Allianz Premier 15s – Round 9
Prem 15s rugby came to Twickenham Stadium for the first time as part of Quins’ Big Game project. How lucky we were that the clampdowns ordered in other parts of the kingdom didn’t affect this corner.
So two London teams had the privilege of running out on to the hallowed turf, trailed by BT Sport’s cameras and Five Live Sports Extra’s microphones.
Quins showed a mere thirteen England internationals in their starting line-up, Wasps a measly seven! Despite that numerical disadvantage Wasps enjoyed a lot of territorial gains in the first half, but couldn’t make them pay until the last moments when Ellie Boatman went over on the right.
It was a huge relief to see Jess Breach back in action. Wasps had kept Quins at bay till the 37th minute when a break and feed from Ellie Kildunne gave us the chance to check out the Breach pace. Unfortunately she was over the horizon before we could get our speedometer functioning. Lagi Tuima did well to convert from wide left.
Half-time 7-5
The second half told a different story. The Wasps scrum had been under pressure from the start, and its effects became more apparent now.
Quins ran away with the game; tries by Kildunne, Heather Cowell, Jade Konkel and, right at the end, by Fi Fletcher, ensured the expected victory for the hosts and a welcome bonus point.
The Kildunne offering was special, running in from deep in her own half, needing to change direction, fend and fight off two hopeful tacklers just short of the line.
Five minutes from the end Nikki O’Donnell had to stop the game to review a tackle on Kildunne by Cliodhna Moloney. With the help of the big screen she knew she had to show a red card. More on that below.
Result:
Quins 29 Wasps 5
Both sides discarded their normal colours for the match, which is a great pity. The Quins’ publicist has been pushing the phrase ‘Famous Quarters’ all season; they haven’t been seen for quite a while. In rounds 6, 7 and 8 they have worn red and white; today it was a doubtful shade of khaki. Wasps were most unwasp-like in white.
It was a pity too that neither Abby Dow nor Claudia Macdonald was available to measure herself against an all-England back-line. The crowd was treated to two outstanding long-distance tries, but the cover tackles might have been a shade earlier and firmer from those two.
The attendance was given as over 9,000, a new world record for a women’s club match. Quins’ previous appearance at HQ was against a provincial side, Leinster.
Teams:
Quins: Kildunne; Cowell, Tuima, Burford, Breach; Scott, L. Packer; Cornborough, Cokayne, S. Brown; Galligan, Fletcher, Konkel, A. Harper, Beckett
Wasps: Mason; Boatman, G. Rowland, Burton, C. Williams; M. Jones, Nye; Kerr, Moloney, Muir; Cooney, Monaghan; Crake, Molloy, Millar-Mills
Officials:
Referee: Nikki O’Donnell
ARs: Katherine Ritchie and Rebecca Rees
with thanks to rugbyreferee.net
Table P W L Pts
Bristol 9 7 2 36
Harlequins 9 7 2 34
Saracens 8 7 1 33
Exeter 9 6 3 29
Wasps 9 5 4 26
Gloucester-H 9 4 5 24
Loughborough 9 4 5 21
Worcester 8 2 6 12
Sale 8 1 7 6
DMPDS 8 0 8 0
Afterthoughts
Red Cards
With the ever rising intensity of AP 15s matches, is it inevitable that more red cards will be awarded?
The card Nicki O’Donnell flourished near the end of the game was, by my calculations, the fourth of the past few weeks (R7 Leah Lyons; R7 Connie Powell; R8 Sioned Harries).
The unique feature of this incident was the presence of a big screen to help the referee review accurately. Women’s test matches are perfectly familiar with it, but this was the first time a referee was given this facility at an English club match.
Questions are always asked about the fairness of the presence and absence of TV evidence in a match, most notably in cricket. We are a long way from having it present at all Prem 15s games. Till that distant moment referees are left with the evidence of their assistants’ and their own eyes.
Sevens Players Availability
Sevens players are so unpredictable in their availability for league matches. Jones, Boatman and Burton played for Wasps, but not Wilson Hardy or Quansah. Cowell played for Quins, but she, like Boatman, wasn’t among the ten core England players named by James Rodwell a fortnight ago.
Inevitably Meg Jones played a leading role in Wasps’ performance, but it was her very first appearance this season.
Apart from injuries, how are we to explain their comings and goings?
Dave Ward
Dave Ward, Bristol’s head coach, could be said to have got off very lightly from his disciplinary hearing for bad language to an official. He was sentenced to absenting himself from one match. But he won’t miss a single AP 15s game because he doubles as scrum coach for the men’s team, so their next match can be used instead as his punishment.
He will however have to talk to both teams about the need to respect authority. That may prove less than easy.
