YORK RI RUFC ladies' captain Shannon Little insists her side can take plenty of positives despite falling short of lifting silverware in the inaugural 24/Sevens national final.

York RI headed to Allianz Park, home of European and Premiership champions Saracens, to compete alongside five other teams after being successful at one of four regional qualifiers earlier this month.

Run by England Rugby, 24/Sevens is a new community sevens series that aims to increase participation among men and women.

And Little described the experience of being able to play at such a famous venue as one of the best in her rugby career.

“We had quite a different team to the one which played (in the qualifiers), because we missed a lot of our backs and had too many forwards,” she said.

“We played Saracens Development first up and they were amazing, they had such good pace. But I think we held our own and from there we played better.

“The standard in the competition was really high and we had a lot more confidence after it. Playing in the stadium was overwhelming but we got over it quite quickly.

“To play at Allianz Park was awesome but terrifying. We did not expect to reach the finals so to do so was amazing.”

Less than two weeks now remain until the Olympics get underway in Rio, where rugby sevens makes its Games debut, with Team GB competing in both the men’s and women’s competition.

Little believes it is great to see the game growing at all levels.

“To be there was big for rugby, especially in North Yorkshire where ladies' rugby is only really kicking off,” she said.

“Now we can say we did a national final. Hopefully it can inspire some other teams to get involved next year.

“We have learnt so much. One of our girls has never played sevens before, and so it proved a lot to us.

“Our favourite moment of the whole process was learning we'd qualified. Now we will learn so much and take it forward.”

*England Rugby 24/Sevens, a new exciting grassroots sevens competition for all rugby teams, welcoming anyone who just wants to pick up a ball and run, for fun or glory. Visit www.englandrugby.com/24sevens to get involved