PWR Round 14 – Complete with reactions
Loughborough Lightning v Exeter Chiefs
This was a contest to show the PWR at its tightest: a team with pretensions to taking the title
visiting another on the way back; fifth v sixth.
A half-time score of 7-7 showed the intensity of thr battle. No sooner had Chiefs gone ahead with another try by Alex Tessier (0-7) than a devilish cross-kick by Emily Scarratt found its way into Alev Kelter’s hands, and she forced her way over.
It remained knife-edge stuff till the 65th minute. Then a break by Scaz and another cross-fielder finds Kelter; she serves Krissy Scurfield who puts the hosts in front. 12-7
The next dramatic turn: Charlie Gayther shows Taylor Perry a red card. Chiefs have six matches left; how many will the disciplinary committee allow her?
Despite being a player down, Chiefs manage a score from a line-out drive; try Mikiela Nelson. Tessier’s conversion puts them ahead. 12-14
With five on the clock, Chiefs unwisely give a penalty away within Scarratt’s range. 15-14
As Gayther checks his time-piece, the game continues into the 85th minute, with no fewer than three penalties offered along the way. Then comes final drama: Chiefs set up a maul; all but one of the 14 available players join in, and they create the decisive score.
Games don’t come much more dramatic than that.
Result: Loughborough Lightning 15 Exeter Chiefs 19
Teams:
Lightning
1 Anne Young 2 Elis Martin 3 Laura Keates 4 Courtney Holtkamp 5 Hallie Tauoofu 6 Rachel Malcom (captain) 7 Sadia Kabeya 8 Daisy Hibbert-Jones 9 Leia Brebner-Holden 10 Helena Rowland 11 Krissy Scurfield 12 Alev Kelter 13 Emily Scarratt 14 Bulou Mataitoga 15 Francesca Goldthorp
16 Kathryn Treder 17 Fran Williams 18 Catherine Belisle 19 Abby Duguid 20 Kendall Waudby 21 Meg Davey 22 Lia Green 23 Carmela Morrall
Chiefs
1 Hope Rogers 2 Cliodhna Moloney 3 DaLeaka Menin 4 Poppy Leitch (captain) 5 Linde van der Velden 6 Dorothy Wall 7 Maisy Allen 8 Rachel Johnson 9 Flo Robinson 10 Taylor Perry 11 Katie Buchanan 12 Liv McGoverne 13 Nancy McGillivray 14 Claudia MacDonald 15 Alexandra Tessier 16 Emily Tuttosi 17 Mikiela Nelson 18 Charli Jacoby 19 Niamh Orchard 20 Edel McMahon
21 Lucy Nye 22 Merryn Doidge 23 Georgina Tasker
Afterthought
This continues a disquieting run of results for Lightning. Before their fine 22-15 win over Sarries, their only other wins had come against the stragglers. Coming so close to potential trophy winners shows their qualities, but they sit sixth, only one point ahead of Trailfinders, who have two games in hand.
Table P W Pts
Glos-Pury 13 10 53
Quins 12 10 50
Exeter Chiefs 11 8 43
Saracens 12 8 43
Bristol Bears 12 8 41
Lightning 13 4 23
Trailfinders 11 3 22
Tigers 12 2 12
Sharks 12 0 0
Reactions
1 As they must have hoped, Chiefs are clawing their way nearer the top of the tree, though their win over Lightning was as tight as you could wish.
2 We don’t need to be very bright to see what is going on in the table. Where we do need a brain of unusual size is sorting out some of its most grievous problems. No-one wants a club to be in Sale’s position, especially where the traditional rescue-plan, relegation and subsequent promotion, is denied them.
So either the new Chief Executive is going to come up with a solution, or the league will spend at least another year consisting of, at the most, eight competitive clubs – and Tigers have a points deficit of -290.
3 How are Sharks likely to look next season? They have large numbers of NEQPs in their ranks. Each will have had her own private hopes and plans for the future. Will, for example, the two leading Azzurre, Sofia Stefan and Beatrice Rigoni, be prepared to stay another season in Cheshire? They will weigh the advantages of the regular, high-quality rugby PWR provides against the delights of living at home and closer to the eye of the head coach.
The same might go for the Eagles. Sale have among their number: Catie Benson, Erica Jarrell Georgie Perris-Redding, Katana Howard, Nick James and Olivia Ortiz. How many of them might be offered contracts by the new American WER program? The lure might be sufficient.
4 I have failed to spot news of the PWR board’s intention to help the Sharks out. But the last time an official body lent its know-how to a suffering club, Darlington Mowden Park Sharks were still ousted.
5 The unequal number of games played now looks rather ridiculous. Before today’s game there was a gap of three matches between G-H and Chiefs; not fair to anyone. It’s made worse by the constricted nature of this season’s programme, but is not the cause.
It comes instead from the odd number of participating clubs. It will take a revolutionary move to find a tenth club that can be certain of holding its own at this level. Of the recent acquisitions Sale and Leicester are finding the going tough. Yet every club that has gained admittance has passed the requirements laid down by Twickenham.
More reactions
Everywhere you look, there are international players on parade. That serves to guarantee top place for PWR among the world leagues.
It also means that, for every overseas player (NEQP) contracted to a PWR club, an Englih player is denied a chance to play.
That in turn means the PWR board – specifically the Chief Exectutive – has to decide where the dividing-line should be drawn. Two arguments are pitted against each other:
A. The PWR needs all the razzamatazz it can raise. Bring in the megastars, and the crowds, the publicity, the TV executives will come rushing along.
B. The PWR is there to serve the English cause, specifically the Red Roses. Their needs must come first; that means, no potential Red Rose should be denied a place in a team in favour of an NEQP.
A new CE has just been appointed, Genevieve Shore. She took up post when Belinda Moore suddenly left and has since taken on the newly instituted position of head of Welsh rugby.
That means that Shore was on hand to help decide the ratio of NEQPs. The regulations already told clubs how many they were allowed to nominate in any match-day 23: thirteen. To anyone new to the PWR set-up, that might seem a very generous proportion.
Here’s the current position: NEQPs in Round 14 (starting XVs only):
Bristol 5
Chiefs 8 (even with Liv McGoverne dropping out, her replacement was Lori Cramer)
G-H 7
Lightning 9
Quins 6
Sharks 7
Sarries (R13) 5
TF 10
Tigers 8
That adds up to 65 players, all of whom are keeping an England prospect waiting. But the clubs know they must post their strongest possible side, dependent on the known strength of the opposition.
Oh, but England are by far the strongest squad in the world. They don’t need any mollycoddlying. True, but is it England’s job to train up players from other nations who aren’t doing the necessary themselves?
That sounds like the arrogant English again.
