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Sussex ladies cruise to Twickenham final
Philip Bell31 May - 19:47
Sussex Women 37 Cumbria Women 5
Sussex Women were too strong for a game but limited Cumbrian side in this Gill Burns County Championship semi-final played on the AGP at Horsham RFC.
Cumbria had travelled down the previous day. It is noteworthy that they had to fund the approximately £4,500 cost of the trip for themselves as no RFU funding was available. This casts an interesting light on the RFU alleged commitment to grassroots, and especially womens’, rugby. (NB Please note that this report is my personal opinion and must not be taken as representing the views of Sussex RFU.)
Conditions were excellent on a dry day with an occasional breeze mostly across the pitch which was not a significant factor. Temperatures were thankfully down from the recent heat so it turned into a lovely afternoon as the clouds dispersed.
Sussex had some early possession and position in the visitors’ half. Cumbria did achieve an early turnover at the breakdown but they were struggling to get out of their own half, Then a free kick was quickly taken and good hands moved the ball wide left leading to Lauren McInerney opening the score with a try in the corner.
Sussex continued to keep pressure on the visitors and after fifteen minutes solid lineout ball on the left hand side was worked through a couple of phases towards the right hand side before Christi-Rose Pretorius charged over from short range for the second try.
Most of the play continued to be in the visitors’ half. While the Cumbrian set piece was mostly secure, Sussex were able to put pressure on ball carriers and prevent much ground being gained. By contrast Sussex generally looked more comfortable ball in hand with some pleasing sequences of play. I particularly noted one sequence as Lib Lawrence took a tap penalty near half way and then found Abi Bandtock who made good yards in heavy traffic, in turn carried on by Steph Ryan before the move was eased into touch in the left hand corner.
In a match with a relatively low penalty count, the referee nonetheless found it necessary to warn Cumbria that a card was looming.
Soon afterwards a tap penalty was worked through several phases before fly half Maya Champion stepped her way through some tackles for the third try. More grief was then added to Cumbria as a replacement prop took a team yellow for some indiscretion.
In spite of being one player short, Cumbria then did manage to play their way into the home half but were unable to threaten the try line and the half time whistle soon went.
The set piece was generally level. Sussex had a slight edge in the scrum but were never dominant. Both sides generally secured their own lineout ball with just the occasional wobble.
The second half opened with a spectacular break in midfield by Pretorius whose charge from her own half was only stopped by a brave last ditch tackle on the Cumbrian 22 but the ball was kept alive for Britt Mole to cruise over for the try.
Shortly afterwards some decent handling saw an extended move which was ended by replacement Alex Norman for the only try out of seven on the day that was converted. That aspect will doubtless be the subject of attention this week.
Approaching the end of the third quarter Mcinerney added to her impressive efforts with a fine run down the left flank evading several tacklers for her second try on the day.
To their credit Cumbria were not giving up and built some pressure into the home half. An attack was disrupted by an apparently fine tackle by Norman but she had come from such an obviously offside position that a yellow card was inevitable.
Even though one short Sussex contained the visitors’ attack and soon returned to the other end. Solid scrum ball reached Grace Addison on as replacement fly half and she stepped her way past several tacklers to stroll over for the seventh try.
Cumbria did manage the last word as they exploited a lineout in the left hand corner and worked their way over from short range for a hard-earned consolation try that few would begrudge them. On a difficult day for Cumbria their coach afterwards picked out their try scorer Anna King and Lexi Hodgson for their particular efforts on the day.
Sussex Head Coach Mike Upton mentioned Mcinerney for her all round efforts and two tries, Bob Tetlow for her characteristic strong carries, both starting flankers Megan Follows and Elisha Simmons along with impact player Sadie Graham.
Next Sunday Sussex return to Twickenham (sorry Allianz) for the second year in a row where they will face Gloucester who had a comfortable win over Middlesex today. They will look to continue their unbeaten record at that ground and travel with a strong squad in good heart with some interesting selection choices for the coaches.
Cumbria had travelled down the previous day. It is noteworthy that they had to fund the approximately £4,500 cost of the trip for themselves as no RFU funding was available. This casts an interesting light on the RFU alleged commitment to grassroots, and especially womens’, rugby. (NB Please note that this report is my personal opinion and must not be taken as representing the views of Sussex RFU.)
Conditions were excellent on a dry day with an occasional breeze mostly across the pitch which was not a significant factor. Temperatures were thankfully down from the recent heat so it turned into a lovely afternoon as the clouds dispersed.
Sussex had some early possession and position in the visitors’ half. Cumbria did achieve an early turnover at the breakdown but they were struggling to get out of their own half, Then a free kick was quickly taken and good hands moved the ball wide left leading to Lauren McInerney opening the score with a try in the corner.
Sussex continued to keep pressure on the visitors and after fifteen minutes solid lineout ball on the left hand side was worked through a couple of phases towards the right hand side before Christi-Rose Pretorius charged over from short range for the second try.
Most of the play continued to be in the visitors’ half. While the Cumbrian set piece was mostly secure, Sussex were able to put pressure on ball carriers and prevent much ground being gained. By contrast Sussex generally looked more comfortable ball in hand with some pleasing sequences of play. I particularly noted one sequence as Lib Lawrence took a tap penalty near half way and then found Abi Bandtock who made good yards in heavy traffic, in turn carried on by Steph Ryan before the move was eased into touch in the left hand corner.
In a match with a relatively low penalty count, the referee nonetheless found it necessary to warn Cumbria that a card was looming.
Soon afterwards a tap penalty was worked through several phases before fly half Maya Champion stepped her way through some tackles for the third try. More grief was then added to Cumbria as a replacement prop took a team yellow for some indiscretion.
In spite of being one player short, Cumbria then did manage to play their way into the home half but were unable to threaten the try line and the half time whistle soon went.
The set piece was generally level. Sussex had a slight edge in the scrum but were never dominant. Both sides generally secured their own lineout ball with just the occasional wobble.
The second half opened with a spectacular break in midfield by Pretorius whose charge from her own half was only stopped by a brave last ditch tackle on the Cumbrian 22 but the ball was kept alive for Britt Mole to cruise over for the try.
Shortly afterwards some decent handling saw an extended move which was ended by replacement Alex Norman for the only try out of seven on the day that was converted. That aspect will doubtless be the subject of attention this week.
Approaching the end of the third quarter Mcinerney added to her impressive efforts with a fine run down the left flank evading several tacklers for her second try on the day.
To their credit Cumbria were not giving up and built some pressure into the home half. An attack was disrupted by an apparently fine tackle by Norman but she had come from such an obviously offside position that a yellow card was inevitable.
Even though one short Sussex contained the visitors’ attack and soon returned to the other end. Solid scrum ball reached Grace Addison on as replacement fly half and she stepped her way past several tacklers to stroll over for the seventh try.
Cumbria did manage the last word as they exploited a lineout in the left hand corner and worked their way over from short range for a hard-earned consolation try that few would begrudge them. On a difficult day for Cumbria their coach afterwards picked out their try scorer Anna King and Lexi Hodgson for their particular efforts on the day.
Sussex Head Coach Mike Upton mentioned Mcinerney for her all round efforts and two tries, Bob Tetlow for her characteristic strong carries, both starting flankers Megan Follows and Elisha Simmons along with impact player Sadie Graham.
Next Sunday Sussex return to Twickenham (sorry Allianz) for the second year in a row where they will face Gloucester who had a comfortable win over Middlesex today. They will look to continue their unbeaten record at that ground and travel with a strong squad in good heart with some interesting selection choices for the coaches.
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