McLaren and Woolmington were both part of the Southern Districts Rugby Club Rebelettes outfit which claimed silver at the prestigious Borneo International 7s.

Both McLaren and Woolmington, who played in the Central West's Ferguson Cup last year for Bathurst Bulldogs and CSU respectively, have forged a reputation for not only their explosive speed, but hard hitting defence.

They are qualities Southern Districts were attracted to, McLaren having played with the Rebelettes in 2018 as well while Woolmington linked with the club for the first time this season.

For Woolmington, the tournament staged at Sandakan was a huge moment in her still fledgling rugby union career. She only took up the sport at the start of 2018.

"I've never done anything like that before. I had my first tournament with the Southern Districts girls at the start of the year, but that didn't even compare to what we experienced over there," she said.

"The Hong Kong teams and the Japanese teams, they're all insanely prepared, so the competition they produce is just insane. They train all the time, they are full-time teams.

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"It was a good team experience, for me coming into a new team it was good to get to know the girls on that sort of level. To see them hitting their full potential at an international level, it shows the level you need to be at to be competitive with them all.

"In any sport, playing with better people, playing against better people helps improve your skills, like phenomenally. It's a different ball game. I think my skills will keep growing and I think there's more to grow on."

Facing quality, experienced opponents in sapping humidity meant the tournament was a challenge for the Bathurst pair and their Rebelettes team-mates.

But they opened with a 28-0 win over Panthera (Malaysia) and backed that up by downing the Sabah Eagles 25-0. Though falling 12-0 to the Nagato Blue Angels in their final pool match, the Rebelettes still did enough to advance to the quarter-finals.

There they beat the Lady Volcanoes (Philippines) 36-5, before scrapping home 14-10 over the Japan Pearls in the cup semi-final.

In the decider the Rebelettes were outclassed by the Blue Angels, losing 39-0. Woolmington said that defeat was "hard to chew", but that overall she and her team-mates were pleased.

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"I think after the first couple of games we knew we were going to be pretty well placed in our pool. But coming away with second was still pretty good," she said.

"We knew our semi-final was going to be a tough one, that Japanese team was playing really well all tournament, they were fit girls and knew what they were doing.

"We played excellent in the semis to get into the grand final.

"They ended up running away with it, but that was expected. They were very good at what they did and they've obviously been doing it for awhile."

McLaren and Woolmington will have their next assignment with Southern Districts on April 27.