Twickenham trip to remember for Selby student Jessica

The opportunity arose as part of a programme, launched in 2012 by the Rugby Football Union, which aims to get more state secondary schools playing rugby and more students joining local clubs.

Miss Llewellyn, 15, was one of a 100 students from across the country who took to the pitch wearing new shirts before the singing of the national anthems.

She also got to meet England international Billy Vunipola, the CBRE All Schools Ambassador.

"It was a great opportunity," she said. "I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process of designing the kit and was delighted to be picked to collect it for the school.

"I think women’s rugby is growing really fast at the moment and I was happy to represent females in the game," she added. "I was nervous to be out on the pitch but was more excited than anything else."

Pupils from Huntington School and Archbishop Holgate’s School, who are also members of the CBRE All Schools programme, also got the opportunity to walk on the pitch before the game.

All 100 shirts had been individually designed by the school children at Canterbury kit design workshops.

Pupils worked with Canterbury employees to learn about the core values of rugby, the pride associated with the shirt, and the importance of colours, logos, and emblems.

Commenting on the project, England international Vunipola said: "It’s great to see more state secondary schools getting involved in rugby through the CBRE All Schools programme. The atmosphere in Twickenham on match day is very special and it’s fantastic that the students got to experience it first-hand. Who knows, maybe one of them will be playing for England one day!"

CBRE All Schools, supported by Canterbury, is one of the RFU’s key legacy programmes, set up to increase the number of state secondary schools playing rugby union in England.

Visit www.englandrugby.com/allschools to find out more.