Margot powers women’s rugby team through to record 78-0 win 

Manchester Metropolitan’s Women’s Rugby ones won big last Wednesday, thrashing York with a 78-0 victory.

The match was their biggest win in the past few seasons, and watching them pitch side, it was clear to all that it was well-deserved. As a team they played beautifully together, but powering them to the win, scoring 34 of the total points, and earning herself player of the match, was rugby up-and-comer Marguerite Julia, known affectionately to her teammates as Margot. Although Julia has only been playing for Manchester Met for a month, the chemistry between the team is incredible and she has slotted in perfectly, becoming a valued part of their tightknit team.

“Everything just clicked with the girls,” Julia told us. “We’ve been working on it for a couple of games now, getting our passes sharp and working on our discipline and defence, and I think today we just did all of that.”

From minute one to eighty, the women wreaked havoc on York Women’s with Julia scoring most of the conversions. “Today was the day to run lines and my kicking was good today, so I’m happy with that!”

Julia’s first try at ten minutes saw her score just under the posts straight out of the scrum after running a great line and evading tackles from all directions with support from teammates throughout. Her following conversion right in front of the posts made it easy for her to score those extra few points.

Julia hails from the Southwest of France and came to England to do a degree in computer science at Durham University, where she first played on their football team, only switching to rugby in her second year. When asked about the switch she said: “I love the physicality of it, and rugby is a really respectful game. Rugby also runs in my family, the southwest of France is very big on rugby and my uncle used to play semi-pro. I’ve always watched it I just never had the chance to play it until I got to Uni.”

Now a master’s student at MMU, Julia explained that she came to the university for the “really great rugby program,” and the Uni’s connection to Sale Sharks. Her ambition? “I want to try and go pro.” A dream that may not be far off seeing as the young player was selected for the Sale Sharks Women’s first game – unfortunately due to visa issues, Julia was not able to accept, but now trains with the team until her visa allows her to go pro.

“She definitely has the capability [to go pro],” said MMU’s Women’s Rugby coach Mark Luffman, (known to the girls as ‘Luffers’). “Margot is an all-round player; she brings an awful lot and is a massive asset to the team. We’re just lucky to have someone that talented on board.”

Catch Margot Julia in action on MMU’s own Match Day Live on YouTube.