Newbury Women
Matches
Sun 09 Sep 2018  ·  Women's Championship South West 2
Newbury Rugby Football Club
Newbury Women
10
48
Cullompton
Blues Buoyant Despite Defeat

Blues Buoyant Despite Defeat

Lauren Hassett12 Sep 2018 - 11:04
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Newbury began their league campaign with a defeat after being outplayed by a much improved Cullompton side, whose clever kicking allowed their more experienced pack to bring home their set piece advantage.

Newbury began the game brightly, applying pressure from the kick off, however with the first of what was to be an afternoon of scrums came an indication of the strength of the Cullompton pack.

Having lost the ball, Newbury found themselves defending their own twenty-two. A penalty for hands in the ruck allowed Cullompton to open their scoring account as they chose to go for the posts.

A cycle of good Blues’ pressure forcing handling errors to gain the scrum, only to be turned over by the more experienced pack was to be repeated several times, and force the Blues to defend for a large majority of the game.

Despite this lack of possession, the Blues still managed two impressive scores.

The first came when a stolen ball by number eight Emma Robinson led to an attacking foray into the Cullompton twenty-two. After an errant gust of wind misdirected the penalty kick, the Blues’ follow up pressure forced a clearance kick which Emma Robinson was happy to snap up, powering forward before finding scrum half Devon Holt who charged through to score.

From the restart however, the Blues were once again pinned into their own twenty-two. After some valiant defending against a driving maul and conceding two penalties, one of which saw the Blues drop to 14 players, the pressure told, and Cullompton found themselves over the try line for the first of what would be six tries.

Confident in their set piece, Cullompton looked to gain territory through the boot and replicate the first score. Once again Blues defence worked hard, but Cullompton’s physicality was requiring multiple tackles per player, and the try line was once again crossed.

When the next restart was deemed not to have travelled ten metres, it was inevitable that the visitors would ask for a scrum. With Cullompton again working their way deep into Newbury territory, fullback Lizzie Harris was called upon to make one of many try saving tackles of the day into touch.

Under pressure from the lineout, the Blues knocked on, to bring the half to close with yet another scrum. However, the Newbury forwards dug deep, and from their most dominant position of the match - five metres out - Cullompton’s scrum was reversed, the ball stolen, and cleared, thus ending the half in buoyant fashion for the home side.

The second half once again saw the Blues’ defensive pressure began to force errors, but the strength of the Cullompton pack meant they were unable to capitalise, and the visitors soon ran in their third try.

Newbury’s second of the day came thanks to quick thinking by scrum half Holt. Spying a lack of ruck defence, she darted through the line before offloading to Kat Smith in support. She then continued her run to receive the ball back from Smith out of contact and score, the two covering almost the entire length of the pitch between them.

This confidence boost saw some of Newbury’s best phase play. However, after spending most of the game in defence, bodies were beginning to tire.

Holes began to appear in defence, and Cullompton soon ran in three tries in quick succession, including a clever chip and chase.

A fifth successful conversion brought their final tally to 48.

Captain Meg Mason’s reaction to the game:
“I’m proud of all the players today, they gave it their all and heads never went down. There will be some sore bodies tomorrow, but already the mood is overwhelmingly positive and ready for the next game. We have some things to work on in training, but we know what they are and we’ll move on to Drybrook away next weekend as a stronger team for this experience”

Tries:
D. Holt 2

Newbury Ladies’ next game is away to Drybrook next Sunday 16th September. KO 2.45pm.
Their next home game will be Sunday 7th October against Guildford Gazelles.

Match details

Match date

Sun 09 Sep 2018

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Women's Championship South West 2

League position

2
Cullompton
7
Newbury
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - MKM
Player Sponsor - GOHO
Player Sponsor - Osborne Landscapes
Player Sponsor - SNJ Imaging
Player Sponsor - The Bushcraft Company
Player Sponsor - Capability Financial Solutions
Club Sponsor - LS Fire Solutions
Club Sponsor - Precision Fabrication
Club Sponsor - Bodyset