Women’s Championship North 1

Firwood Waterloo Ladies                             29 – 15                  Lichfield Ladies II

Novocastrians Ladies                                    14 – 21                  Loughborough Ladies

West Bridgford Ladies                                   19 – 17                  Eccles Ladies

Women’s Championship South 1

Hove Ladies                                                     29 – 14                  Saracens Ladies II

Thurrock Ladies                                              49 – 10                  Richmond Ladies II

Women’s 6 Nations

Saturday 11 February

Wales 0 – 63 England

France 55 – 0 Scotland

Sunday 12 February

Italy 3 – 27 Ireland

Women’s Premiership – Sunday 12th February

Saracens Ladies                31 – 17                  Wasps Ladies

Women’s Championship South 1 – Sunday 12th February

Thurrock Ladies                38 – 0                    Trojans Ladies

Only one fixture fell victim to the weather with Thurrock v Trojans having to be postponed.  The weekend’s scores are as follows:

Women’s Premiership

Sunday 22nd January

Saracens Ladies                               27 – 43                  Bristol Ladies

Richmond Ladies                             30 – 10                  Darlington Mowden Park Ladies

Wasps Ladies                                    10 – 46                  Aylesford Bulls Ladies

Saturday 21st January

Lichfield Ladies                                29 – 12                  Worcester Valkyries Ladies

Women’s Championship North 1

Sunday 22nd January

Camp Hill Ladies                              10 – 15                  West Bridgford Ladies

Eccles Ladies                                      0 – 83                    Firwood Waterloo Ladies

Lichfield Ladies II                             31 – 12                  Novocastrians Ladies

West Park Leeds Ladies                  38 – 5                    Loughborough Ladies

Women’s Championship South 1

Sunday 22nd January

Richmond Ladies II                          0 – 12                    Hove Ladies

Saracens Ladies II                            27 – 17                  Henley Ladies

Thurrock Ladies                                  P                         Trojans Ladies

Wasps Ladies II                                10 – 55                  Cheltenham Ladies

Sunday 15th January

Women’s Premiership

Bristol Ladies                                                   47 – 5                    Richmond Ladies

Darlington Mowden Park Ladies                 17 – 34                  Lichfield Ladies

Saturday 14th January

Women’s Premiership

Worcester Valkyries Ladies                          60 – 19                  Wasps Ladies

Aylesford Bulls Ladies                                    19 – 35                  Saracens Ladies

Women’s Championship North 1

Firwood Waterloo Ladies                             HWO                    Camp Hill Ladies

Loughborough Ladies                                    0 – 24                    Lichfield Ladies II

Novocastrians Ladies                                    24 – 17                  Eccles Ladies

West Bridgford Ladies                                   5 – 22                    West Park Leeds Ladies

Sunday 15th January

Women’s Championship South 1

Cheltenham Ladies                                         51 – 0                    Saracens Ladies II

Hove Ladies                                                     10 – 5                    Thurrock Ladies

Saturday 14th January

Trojans Ladies                                                 22 – 17                  Wasps Ladies II

Women’s Premiership

Saracens Ladies                                              P                            Wasps Ladies

Darlington Mowden Park Ladies                 24 – 10                  Worcester Valkyries Ladies

Lichfield Ladies                                               15 – 12                  Bristol Ladies

Richmond Ladies                                            17 – 50                  Aylesford Bulls Ladies

Women’s Championship North 1

Camp Hill Ladies                                             7 – 41                    Novocastrians Ladies

Eccles Ladies                                                   0 – 6                      Loughborough Ladies

West Bridgford Ladies                                   10 – 105                Firwood Waterloo Ladies

West Park Leeds Ladies                                 27 – 15                  Lichfield Ladies II

Women’s Championship South 1

Hove Ladies                                                     10 – 5                    Trojans Ladies

Richmond Ladies II                                         0 – 71                    Cheltenham Ladies

Saracens Ladies II                                           22 – 7                    Wasps Ladies II

Thurrock Ladies                                              97 – 0                    Henley Ladies

Aylesford Bulls Ladies 0-66   Richmond Ladies

Darlington Mowden Park Ladies 0-53 Worcester Ladies

Saracens Ladies 32-13 Bristol Ladies

Wasps Ladies 10-51 Lichfield Ladies

Championship North 1

West Park Leeds Ladies P-P Novocastrians Ladies

Camp Hill Ladies 31-5 Loughborough Ladies

Firwood Waterloo Ladies P-P Northwich Ladies

West Bridgford Ladies P-P Eccles Ladies

Championship South 1

Henley Ladies 10-24 Thurrock Ladies

Hove Ladies 34-5 Wasps Ladies II

Richmond Ladies II 42-0 Saracens Ladies II

Undefeated so far this year and coming off the back of a huge win over Thurrock, Richmond knew that they needed to back up that performance with no less then a victory.

Cheltenham, the only other side to beat Thurrock this year, put up a tough fight and didn’t make it easy for the 2s who had a few personal changes due to injury.

Cheltenham conceded penalties early from the start, handing Richmond the advantage. But miss-firing lineouts eased the pressure and allowed Cheltenham to clear their lines to get out of the danger zone.

The Tigers drew first blood when they were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. Despite the poor visibility, they went for the posts and the kick from fullback Emma Mundy was good, giving them an early 3-0 lead.

It was then the Tigers’ turn to make an error at the lineout, which unleashed fly-half Tess Braunerova to use her pace to exploit the out of position defence. But uncharacteristic unforced errors meant Richmond couldn’t quite go all the way to the line.

In a game littered with scrums, Richmond had the upper hand with the ever-powerful front row combination of Captain Ellisha Dee, Lydia and Emily Scott. The Tigers’ front row wasn’t able to withstand the pressure from Dee at tight head and the 2s were awarded a penalty. They attacked the try line but some dogged defence held the ball up.

Richmond launched their next wave of attack when Jayne Goodliffe fielded a kick and offloaded to Braunerova who made a break. Winger Marloes van Duuren was in support but again the Tiger’s defence was able to soak up the pressure.

Despite dominating territory for the rest of the first half and a break from Sammy Crandell who crashed through the midfield, Richmond were still unable to get points on the board. The referee’s interpretation of the breakdown interrupted the flow of the game and hindered the opportunity for either side to build phases.

Richmond hit the ground running in the second half and immediately made ground through a strong carry by Dee. Some good play from the backs drew the defence right before swinging it left for van Duuren to score in the corner. The conversion from the touch line was missed.

It looked like another try would soon follow when number 8 Lil Knight picked up off the base of a scrum that was marching forwards and turning over the majority of possession, offloading to centre Vick Brittland who then linked up with Libby Povey. But a knock on ended that assault.

The unstoppable try scoring machine that is Ellisha Dee, lead by example when she got her hands on the ball 5m from the try line and dived over to score. Richmond showed great patience and composure to execute the phases.

Cheltenham continued to defend for much of the half but couldn’t stop Crandell who barged her way through oncoming tacklers to score the second try of the game. Goodliffe converted, making the score 19-3.

Cheltenham had the final say of the game and earned a losing bonus point through some clean handling down the back line, putting winger Suzie Walker over in the corner. Mundy kicked the conversion, making the final score 19-10.

This was Richmond’s eighth straight victory this season. Due to the Bristol 2^nd team folding, as they were unable to field a team consistently, the 2s now have a weekend off but will be cheering on the 1^st team who play Bristol 1s on Saturday.

Richmond Ladies II 7 – 5 Cheltenham Ladies

Saracen Ladies II 41 – 5 Bristol Ladies II

Trojan Ladies 12 – 7 Hove Ladies

Hove Ladies v Cheltenham Ladies will be played on 22 February (time and venue to be confirmed).

Table looks like this:

Team                                   Played  Points

Thurrock Ladies                      14          68

Saracen Ladies II                    14          43

Henley Ladies                         14           36

Richmond Ladies II                14           32

Cheltenham Ladies                12           31

Hove Ladies                             12           28

Trojan Ladies                           14           19

Bristol Ladies II                       12            9

Top of the League against Bottom, the T-Birds scored 14 trys and 78 points against a hapless Bristol Second XV without getting out of second gear and it could and should have been many, many more.

A young athletic Bristol had no answer to the power, pace and nous of a T-Bird team with one eye firmly on the approaching playoffs and the possibility of Premiership Rugby.

Completely dominating the scrum the T-Birds had so much possession that at times they didn‛t seem to know what to do with it: 6 first half trys and moves that left the crowd gasping and roaring in delight were interspersed with dropped balls and basic errors that would have shamed an U12 side.

In what was almost a contested training session a crowd of at least 250 were thoroughly entertained as Ts went through their entire repertoire of skills.

Source: Thurrock RFC

Massive hard carries from the forwards, pushover trys, driving mauls, jinking runs from the three quarters and pace on the outside from the back 3.

The second half started the same with Dannie Harris‛ pace ripping Bristol apart in only 2 minutes.  As Ts became lackadaisical at the ruck and started to concede penalties, Bristol, who never stopped fighting, grabbed their opportunity with a quick tap to run half the length of the pitch and grab a consolation score.

Unfortunately this woke the sleeping giant and Ts scored another 7 second half trys as despite some injuries and white line fever, they lifted their game to a completely different level.

So now 30 points clear at the top of Championship One South with a game away at Trojans still to go, the T-Birds are guaranteed a place in the first playoff against the winners of Championship One North (who are still to be confirmed), on 22nd February somewhere in the Coventry area.

Supporters coaches will be running from Thurrock Rugby Club.

Team: Harris (T), Radford (T), Francis (T), Harvey (T), Franklin, Nojoko (2T ), Cook (3C), Hepper, Nichols (T), Mountjoy, Jordan. F, French (T), Baker(T), Vazi (3T), Phelps (2T). Rep: Convoy, Wheeler, Dyche