This weekend was highly successful with a triple win against Hertford, our old rivals Welwyn, and the newbies OA's.
On a glorious Mothers Day 11 of the girls went to OA’s to play this fixture. In the first game against a very good Hertford side, the girls failed to win scrums against a much bigger pack, but tackled strongly and rucked well to get some ball. With the ball passed down the line from a turnover, Finn ran round the defence to open the scoring. The twins both just failed to score in the same move after a good break from Hannah. Claire then scored after cutting a good line through the defence. In the second half Sydnie made a good break and was stopped just short of the try line. From the resulting penalty Claire just managed to dive over and place the ball on the line. The resulting deep kick off from Hertford caused some panic in the Sarries defence, but the ball was passed to Claire who started to go one way then changed her mind and as the chase came up side stepped the nearest chaser and then had a clear 70m run to score under the posts and then convert. In the dying seconds Charlie picked up a dropped pass from the Sarries midfield and sprinted 50m to score under the posts, giving Hertford a deserved try, which they thoroughly deserved. Final score 22:7.
The second fixture saw Welwyn try to improve on their previous results against Saracens. It was another titanic battle with the defences being on top and forcing the errors and turnovers from the attack. All the game was being played in the middle third of the pitch. Twice from rucks Claire broke blind and was able to find the space to get away and score under the posts making the conversions easier. Welwyn came back though and a good break by Courtney saw her power over in the corner, but she was unable to convert the difficult pick. With time up, but Welwyn keeping the ball alive, a break through a tired looking Sarries midfield resulted in a score under the posts. Final score 14:12.
The final fixture saw the girls take on a new OA’s team on their main pitch. The OA’s girls have been training really hard and it showed with some excellent tackling. With a few more games experience they will be a force to be reckoned with. The Sarries girls greater game experience told as the game developed. Powerful running from Megan, Sydnie and Laura made repeated inroads into the OA’s defence. The rucking from the whole pack also secured quality ball for the girls to use. Finn opened the scoring outrunning the OA’s cover to score under the posts. From a penalty in the OA’s 22, Laura playing her first game crashed over under the posts. Megan and Sydnie with powerful runs in the second half scored also, before Claire broke blind from a ruck and put Sophie in the clear to score. Claire converted 4 out of the 5 tries to make the final score 33:0.
Many thanks to OA’s for hosting some wonderful rugby, and hopefully we can find room for a return fixture in the coming months.
