IT wasn't that long ago that lip balm was every bit as vital as gum shields and head protectors for the players at Rossendale Ladies Rugby Club.

Wearing dirty shirts was a 'no-no' while players thought a scrum was nothing more than a practical joke.

How things have changed over the past 15 months.

For a team that started out as something of a dare now boasts two county players and, last weekend, enjoyed its first ever victory.

Dale's 43-5 win at neighbours Colne and Nelson confirmed how far they have come since Mike Hull helped set up the side to give his daughter, Tessa, an alternative way of keeping fit.

"Tessa was fed up with just going to the gym to stay fit so she dared me to set up a ladies rugby team," said Hull who was more used to refereeing ladies teams rather than running them. "She got about six or seven of her friends together and it has gone on from there."

Today, the team is playing some impressive rugby but it wasn't always like that admitted Hull, who runs the team with Bryn Clement.

"It was pretty funny when we first started," added the 46-year-old who still turns out for Rossendale Thirds, injuries permitting. "There was the time the girls refused to put on dirty shirts while another time we had to stop playing because one of them had dropped her lip balm."

And Hull remembers the first time he showed them how to bind properly in a scrum.

"When we told the second row players they had to put their arms through the legs of the props to bind properly, they actually thought it was a joke!"

However, the girls are now up to speed with the practical jokes and drinking games that come with rugby -- and their off-field antics are now matched by their on-field heroics.

"They were superb against Colne and Nelson," added Hull. "Considering it was only their fifth game against a far more experienced side, they were excellent."

Lucy Brooke and debutant Wendy Charnley scored three tries apiece while Laura Ticehurst also touched down. Stacey Brailsford kicked three conversions and Joni Aspin added another to round off a convincing victory.

Tessa Hull and Laura Aspin have earned county call-ups and the club is now looking to expand its ladies section and form a junior girls section - a first in East Lancashire.

Hull said: "We are only playing friendlies at the moment but we want to join a league. To do that we need more players. We are also going in to schools to try to encourage girls to take up the game.

"It's not often you say that Rossendale is at the centre of things but that is exactly what we want when it comes to girls rugby."

For further details, contact Mike Hull on 07932 703174 or Bryn Clement on 07779 323963.