Brookham School enjoyed a special visit from three players and a coach from the Harlequins ladies’ rugby team.

Jade Konkel impressed children by telling them that she was Scottish rugby’s first ever full-time female professional player and plays internationally for Scotland, as well as being loaned out to the Harlequins.

Pat Metcalfe-Jones was an inspiration to all children who think they might like, one day, to study at Oxford University. She balances her rugby career with a full-time languages degree at this prestigious institution.

Lucy Parker is the youngest of the players. Aged only 19, she has already won bronze for Wales under-18s sevens at the Youth Commonwealth Games before graduating to the senior side at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at the Paris and Hong Kong Sevens, as well as Rugby Europe events.

The players were also joined by Kirsty Openshaw, who is one of the club’s foundation coaches. She inspired girls to take up rugby, combining coaching the Wimbledon girls’ team and playing for the club herself.

Kirsty has a full-time role as women’s and girls’ rugby coach at Harlequins Rugby Club.

And she took excited pupils through several rugby workshops, where they could demonstrate their knowledge from previous sessions, including dodging, weaving and ball-handling skills.

The Harlequins ladies also held a question-and-answer session and responded to enquiries about how their careers started, their favourite food, countries they have visited, and the number of medals and trophies they have won so far.

Brookham headteacher Sophie Baber said: "It has been a truly inspirational day that the children will remember for a long time.

"Hopefully there will be a few more recruits for local rugby clubs from both boys and girls at Brookham.

"No doubt many will now have high aspirations to play for the Harlequins or maybe England one day."