Aylesford Ladies are ready for old rivals Thurrock as they look to secure a third season of Premiership rugby.

The sides meet in a play-off game at Cobham on Sunday with a place in the top flight at stake.

Bulls manager Angela Smith, ex-England captain Catherine Spencer, Michele Mayhew, Liz Philp and Sue French are all retiring at the end of the season and they want to go out on a high by keeping Bulls in the Premiership.

There’s also a Senior Plate final against Darlington to look forward to on April 11 but top-flight status is the priority.

Smith said: “Thurrock are the old enemy. We’ve played them a lot over the years and beat them in the play-off two years to take their place in the Premiership, which they were pretty upset about.

“They have done a lot of recruiting, there’s a lot of money floating about in Essex, plus they’ve had support from other clubs and the Essex RFU.

“It would mean so much to stay in the Premiership. We’ve improved a lot over the two years we’ve been up and if we get a third season, we’ll be mixing it a lot more with the other teams.

“We know it’s going to be a feisty game where they’re a physical side and we’ll have to defend well."