By Laura Howard, Sportsbeat

When Trailfinders’ Vicky Laflin attends the Premiership Women’s Rugby final in March, she will do so with dreams of playing in it herself in the not too distant future.

The winger is set to head to the StoneX Stadium as a spectator for the climax of the season, but will be using it as fuel to fulfil her aspirations of taking Trailfinders the whole way one day.

“It’s amazing to watch it, I just would love to be a part of one,” said Laflin.

“I've never been in a PWR final, so that's definitely a goal. I think it'd be a great experience, and definitely where we want to be as Trailfinders.

“I’m just really excited. There's been a lot of shocks to different teams this season so it's been very close, which is exciting to watch.

“The final itself will be a whole show of its own and hopefully there'll be a really good crowd as well.”

This season PWR has invited every current player to the Final and Laflin is one of a number of players who have taken up the offer.

When Laflin first started playing rugby at the age of six, dreams of a Premiership title were a mere dot on the horizon of her future. Instead, her motivation was fuelled by a will to play with her brothers.

It was how she became the only girl on boys team Redingensians (now Rams Rugby), which brought challenges of its own but also crafted the player she has become.

“It was hard. The majority of the time, I was the only girl in the boys team,” said the 25-year-old.

“It definitely added to me as a player but there were challenges when you played other teams. A lot of parents and other teams would say, ‘Run at the girl. She's not gonna tackle.’

“It was a challenge, and it was very character building. It developed me well as a person.”

Laflin would become fond of embracing challenges. After making the transition to girls’ and then women’s rugby, she signed for Worcester Warriors.

While there, Laflin juggled working full-time with a part-time Masters in Counselling Psychology and playing top division rugby.

“That was difficult. It's obviously very strenuous and a lot to manage. You always feel like you need to be doing more when you don't have the time to,” she said.

“It was about making sure that I planned everything I could and making sure I took time for myself, as well.

“It really did influence me as a person. Counselling psychology is people-based and it helps inform how I speak to people, how I learn, how people like to receive information or want to be given information.

“It’s helped me with personal relationship skills in sport.”

Laflin’s commitment paid off with her skillset growing both on and off the pitch. After an impressive six seasons in Worcester, she moved to PWR newcomers Trailfinders and received a call-up to England's Six Nations squad last year.

“It's always been a goal of mine to be involved [with England]. When I got that recognition, to be invited into the squad, that alone was just amazing. I was really grateful for that,” said Laflin.

“England is the top team at the moment, so it's such a privilege to even be involved in the group.

“It’s challenging yourself to be around professional athletes and pushing yourself even further to be the best person and player that you can be.”

It is an attitude she has taken back to west London, where Trailfinders are pushing for a top six finish.

They earned an impressive 39-38 victory over Bristol Bears and have provided a test to many of the top four in a tough run.

Now, Laflin wants to take Trailfinders to the next level with a spot in that PWR final very much front and centre of her aspirations these days.

“It's making sure that we're not just chasing those higher top four teams, but that we actually want to be competing with them,” she said.

“Showing them that we can perform, and when we do perform, we can win. It's changing that mindset to be more confident in our own ability.

“We are growing and we are up in that top four standard, we just need to make sure we perform every single time.”