PWR – Round 13
Saturday Matches
Saracens v Leicester Tigers
Gloucester-Hartpury v Loughborough Lightning
Saracens v Leicester Tigers
“We knew we had to come out and execute”.
So said Poppy Cleall, after she won the Player of the Match award.
Her words were only too well chosen. Tigers were executed to the extent of a 100-0 loss.
They were missing Amy Cokayne and Meg Jones again, but buoyed by their win last week, even if it was against the one side placed below them in the table.
Tom Hudson may well have decided the game was already unwinnable, so ‘rotated’ his side (to use the polite term). The outcome was damaging for the league, a reminder of the bad old days of the Premier 15s, when sides all too often topped the century mark.
This was a one-way procession to delight few people beyond London NW4.
Leanne Infante, starting rather than Ella Wyrwas, crossed for the first of a torrent of tries. After Sarries dominated two scrums, Cleall picked, ran and delivered an exquisite reverse, a skill the England staff no longer feel they need.
Marlie Packer ran half the field to score on her 100th club appearance; then she added a second, her first two of the campaign. We can be sure she had taken John Mitchell’s demands to heart.
Zoe Harrison added to her collection of tries this season. Like Packer, she then doubled her tally, later gaining her hat-trick. After Emma Hardy had added a sixth offering, Sarries suffered their first set-back, Fancy Bermudez seeing yellow as Tigers mounted a promising attack. But they couldn’t score.
It was another positive sign when, already 0-36 down in under half-an-hour, they ignored the chance of three points in front of the posts and went for the corner. But a line-out overthrow brought the ball to the halfway line from the end of Harrison’s boot. That error happens all too often in the modern game. Why not short and safe?
A half-time score of 48-0 was extreme enough, but the second half saw it more than doubled. Isla Alejandro brought up the 100 on 77 minutes, taking a long pass at full pelt.
This result was fine for the winning team, fine for England prospects, but bad news for the league, which needs all the tight matches it can muster. Wide margins don’t attract the people who matter, like TV execs.
Result: 100-0
PotM: Poppy Cleall
Gloucester-Hartpury v Loughborough Lightning
Gloucester-Hartpury needed to switch their home game from Hartpury to Kingsholm to seek more protection from the weather.
After Lightning’s stunning win against Sarries last week, this game acquired even greater significance. It was the turn of the home first-choice front-rowers, Neve Jones, Mackenzie Carson and Maud Muir, to take a seat in the stalls.
Lilli Ives Campion put in a serious bid to register as the youngest player to complete 50 caps for her PWR club; she is 21.
The Game
Fog!
It turned into a far tighter contest than at Sarries, a credit to Lightning, who are at last approaching their standards of Premier 15s days.
But G-H made sure they got the scoreboard ticking first, Sisilia Tuipulotu driving over. Lightning countered promptly; one of England’s uncapped selections, Francesca Goldthorp, created an opening for Bulou Mataitoga that she exploited. (5-5)
Lightning weren’t to be on level terms again. That well-known deflater, the interception, allowed Mia Venner to run all the way to the line.
Matters didn’t improve when a saving tackle by Sadia Kabeya on Emma Sing was followed by a yellow for Alev Kelter for a breakdown offence.
A half-time deficit of 12 points left Lightning’s hopes still burning, but they were dealing with a side capable of outstanding rugby.
If he did become the next Wales coach, Sean Lynn wouldn’t be able to call on reserves of the quality of Muir, Carson or Neve Jones. Through the second half G-H stoked up their tally to 36 points.
The encouragement for Nathan Smith was Lightning’s response. After Lleucu George touched down in the corner, Kelter hacked a loose ball through, followed up and scored. Carson reminded the England selectors of her qualities with a try, before Mataitoga completed her second. Almost inevitably G-H responded with a late try, the only surprise being it was George’s second. She’s quite enjoying scoring without using her right boot.
Gloucester-Hartpury go top again.
Result: 36-19
Player of the Match: Lucy Simpson
Teams:
Gloucester-Hartpury
15 Emma Sing, 14 Mia Venner, 13 Hannah Jones, 12 Tatyana Heard, 11 Pip Hendy, 10 Lleucu George 9 Mo Hunt (co-captain), 1 Kathryn Buggy 2 Lucy Simpson, 3 Sisilia Tuipulotu, 4 Sarah Beckett, 5 Zoe Aldcroft (co-captain), 6 Steph Else, 7 Georgia Brock, 8 Alex Matthews
16 Neve Jones, 17 Mackenzie Carson, 18 Maud Muir, 19 Gwen Crabb, 20 Tabitha Copson, 21 Meg Davies, 22 Millie Hyett, 23 Rachel Lund
Loughborough Lightning
15 Francesca Goldthorp, 14 Bulou Mataitoga, 13 Emily Scarratt, 12 Alev Kelter,11 Krissy Scurfield, 10 Helen Nelson, 9 Megan Davey, 1 Anne Young, 2 Kathryn Treder, 3 Laura Keates, 4 Courtney Holtkamp, 5 Lilli Ives Campion, 6 Hallie Taufoou, 7 Sadia Kabeya, 8 Daisy Hibbert-Jones (co-captain)
16 Elis Martin, 17 Amelia Williams, 18 Christine Belisle, 19 Abby Duguid, 20 Kendall Waudby, 21 Rachel Malcolm (co-captain), 22 Leia Brebner-Holden, 23 Carmela Morrall
Afterthought
Welsh optimists are talking up the chances of Sean Lynn taking over as head coach of the national side. He has all the credentials, but would he be willing to make the jump?
Quite apart from the obvious different life-styles involved – no more day-by-day contact with players, and so on – would the WRU be able to convince him of their new-found best intentions? There remains so little faith in their ability to solve their problems, that he might well prefer to stick to his highly successful option.
And not forgetting…
The Sale Sharks-Trailfinders match became the second of the season to fall foul of the weather. Today’s varied from freezing cold with low sun in your eyes to freezing cold with swirling fog. Take your pick.
