NINE months on, Eboni Partington is still a little lost for words when she recalls just what it is like to play at Wembley Stadium.
The walk out onto the pitch seems to have been rather a blur to the 21-year-old York Valkyrie star but there are two things she will seldom forget - scoring St Helens’ third try and lifting the first Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup underneath the famous arch.
Partington, who followed partner Taylor Pemberton in making the move to York during the off-season, will attempt to repeat the feat with her new club this year, with only former side Saints standing between her and a second trophy-crowning match in the capital.
“To be fair, I was very naïve last year,” Partington told The Press, pride from the fond memory still evident in her voice. “I didn’t really understand the kind of stage that I was on.
“But obviously the leaders, players like Jodie [Cunningham] and Emily [Rudge], they knew how important that was and how great for the game it was. That proved to me how important it was what we do on it.
“But I can’t even explain how good it was. Walking up those steps to lift the trophy is something that you can only dream of doing, and to actually do that was just unreal.
“It was a day that some people can only dream of doing, so to actually do it was great.”
Partington made some telling contributions in the competition’s final, with an outstanding tackle denying Amy Hardcastle before Saints turned the screw with three quick-fire tries, the latter of which saw the rising talent cross the whitewash.
Scoring in the competition’s final is a moment that the winger looks back on with pride, but yet she remains humble about her achievement.
“I had a great team that shifted me the ball to get that try,” she explained.
“But it’s great to be one of the first to score in it and it’s something that I’ll be really proud of. Words can’t describe how good it is to score and have your family and friends there supporting you.
“All those freezing cold nights when you’re at rugby, it makes it worth all your hard work.”
To even play at such an iconic venue is something that the England international could never have believed possible when she began her first forays into rugby as a teenager.
“I was at school and my cousin actually dragged me down to a session when I was in year eight or nine,” she recalled. “I can’t really remember!
“But I was like ‘no, I don’t really want to go’. She said ‘come on’ and we did. Then I just picked it up at school and we did all the school finals, things like that. We had a really good team at school so I really enjoyed it, and the teacher at the time, Miss Wilson, really pushed me to go down to a club away from school.
“I remember the first time I turned up, I said to my mum ‘I can’t get out of the car, I’m not doing it’ because I was just so nervous. But then I went back and tried again, and I really enjoyed it. I’m glad I did.
“But it’s thanks to my schoolteacher to be fair, because if it wasn’t for her, then I probably wouldn’t have.”
After a spell in rugby union, Partington returned to the 13-a-side code after being persuaded to try out for Saints’ under 19s squad in 2019.
She made her first-team debut in a 96-0 Women’s Challenge Cup thrashing of Stanningley later that year, before two tries in the competition’s 2022 final against Leeds Rhinos capped off a breakthrough season.
Now signing a professional contract with Lindsay Anfield’s side, an invitation to the Betfred Super League launch earlier this year made her realise just how much her rugby journey had come full circle.
“I never, ever thought we would get those contracts, but here we are,” Partington continued.
“I’m just grateful that the game’s going that way and people are now seeing that the women’s game is worth it.
“I never, ever thought that I would ever play, let alone score at Wembley.
“But I remember sitting at the Super League launch with Sam Burgess and I remembered going to one of the school’s finals and he was there when he played rugby union.
“I got him to sign my boots but I didn’t have a clue who he was at the time, and everyone was getting their shirts and boots signed.
“Now I look back on that and how far the game has come. You look back and think ‘oh God, I’ve actually made it somewhere.’”
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