THE manager of Lancashire Women believes local clubs have a big part to play in the future of county rugby.

Sue Garnett was talking after Lancashire's 46-3 victory over Cheshire in the first ever Northern Counties Trophy --a tournament that also includes Yorkshire.

Rossendale's promising young player, Lucy Brook, was named player of the match.

Women's rugby has become increasingly popular in recent years and Garnett wants to tap in to talent at clubs such as Rossendale and Colne and Nelson.

"This competition underlines how far we have come in the last couple of seasons," said Garnett who is also coach of Vale of Lune Ladies. "We have established a county team and that is down to the fact that we have several clubs to call upon. That has been boosted by the recent emergence of Rossendale."

Garnett wants to break down barriers and rid the notion that players are only selected from the bigger, more established clubs. It was for that reason a training programme rather than a trial was held for the Lancashire squad.

"Some players are put off by the trial process because they automatically think they are not as good as players from clubs from higher divisions. The training programme gave the players the chance to express themselves and it went really well. Unfortunately, no players from Colne and Nelson were present but Rossendale were well represented."

Lucy Brook, Laura Aspin, Tessa Hall, Samantha Haigh and Becky Watson all made the squad with Brook and Hall featuring in the Cheshire game.

And it was Brook who took the plaudits with the second row, who also acting as an emergency kicker, converting three kicks.

"Lucy is proof that there is a lot of talent at clubs from the lower divisions. She has only played about five games in total but was the star of the show against Cheshire. These are the sorts of players we are looking for and the sort of players who regularly turn out for clubs like Rossendale and Colne and Nelson."

Garnett was full of praise for Colne and Nelson for raising the profile of women's rugby.

"It's a shame we didn't have any of their players in the squad this time around but Colne and Nelson have done a lot for the game and are one of the most established sides in the county."

Garnett is also a part of the North West squad and, at a higher level, the Performance Development Academy.

She said she would have no worries putting players forward for trials.

"In football, the England team is exclusively made up of players from Premiership teams. It doesn't work like that in our level of rugby. Sure you get the majority of good players playing for clubs like Vale of Lune and Waterloo but there are just as many playing for their home town clubs.

"But if they are good enough they should be given the chance to play at the highest level."