Wilkins offered coveted position (From Gazette)

Wilkins offered coveted position

10:24am Thursday 18th June 2009 in Rugby

Budding rugby star Jessica Wilkins has been offered a coveted academy position at Northampton Saints.

The Clacton County High School pupil, 15, will spend the next two years with the club after impressing them during an interview and while playing for Essex and the East of England.

The academy role will combine rugby with studying and gets under way in September.

Scrum-half or winger Wilkins told the Gazette: “I’m over the moon and see this as a big opportunity.

“Hopefully it’ll lead to other things.”

Wilkins plays her club rugby for a Basildon-based side called Basford and has also represented Essex and the East of England at under-18 level.

As part of the academy course, she will represent Northamptonshire in an under-21 fixture, although she will not find out the opposition until September.