The 2s started their campaign under the lights on Friday night at Eton Manor in east London with an early try mauled over the line by number 8 Liz Shannon.

The opposition answered quickly with their own points and the first half became a tight physical battle.

Captain Dionne Soper-Dwyer said: “After a really tough year and a half for everyone, the 2's went out for our first official game of the season and we gave it our all, dominating scrums and passing with precision.”

Two more tries from Lucy Brookings and forward of the match Gabi McGregor were returned by Eton Manor and a conversion had them in the lead over Hampstead by two points at half time.

A solid performance led by back of the match Violette Desarmeaux on her first outing as fly half kept the home team at bay for fifteen minutes as the second half kicked off.

They made use of a large bench bringing fresh legs on to tackle the visitors who tried to even the score with a pick and go out of the back of the ruck from flank Maÿlis Chapellier.

However a quickly taken penalty and several conversions pushed the home team ahead of Hampstead for a final score of 36 – 20.

“I'm really looking forward to growing together as a team and working on tightening our defence to give us that competitive edge in future games,” added Soper-Dwyer

Two days later the first team travelled south to visit Beckenham for their first fixture of the year.

The home team’s back line proved difficult to defend as they scored three tries in quick succession from the kick off.

The visitors collected themselves and put up a strong defence, dominating in the forwards and winning penalties at the scrums.

“Beckenham were clearly a well drilled physical side with plenty of attacking options,” said captain Faye Hamp, “however the score line doesn’t necessarily reflect some of the dominance displayed by our forward pack as they put in a real shift.”

However Beckenham went into half time without conceding any points and Hampstead continued a strong defensive battle into next second 40 minutes.

They gained ground with some strong carries off the rucks led by forward of the match Harriet Orrell and powerful runs down the wing from back of the match Helen Atkinson.

A yellow card for Beckenham was converted into points for Hampstead thanks to a charge down from flanker Jamie Blazejewski that was then touched down over the line by scrum half Rachel Berry.

The home team continued to command the field out wide chalking up a final score of 45 – 5.

Looking ahead to the season, Hamp added: “We had plenty of new faces on the pitch was great and no doubt we will be able to eradicate some of the errors as we get some more game time together and really gel to utilise the forwards power.”