There was so much rugby going on this weekend that I’ll limit myself to a few facts and some debatable conclusions. First, results: PWR Bristol Bears 30 Sale Sharks 29 Exeter Chiefs 36 Leicester Tigers 0 Gloucester-Hartpury 45 Loughborough Lightning 26 Celtic Challenge Glasgow Warriors 31 Clovers 38 Wolfhounds 38 Gwalia Lightning 10 Edinburgh Rugby
Two matches complete the fifth round of the Celtic Challenge. Wolfhounds v Glasgow Warriors For the first half The Hounds looked like the unbeaten champions they are. A half-time score of 40-0 (six tries) confirmed Neil Alcorn’s decision to give some new players their chance. Abby Moyles at 10 was one who most certainly profited.
These days any good news in Welsh rugby is worth its weight in gold. Gwalia Lightning’s triumph in Edinburgh today brings them a fourth win in five. The first half remained a tough contest. Sian Jones got the visitors off to a positive start by sending a long diagonal towards Edinburgh’s lines; almost a 50:22.
Wolfhounds v Brython Thunder Top versus bottom, and long before the end it looked like it. For much of the game Wolfhounds toyed with the visitors, compiling eleven tries without response. Standards are rising visibly across the CC, but here sadly Welsh shortcomings were laid bare. You need a very broad view of the competition
Gwalia Lightning took pole position after an entertaining match against Edinburgh Rugby in South Wales. Mind you, it’s unlikely to last more than 24 hours as unbeaten Wolfhounds play tomorrow Sunday. But it’s heart-warming to find a Welsh side playing with flair and persistence in these hard times. They have now won three out of
The third round was completed with two closely fought battles. The key words on every. coach’s lips are “young” and “youth”. You don’t often find two 18-year-olds facing each other in the front row at elite level. Brython Thunder v Clovers But for Brython things changed. They added three eminent internationals to their starting Fifteen,
The Irish Wolfhounds are the side their five Celtic Challenge rivals long to be. The weather in Edinburgh stayed cold but bearable. The hosts knew they were up against it; the Wolfhounds seem likely to remain top dog for the foreseeable future, thanks to a phalanx of international stars. All the same Neill Alcorn will
It’s still very early days in the third version of this tournament, just two rounds completed. But already we can see a familiar pattern recurring. In the only game played on the first weekend of the new year Wolfhounds beat fellow-countrywomen, Clovers, 24-7. That makes them the only side to take full points. A squad
Today’s two results (I’ll leave them till the end) allow us to draw some tentative conclusions. To nobody’s surprise Wolfhounds, comprising the best players from Leinster and Ulster, have walked off with a second trophy running. Congratulations to them, but then we must ask if the aims set out by the organisers are really being
The gaps widen. Three unions linking to form a single league were bound to show their national characteristics, making uniformity difficult, if not impossible. The best Scottish and Welsh players are invited to join PWR clubs in England; only a few Irish bother to make the leap. Clovers and Wolfhounds are full of test players,
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