Young guns impress as Blues blaze past Witney

Pre-season discipline paid off as a fit and sharp looking Newbury Blues, boosted by five new players making their debuts, swept past Witney in a dominant team display.

The Blues handed starting shirts to two of their new recruits, Cara Brincat and Flo Piddlington, both of whom were making their debut in senior rugby aged 18. It took precisely four minutes for Brincat to settle into the rhythm and physicality of the senior game when she opened the scoring with a fine run through open play, converted by Chloe Hunt, who added three more soon afterwards after a high Witney tackle.

Eager not to be outdone, Piddlington added Newbury's second try when their powerful pack drove Witney back over their own scrum and Jeannie Ivanov spotted a gap on the blind side, releasing Piddlington to fly 40 metres and cross the line. Hunt once again added the extras with a simple kick - her place kicking one of the many positives of the afternoon.

It wasn't long before Piddlington secured her brace when the Witney restart floated into backs territory and their hands found her once again with space and depth on the wing - with hands on ball there was little Witney could do to stop her despite some spirited chasing. Despite the early onslaught from the Blues, the visitors put in some big hits and competed well in open play but when they failed to clear their lines from a penalty (something that occurred too commonly and a work on for the Blues), Sophie Dowson collected smartly on the wing and made 20 metres before releasing Hannah ward, who found the offload to Brincat jut before the line. Two a piece for the debutants.

Head coach Joe Harwood rang the changes for the second thirty minute phase and Newbury lost a little structure, but their next try restored their style, as a cross filed kick from ward at ten found Dowson out wide, and she danced over for the first and finest of her eventual hat trick. With the Blues now dominant in all set pieces and enjoying the lion's share of possession they started to test the flood gates.

Lizzie Harris was the next to find the score line when the Blues stole a line out and free flowing hands down the back line (who received superb service all day from meg mason and Hannah Ward at 10) allowed Harris to pick a lovely deep line and step her way across the line. Brincat completed her hat trick with another fine individual effort before Emma Swinton, making her first start for the Blues, found a good short line in the 22 and dotted down under the posts. Dowson added her second before Fi Sim - returning to the Blues after four seasons of premiership rugby and bringing fantastic guidance to the pack - picked a superb line to score her first try of the afternoon.

In the final third of the match it was all Blues, with Sim adding a second as the Blues' sophisticated offloading game really started to test the visitors' fitness and resolve, To their enormous credit they kept playing to the final whistle, despite seeing Sim and Dowson complete their hat tricks, Swinton bag a brace and Ivanov fall over the line following a line out catch and drive that used to be Newbury's centre piece. Nowadays they have more tricks up their sleeve, but their ariel dominance was still a huge asset all afternoon, even without influential line jumper Laura Smith.

Their next test against Richmond next week will provide a far sterner test but there were enormous positives to take from the afternoon, not least the potential of their youngest squad members.

Forward of the match:

Scorers: Brincat (3), Piddlington (2), Dowson (3), Sim (3), Swinton (2), Ivanov.
Cons: Hunt (5), Mason (1)
Forward of the match: Carrie Smith
Back of the match: Flo Piddlington