Gloucester-Hartpury v Bristol Bears
In the glib phrase ‘What’s not to like?’ the answer is very little. A local derby, international players everywhere you look, fans fizzing with anticipation.
Then you discover that Ioan Cunningham and his staff will be present to run their eye over the Welsh players on view. Cunningham is pleased: many of his squad are competing at the peak level of club rugby, in the care of top coaches and using the best facilities.
Let’s see how many players will come under his microscope: Lleucu George, Kelsey Jones, Bethan Lewis, Sisilia Tuipulotu, Lisa Neumann, Elinor Snowsill, Keira Bevan, Alisha Butchers, Gwen Pyrs and Bryonie King. That’s quite a lot. Then there’s the second semi to add a few more.
He may be slightly surpised to see some of his most prized competitors reduced to the bench, most notably Lisa Neumann and Sisilia Tuipulotu; both must be added early to his own international team-lists.
But it’s another Welshman, Sean Lynn, who has made that decision, and he has hardly taken a false step all season.
The Downside
Welsh rugby is still in turmoil, the men’s game in particular. So we can’t expect to see those ten Welsh players being required to switch to a Welsh club in order to retain their contracts. That day remains far off.
While most Welsh rugby fans are worried to death about their men’s team, we can only hope that the women – who have worked wonders to reach the top level of the WXV – are given full backing.
The Upside
We can look forward to an intriguing set of battles all over the park. G-H’s front-row will have to work hard to control the power and know-how of the Pam-Bavies-Bern trio; equally the midfield battle between George-Heard-Lund and Snowsil-Reed-Murray should be one for the purist.
If you look at the bench to decide the likely winners, then G-H surely have the trump cards.
The odds always favour the home side, and G-H are greatly helped by having Kingsholm as the venue. Bristol are working overtime to encourage their supporters to be brave and leave their favourite city for the ‘other place’ down the road.
A game to savour.
Teams
Glos-Pury
15 Sing 14 Rugman 13 Lund 12 Heard 11 Venner 10 George 9 Hunt 1 Muir 2 K. Jones 3 Delgado 4 Monaghan 5 Aldcroft 6 Matthews 7 Lewis 8 Beckett
Bench: 16 N. Jones 17 Buggy 18 Tuipulotu 19 Learned 20 Brock 21 Blackburn 22 Bridger 23 Neumann
Bristol
15 Lovibond 14 Coles 13 Murray 12 Reed 11 Wills 10 Snowsill 9 Bevan 1 Pam 2 Davies 3 Bern 4 Cunningham 5 Burns 6 Butchers 7 Molloy 8 Marston
Bench: 16 Phillips 17 Pyrs 18 Mulhearn 19 Barwick 20 King 21 Burgess 22 Skuse 23 White Details:
Saturday 10 June, Kingsholm, Gloucester; KO 15.00 BST
Officials:
Referee: Alex Thomas
ARs: Harry Walbaum and Katherine Ritchie TMO: Nikki O’Donnell
with thanks to rugbyreferee.net
