THE Large family of Darlington live and breathe rugby with mum, Helen, very much to the fore. A teacher at King James's School, Bishop Auckland, Helen is captain of the Darlington Rugby Club ladies team and also coaches two new under 16 girls teams at both the club and the school.

She took seven of the Darlington girls and five from King James's to county trials and all were selected for a match against Northumberland at Northumbria University's Bullocksteads ground last Saturday.

Among them was her daughter Deborah, while son Daniel plays for the county under 14s.

Not to be left out, Hazel's husband, Matthew, plays for Darlington's fourth team and is head coach of the ladies team.

"We wash all the dirty kit in the bath," said Helen, who has been playing for a season and a half after starting out as a coach with the Darlington minis.

"It's nice to have whole families involved," she said. "Deborah plays on Saturday morning, Matthew on Saturday afternoon, Daniel on Sunday morning and me on Sunday afternoon."

Apart from Deborah the other Darlington girls who have been selected for the county team are Sheila Fisher, Josephine Walker, Jennifer Wilkinson, Sarah Wood, Kate Twizell and Rosie Mangle, whose brother Tom is a county under 14 player.

The Darlington girls play in a merit league which also involves teams from Middlesbrough, Billingham, Harrogate and Northallerton.

The King James's girls selected for the county team are Laura Shaw, Tanya Keeton, Marie Sowerby, Stacey Johnson and Samantha Lawson.

The King James's girls currently have no fixtures, but Helen organised a rugby weekend at the Darlington club to give them match experience and plans another one next month.