Trailfinders v Bristol Bears
TF earned a second consecutive victory, this time against a club with pretensions to another semi-final place.
Sadly for Bears, it looks unlikely they can repeat past achievements, unless they can sharpen their game considerably. They were suffering injuries, notably to Abbie Ward, the captain, but weaknesses across the spine of the side led to a disturbing loss. At least Sarah Bern and Evie Gallagher were quite outstanding.
Alana Borland set the tone early. She attacked an innocent looking ruck, enough to cause a knock-on from Keira Bevan.
Simi Pam saw yellow for a high tackle and Rachel Malcolm profited with a try, the first of seven.
TF’s few first-half misdemeanours included two set scrums that slithered rearward and two wonky line-outs from Georgia Ponsonby. She compensated with two tries, and the pack finished well on top.
The game was played at 100 miles per hour, a great tribute to both sides. But curiously, of four talented young wingers (Grace White and Francesca McGhie versus Reneeka Bonner and Millie David) only White saw a lot of the ball, enough to win her the PotM award.
The moment of the half was a “catch” by Ella Lovibond from a deep kick. It was her boots that did the trick as she lay sprawled on the ground!
But the more orthodox golden moment came in the 41st minute; a wondrous offload by Claire Gallagher let Borland slide through to the line. Pure magic.
That try brought the bonus point and a chance for the home team to gather inside with greater confidence. (24-14)
Bears were unable to weather the storm on their return, though they did complete three tries. Small errors were relentlessly punished: for example Julia Schell returned a misplaced attacking kick right back to Bears’ 22m line.
Much the best of the tries came when Meg Jones, majestic throughout, played first receiver from a long pass to the centre, then hoisted a magnificent cross-kick to the left. White was able to take it with some ease and race over.
The odd moment of this half concerned Niamh Gallagher. Only just on, she managed to trip over her own white bootlaces and collapsed to the floor as if felled by Sarah Bern. She saw the funny side of things.
After the game Scott Lawson rightly praised aspects of his side’s play. Christiana Balogun substituted admirably for Ward at the line-out, but parts of the spine of the team are not performing well enough.
Bevan had an unhappy trio of misfortunes: an ambitious diagonal kick went straight out; the next moment she was caught under a ruck and as she retreated, she took the ball with her. Outcome: another 10 metres conceded.
Overall spectators left the ground well contented. They had seen two sides that can hardly hope to compete in next spring’s final put on a show of some brilliance.
Result: Trailfinders 44 Bears 19
Player of the Match: Grace White
Other games:
Gloucester-Hartpury v Sale Sharks
Saracens v Leicester Tigers
These involved the two top teams, so there were few surprises.
At least at Kingsholm Erica Jarrell-Searcy repeated her now routine score; finishing off a clinical catch and drive to put Sharks briefly in the lead. It couldn’t last. They had gone down heavily at home last week to Trailfinders, and Gloucester-Hartpury are in a class of their own.
The other game was the cause of great concern. Saracens were at home to winless Leicester Tigers, but even so, a total of thirteen tries is a poor advertisement for the overall strength of the PWR.
The Sarries’ summary called it a ‘thriller’. I can think of other descriptions.
In effect it means the league now consists of eight clubs, plus one little orphan left outside in the cold. This isn’t how things should be in the top club league in the world.
Results:
Gloucester-Hartpury 40 Sale Sharks 24
Saracens 79 Leicester Tigers 5
Table in brief
1. Glos-Pury 20 points
2. Saracens 15
3. Trailfinders 10
4. Exeter Chiefs 9
Afterthoughts
The Ealing game ended with the screen clock showing 73 minutes. A new world record?
It was excellent having two such expert co- commentators on duty as Giselle Mather and Susie Appleby.
Is there still time for Tigers to enter the transfer market effectively?
Tomorrow offers one match, between Exeter Chiefs and Quins, but it’s on TNT behind a paywall. Warner Brothers must be short of cash.
