First, some higher mathematics:
Quins 101 Richmond 0
Sarries 46 Richmond 0
So by rights, Quins should beat Sarries 55-0 in the Grand Final next May. Or will they?
Before we look at Richmond’s second outing, the Saturday games must lead the way. There was a highly significant result at Shaftesbury Park. Loughborough, their eyes fixed firmly on a place in that final, came unstuck by 17 points against a Bears XV boosted by the arrival of several Welsh stars. Or was it their ‘lush kit’? I quote.
Against them Lightning could pit Katy Daley-Mclean and Emily Scarratt, but not the captain Sarah Hunter. To confound them another familiar name, Sarah Bern, was the first to post her name on the scoreboard. Elinor Snowsill kicked the Bears into a 10-0 lead before KD-M produced a move that has brought England any number of points in recent years – a grubber through the defensive line for Scarratt to touch down.
Bears responded with a devastating move. Kiera Bevan found a gap through a defensive line-out, linked to Bern and England’s No 3 galloped half the length of the field.
From there Bears barely looked back. Fine tries by two of the Welsh contingent, Lauren Smyth and Snowsill, gave them an important bonus point and injected confidence for the rest of the season.
Gloucester-Hartpury’s tight victory over Wasps was notable on several counts. It marked Mo Hunt’s debut as captain; it reversed the outcome of the parallel result last year which led Wasps to the knock-out stages at the hosts’ expense; it brought Kelly Smith’s first try of the season. She needs only 23 more to equal her record. These are the results the Tyrrells needs every week.
Further north, DMP were boosted by seeing off Waterloo by 20 points. Loo got half their game-plan right: they scored 26 points. Now for the other half: how to stop leaking tries. Igemi Ekoku scored a hat-trick of them on the left wing. There were a lot of happy faces in the far north.
Sunday
Sarries v Richmond Allianz Park
Photo: Bruce Perkins
Richmond put up a much improved performance against the champions on a foul day. Alex Austerberry may not be totally satisfied with his side’s performance. True, they were well on top for most of the game, but Richmond’s persistence and courage kept them at arm’s length for long periods.
Last week’s downfall at the Stoop showed the visitors’ new head coach, Mike Panoho, the size of the challenge he faces, but in their new stripeless away shirts, Richmond will have gained a quota of confidence to face the rest of the season.
It took only three minutes for Sarries’ forward power to force the referee to run under the posts for a penalty try. This edge didn’t lead to the avalanche of tries they might have expected. The weather can take much of the blame; line-outs rarely ran according to plan and the wet ball made clean passing a lottery.
There was a debut try for Mackenzie Carson, but half-time arrived with her side only 21-0 to the good; Lotte Clapp finished off the third try. Richmond made sorties into the Sarries’ 22 but were unable to convert them into points.
Sarries returned to traditional form with a many-handed move finished off by Hannah Botterman. It ensured Sarries’ bonus point.
Inside two minutes two senior citizens made their mark. Rocky Clark came on to replace Botterman, then Sonia Green crashed over for a fifth try.
Both Carson and Clapp managed to double their try-count before the end, by which time everyone – except spectators in the very highest rows of the stand – were soaked through.
Results:
Saturday 28 September
Bristol Bears 27 Loughborough Lightning 10
Darlington Mowden Park Sharks 46 Firwood Waterloo 26
Worcester Warriors 7 Harlequins 48
Gloucester-Hartpury 22 Wasps 19
Sunday 28 September
Saracens 46 Richmond 0
