FROM Tynedale Park to the heights of the new, exciting Women's Super Rugby.

With women's rugby at an all-time high, the advent of the RFU's new domestic league is another huge step forward for the game. And Darlington Mowden Park Sharks scrum half Caity Mattinson, who grew up playing her rugby for Tynedale Panthers, is proud as punch to be part of it.

Darlington, who already play in the country's top women's league, were one of the 10 teams offered a place in Women's Super Rugby, which has been created in a bid to make the women's game more professional. The RFU will pump in millions of pounds into the competition over the next three years.

And Tynedale junior Caity believes it will provide a huge boost to the sport in the country, which has grown significantly in recent years on the back of England's World Cup win in 2014.

She said: "The new league will give us better access to training and equipment to bring us much closer to semi-professional standard, and that is really exciting for women's rugby.

"It is so good that we're able to keep it up in the North-East at Darlington, and it is a move towards becoming more professional and moulding players for the England set-up.

"It's a really exciting time to play women's rugby, and it is really important to have something in the region so the girls from Tynedale and other clubs have something to aspire to when they leave the U18 section.

"It will be amazing to have that level of rugby in the North-East and we will have the links to the universities, and we will be a good centre of excellence for players to come to and push on."

Caity is looking forward to the new competition getting under way as she continues to make her way up the international ladder.

Having captained the U20 team, she is now in the national academy development programme. The next step, should she make it, is the world conquering senior side alongside her Darlington teammates, such as England captain Katy McClean and fellow internationals Abbie Scott and Zoe Aldcroft.

Caity said: "I had a tough few seasons with injuries, but I'm in the national academy which is looking to develop players for the senior squad in the next year or two.

"We have a few senior internationals at Darlington, so it's been good to get some advice from them and it would be really exciting to play alongside them for my country."