A Battle of the Giants
This was another game to show the PWR at its best. First met third, another repeat of last year’s final. Could G-H possibly hold out against ravenous Chiefs again?
The hosts were suffering cruelly from injuries; it was hard to credit how many players they were short of: Heard, Venner, Castelucci, Aldcroft, Monaghan and Lund for starters. And Chiefs had been displeased by their own performance against Quins last week. But Claudia Macdonald suffered another worrying injury in that same game. England may be checking around for spare wingers.
Another telling kick by Lleucu George, and at once Chiefs found themselves on their own line. They did well to hold up a concerted drive.
Quite outstanding footwork by Emma Sing saw her touch down on five minutes. It started with a chip through off her left foot, then a nudge with her right. Pip Hendy then tried to outsparkle her full-back with a jinking run that took her to the line.
Now Exeter made a positive move. They opted to kick a penalty to the corner and executed a perfect drive to the line. Scorer, the inevitable Emily Tuttosi. 10-7
Chiefs now took over. They drove Glos-Pury back ten metres, then flung the ball wide. It didn’t work at once, but a second devastating drive did. What had happened to the hosts’ forward dominance? Try, Hope Rogers. Gabby Cantorna’s strike hit the post and stayed out. 10-12
After a short game of ping-pong, Glos-Pury got their motor running again. Georgia Brock was involved early on, and she took the final pass, a delightful inside flick from George, to go over. Lead restored. 17-12
Chiefs were grateful for a turnover as Glos-Pury looked menacing again. They were happy to kick to touch to close proceedings one score down.
Half-time: 17-12
At a sudden turnover – George passed to the opposition – Alex Tessier kicked into a desert of emptiness and won a penalty. Result: a third for Tuttosi. Canada could do with that input when they next face the Ferns. An excellent kick from Cantorna made it 17-19, the lead regained.
Glos-Pury now strung another wonderful series of passes together. Hendy, playing finely on the wing, carried the ball almost to the line, but lost possession. In the build-up though Linde van Der Velden was spotted making a high charge and was shown yellow. That is one disadvantage the tall player has when making contact.
A long build-up led to a try by Mo Hunt, sneaking round an unguarded corner. That was the vital bonus-point. 24-19
As the changes went on, you could see the incredible depth the top teams boast. Only now did Sisilia Tuipiulotu and Cliodhna Moloney appear.
A broader question was: could all these North American players, so prominent in the PWR, (Tessier, Cantorna, Rogers, Menin, Tuttosi, etc) repeat these exploits at International level? The Pacific-4 and WXV await.
During Van Der Velden’s absence, Glos-Pury were in charge of events. As she returned, Chiefs faced a 5-metre line-out; somehow they held the drive up.
As we reached the three-quarter mark, Glos-Pury hadn’t managed to extend their lead to two scores. But a poor pass back from Rachel Johnson gave them the chance they needed. Georgia Brock completed the job with a neat reverse run to cross beside a post; her second. 31-19
As the game moved towards a close, the tackles grew even harder. Intense Chiefs’ pressure led to a try on the right edge by Eilidh Sinclair. That was the try-scoring bonus and potentially a losers’ one too. Cantorna couldn’t add the two, and it was already 78.52 minutes gone.
Chiefs tried to build csrefully, but a final knock-on did for them. G-H kept that remarkable unbeaten run. All of them deserve praise, but I suspect Sean Lynn will be particularly pleased – though not surprised – with how his youngsters performed under pressure.
Sarah Hunter was in attendance, charged with watching the England back-row players. What does she know about that area of the game? I won’t stay for your answer.
Result: 31-24
Teams:
Gloucester-Hartpury
15 Emma Sing 14 Nel Metcalfe 13 Hannah Jones 12 Millie Hyett 11 Pip Hendy 10 Lleucu George 9 Mo Hunt (captain) 1 El Perry 2 Kelsey Jones 3 Maud Muir 4 Sarah Beckett 5 Gwen Crabb 6 Georgia Brock 7 Beth Lewis 8 Alex Matthews
Bench: 16 Neve Jones 17 Laura Delgado 18 Sisilia Tuipulotu 19 Sioban McCarthy 20 Kate Williams 21 Caity Mattinson 22 Lizzie Goulden 23 Cath Richards
Exeter Chiefs
15 Merryn Doidge 14 Eilidh Sinclair 13 Kanako Kobayashi 12 Gabby Cantorna 11 Katie Buchanan 10 Alex Tessier 9 Brooke Bradley 1 Hope Rogers 2 Emily Tuttosi 3 DaLeaka Menin 4 Linde van der Velden 5 Poppy Leitch (captain) 6 Ebony Jefferies 7 Maisy Allen 8 Rachel Johnson
Bench: 16 Cliodhna Moloney 17 Abby Middlebrooke 18 Lizzy Hanlon 19 Nichola Fryday 20 Harriet Millar-Mills 21 Taz Bricknell 22 Olivia Ortiz 23 Robyn Wilkins
Referee: Tom Foley
Table P W D L Pts
Glos-Pury 12 12 0 0 59
Saracens 10 9 0 1 45
Exeter 12 7 1 4 42
Bears 12 8 0 4 41
Harlequins 11 3 1 7 22
Lightning 10 4 0 6 22
Trailfinders 11 3 0 8 18
Tigers 11 2 0 9 8
Sale 11 1 0 10 3
Afterthoughts
News had broken that the final would be staged at Sandy Park. Views on that choice differ jaggedly: some say it should be played at some safe neutral ground; others at the table-toppers’ ground. But Exeter have been favoured once more, even though Tony Rowe has found it necessary to issue a statement reassuring the world that his club has a secure future.
This was the first half of a Super weekend. Once the Sunday games are complete, we’ll be left wondering whether it heralds more regular coverage of PWR games. Should it really depend on individual clubs to offer their own live streams?
