Blues Bag Bonus Point Win

Despite being the newcomers to South West Division 2, Ellingham’s recent display against former Championship side Plymouth left no room for complacency in the Newbury ranks. Having lost the toss and conceded the kick off, the Blues immediately signalled their intent, with outside centre Sophie Dowson and winger Vanessa Kadziya tackling strongly, and limiting Ellingham’s progress. The opening encounters were characterised by the ever-impressive Newbury defensive blitz forcing handling errors. The strength of Ellingham and Ringwood at the breakdown also became evident however, with the Blues yielding several turnovers early on.

Newbury soon began to string the phases together and show what they can do with ball in hand, with backs and forwards combining well to drive at the Ellingham and Ringwood defence. On one such occasion, a quick tap penalty by scrum half Devon Holt allowed her to streak 40 metres clear before offloading to Jemma Thripp, only to be lost out of contact.

The Blues were now beginning to frequently break the gain line, only to be pulled up short. With pressure mounting from the visitors, the defensive press in Ellingham’s twenty-two continued to force errors. The Blues looked to capitalise on their territorial advantage, and from a penalty for holding on, chose to aim for the posts. Chloe Hunt’s conversion opening Newbury’s scoring account.

From the restart, the ball fell to Dowson, who combined with second row Jess Page to make good metres. Good hands in the forwards allowed second row Lauren Hassett to break the gain line, and once again place Newbury into the opposition’s twenty-two. Prop Becky Wilson and hooker Chloe Hunt combined well to drive the ball forward, and with a penalty advantage, Hunt’s boot through almost saw her pick up and cross the whitewash, only to have the ball spill at the last moment.

With an eye on increasing the score line, Newbury once more opted for the posts, Hunt missing by the narrowest of margins. From the resulting 22 drop out, the ball found itself picked up by full back Lizzie Harris. Despite good defensive pressure from Ellingham, who managed to succeed in preventing the pacey fullback from gaining momentum, they were unable to stop prop Wilson, who set off on a sixty metre sprint. In a role reversal, winger Thripp provided support to the forward, securing the ball well, thus allowing scrum half Holt to quickly release out to the backs and into the waiting arms of centre Emma Swinton to run in at the corner for Newbury's first try of the day.

The first breakdown after the restart reduced the Ellingham and Ringwood side to 14 players following a head injury, and led to uncontested scrums. Despite their loss of a player, Ellingham and Ringwood continued to look dangerous, turning over ball whenever Newbury weren't fully committed at the breakdown. Chances out wide were appearing for the home side, but Ellingham were unable to evade the excellent tackles of Dowson and crunching tackles of Swinton. With possession at scrum now guaranteed, the errors forced by the Newbury press became even more damaging to Ellingham. Newbury’s second try came from one such scrum, leading to another fine carry from Wilson before finding the hands of Dowson to touch down in the corner.

After a concerted effort in both attack and defence, the focus of Newbury seemed to dip a little before half time, conceding three successive penalties, and bringing Ellingham and Ringwood within ten metres of the try line. In the first rugby match of the season played in true British rugby weather, blustery conditions were giving both hookers a hard time at the lineout, making their outcome unpredictable. The Blues only added to the pressure on themselves by attempting to run the ball instead of clearing lines, culminating in a knock on, and scrum to the home side five metres out. With their tails up, Ellingham’s scrum half found the hands of their powerful front row runner to crash through the Blues defence and bring the half to a close with a well-deserved try.

Having received their wake-up call, Newbury stepped up the intensity at the beginning of the second half. With possession guaranteed in the scrum, their defensive pressure again began to yield results, and the Blues began knocking on the door of a third try. Ellingham and Ringwood’s defence were, however, making life difficult, and it took a superbly read intercept by Lizzie Harris to seal Newbury’s third. Captain Meg Mason added the conversion.

The backs now began to enjoy playing with ball in hand and put phases together. A well worked crash ball by the centres off a scrum drew Ellingham’s defence in and across, before Newbury switched direction, allowing the waiting number seven Rosie Archard to score out wide. Mason again successful with the boot.

With five minutes remaining, Lizzie Harris looked to be in for her second of the day, but the breakdown work rate of Ellingham and Ringwood was impressive to the last. The relief of a penalty was unfortunately short lived for the home side, when the line out was not deemed to be straight. From the resultant scrum the Newbury backs had their final hurrah, as their speed and accuracy stretched the opposition to allow Jemma Thripp in to gain the bonus point try.

Newbury now face another two week break in their fixture list before meeting Plymouth at home on November 4th. If the progress made in the last break is repeated then the match is set to be a fine contest.

Penalties:
C. Hunt 1

Tries:
E. Swinton 1
S. Dowson 1
L. Harris 1
R. Archard 1
J. Thripp 1

Conversions:
M. Mason 2