Key battles and how Gloucester-Hartpury won the Premier 15s convincingly
A fresh set of names faced off in the Allianz Premier 15s final, nearly 10,000 fans in the stadium and a beautiful sunny day made for a brilliant atmosphere at Kings – sorry, Queensholm Stadium. Gloucester-Hartpury Women playing on familiar ground while west country rivals Exeter Chiefs Women had a fairly short commute up the M5. Ultimately, the locals would take the victory 34-19 in a hard-fought contest.
First blood went to Gloucester-Hartpury, with Kelsey Jones finishing a powerful rolling maul. Exeter Chiefs continued to absorb wave after wave of Cherry and White attack, playing rope-a-dope and patiently waiting for an opportunity. When it came, Gloucester were ready, with Jones showing her quality in defence as well as attack.
With the minutes passing in the first half both teams saw attacks die due to handling errors. Gloucester-Hartpury also losing Sarah Beckett to a yellow card for a high tackle which finally gave Chiefs the opportunity they needed. Emily Tuttosi capitalised and put her team on the scoreboard before Liv McGoverne’s conversion bounced off the uprights at just the right angle and Exeter took the lead.
Despite being a player down, Gloucester continued to apply pressure and it paid off as they worked the ball wide for Rachel Lund to put them back in the ascendency. With only seconds remaining before half time, Sarah Beckett, fresh from her ten-minute rest, powered through with a third, Emma Sing adding the extras to send the home team into the dressing room seven points clear.
A penalty try for the home team and a yellow card for Claudia MacDonald, with a yellow card fro Gloucester following on, Lund being sent for a rest following a high tackle. Chiefs made the most of the extra space available, McGoverne muscling over to score.
Kate Zackary would find herself on the receiving end of the next yellow card and it looked like Gloucester would capitalise but Tatyana Heard was bundled into touch before limping off the field. With even minutes left on the clock substitute Lisa Neumann added to the cherry and white lead. Substitute Emily Jeffries added a late try for Chiefs, but by that point the result seemed inevitable.
Key Battles
Front Row
Exeter Chiefs certainly looked the stronger pack on paper, given the pedigree of their front row options but if one name stood out it was Gloucester-Hartpury’s Kelsey Jones, whose all-action performance typified her team – scoring points, throwing herself into contact and never shying away from a tackle. Hope Rogers played hard for Chiefs and Emily Tuttosi was a threat, but Maud Muir and Laura Delgado combined brilliantly with Jones, both in the loose and also to provide dominance in the scrum.
Number eight
Nobody will ever outwork Rachel Johnson, she’s a coaches dream with her never-say-die attitude. Sarah Beckett on the other hand, was lucky to see much of the game after a yellow card that could easily have been red. She made an impact on her return to the field though and Exeter continually struggled with her physicality.
Half backs
Chalk and cheese. Two teams with very different approaches to their half back deployment, with Gloucester making the most of Natasha Hunt’s broken field running and Lleucu George’s powerful boot while Exeter’s pairing largely played a more passive game, directing play more than injecting themselves into it, though when Liv McGoverne did take matters into her own hands, the results spoke for themselves.
Full back
Emma Sing goes from strength to strength, her kicking keeps getting better and she’s a wonderful runner too. She’ll be very pleased with her game today as she kept the opposition on their toes throughout. Merryn Doidge didn’t make headlines, but she barely put a foot wrong either, with a quiet but consistent performance, especially defensively.
Comments on RugbyPass
Karl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
1 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
1 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
5 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
45 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
45 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
5 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
8 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
8 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to comments