugby Europe Women’s 7s Trophy.

The Maltese girls earned the right to compete in the high-level tournament after winning promotion as runners-up of the Women’s 7s Conference last year when the team won all but one of their six scheduled games.

This time round, the Maltese team faced much tougher opposition in the form of Scotland, Finland and Germany.

Ostrava was the first leg of the tournament, the second one being in Hungary late in July.

The main goal for the team was to remain in this division.

The squad was made up of experienced as well as young players.

Marion Azzopardi, Amanda Cassar and Beverie Sultana donned the national kit for the eleventh year.

On the other hand, it was the first capped experience for Jacqueline Richard, whose athletic capabilities were ideal for her position as winger.

Malta lost their opening three matches in Pool A of the Trophy against Finland (22-0), Hungary (28-7) and Switzerland (41-5) on Saturday.

Malta’s tries were scored by Richard, with Amanda Cassar converting one.

On Sunday, the team played Latvia first, with a possibility of going through to contend the Challenge Trophy.

The game was tied at 15-all at the end of the regular 14 minutes, with two tries by Cassar and one by captain Sultana.

A tied result meant an extra five minutes on the clock, with the game being won by the golden point.

The girls gave their all but in the end, it was Latvia who found the opportunity to score the golden try needed to win the game.

This meant Malta was in to fight for eleventh place with Israel.

The match turned out to be a one-sided affair with Israel scoring seven tries, converting two, to ease to a 39-0 victory.

Attention now turns towards the second leg of the tournament, scheduled for July 22 and 23.