Gloucester-Hartpury romped to an unexpectedly easy win against great rivals Saracens.
Sarries had warmed up nicely by winning the PWR Cup. G-H had so many players away on international duty that success passed them by.
The Game
One of the oddest stats from the World Cup was the 61 minutes Canada played against New Zealand without conceding a penalty. They had invited Alex Austerberry in to help preparations for the RWC.
Here at Kingsholm he could only look on in disbelief as his side gave away penalty after penalty through the first half. So little surprise that G-H took a 19-0 lead by the break.
More surprising, the pattern continued. The Cherry and Whites weren’t at their best themselves, but hardly needed to be.
Sarries did conjure up a couple of tries, to May Campbell and Amelia McDougall, but it was too little too late.
Gloucester based their success on their mighty pack. Maud Muir (ex-Wasps) got the scoreboard ticking. Alex Matthews (ex-Richmond and Worcester) is still enjoying life after four RWCs and two trophies, and the player the selectors forgot, Sarah Beckett (ex-Waterloo and Quins), was a mighty force.
Our chum, Matt Merritt, who writes regularly for rugbypass.com, was brave enough to predict final league positions before a ball was kicked in anger. He placed Sarries first and G-H third behind Quins.
He’ll look very smug at the season’s end when we find he’s got every position 1-9 correct.
Result: Gloucester-Hartpury 40 Saracens 14
Player of the Match: Zoe Stratford (as we must now officially call the England captain)
Wales
Now to matters even more serious.
Amanda Bennett, in charge of women’s rugby in Wales, has created a stir by announcing plans to establish a 4-club league.
OThe prime reason is to attract Welsh players back from PWR clubs.
I admit my initial reaction, far from the Welsh border, was to greet the news with delight. I have long felt the best route to the growth of the women’s game is to have prosperous national leagues that serve as nurseries for a thriving national side.
Then come the hard unforgiving facts.
Responses from Wales have come thick and fast, raising every sort of reasoned counter-argument.
In no particular order:
Where’s the money coming from? (Bennett mentioned £96,000 p.a. per team, plus a hoped-for rise towards £140,000.
What about the men? Their plight is far worse than the women’s. One or two regions to be cut, attendances falling like a stone, national success as good as invisible.
Freedom of choice. Why would a Welsh player not want to play in the PWR? The highest standards, the best support.
One Welsh voice has pointed out the dearth of Welsh players starting in PWR teams. True enough; Beth Lewis, Hannah Dallavalle, Donna Rose and Sisilia Tuipulotu are just four slated to start on the bench.
Is there sufficient player depth to fill the four sides?
And they have to be placed alongside Brython and Gwalia, the two exiting sides in the Celtic Challenge. If every Welsh player now in England did miraculously return across the Severn, they would have to be carefully allocated into sides of roughly equal strength.
Four clubs only means very few matches, even if they played home and away. Perhaps with the full CC programme that would bulk out the season, but it’s doubtful.
The plan foresees age-group development and academies on a large scale. That is sensible, but very long-term. We can see that problem in the CC, where young, less experienced Scottish and Welsh players come up against the two Irish sides that are packed with test players.
And so the hopes and doubts battle with each other.
One Welsh realist commented that Cymru players would do well to stay where they are (“abroad”), because it is the English who are paying their wages.
It will be quite fascinating to see how Bennett’s optimistic programme works out. Everyone across the world of rugby must hope that matters improve rapidly in Cymru.
Their side has finished sixth twice running in the 6 Nations, and they made a quick exit from the World Cup.
I wonder whether Sean Lynn has been whispering loudly in the board’s ear about what the priorities must be. I’m certain he has his own ideas on policies clearly formulated in his mind.
The WRU board is still sustaining heavy flak from all sides, but they maintain they are taking the right steps.
One underlying difficulty is that the women’s game is so closely connected to and dependent upon the men’s. It’s a sad business. We can only hope for the best.
