London Irish Ladies 58 Heathfield Ladies 0
Heathfield Ladies were well beaten by an efficient London Irish team who had too much accuracy and skill out wide. The forward contest was closely fought but tries kept coming for the home backs.
London Irish have excellent facilities and the firm, dry pitch certainly suited their game. A strong breeze was slightly in the home side favour to start with but it was never a decisive factor.
Irish scored three tries in the first quarter and all came from efficient finishing which, it has to be said, benefitted from some weak tackling. Shirt tugging is not an adequate replacement for a precise tackle around the ankles.
For the rest of the half Heathfield repeatedly charged into the home pack with Saskia Sullivan, Amber Lovick and Georgia Reed-Davies being especially noticed in this respect. The forward battle was well contested with Heathfield skipper Becky Taylor in feisty form always to the fore. She and flanker Sophie Saunders were instrumental in keeping the game a contest.
Just before half time more Heathfield pressure into the home half was rather cruelly answered as Irish turned the ball over and more good handling gave them a try at the other end.
The game was also notable for the frequency and extent of injuries which resulted in a first half of about 58 minutes elapsed. The second half was not far short of this.
The pattern of the game did not change in the second half. Irish did suffer more from injuries but they had a much deeper bench to accommodate that circumstance. All Heathfield replacements got some game time with Brittany Mole making a couple of good carries and Emily Sowell, carrying an injury, still did some decent work.
Irish collected six more tries in the second half as they secured a greater share of possession and their backs duly exploited the opportunities.
In a loss of ten tries to nil it would be wrong to be too positive. However there were plenty of good performances which will have pleased the Heathfield coaches.
Apart from those already mentioned, Hannah Haffenden was having her first game at scrum half and produced an increasingly assured performance which promises much for the future. Ella Watson moved from the flank to winger and made a number of important tackles back. Sophia Skinner and Lizzie Norman had some decent runs but they were generally outshone by their opposition.
While disappointing this result is not surprising as Irish look strong contenders to win this league. The womens’ leagues present quite a steep gradient in terms of ability and Heathfield are pushing their limits at this level. They can have good contests against teams in the lower half of the table but the top teams like Irish are too challenging. Hopefully experience has been gained without too much damage.
Heathfield left the very friendly home clubhouse as England were edging ahead at Twickenham so there were some mixed feelings on both sides. The coach trip overall was notable for several reasons although the driver may not have such positive memories.
Next week Heathfield entertain another top side Havant (1 Mar 2.00).

Team
1. Hannah Overy 2. Amber Lovick 3. Saskia Sullivan 4. Georgia Reed-Davies 5. Moanna Muller 6. Sophie Saunders 7. Ella Watson 8. Becky Taylor 9. Hannah Haffenden 10. Leslie Coulter 11. Bethany Wright 12. Sophia Skinner 13. Lizzie Norman 14. Amy Cook 15. Katie Baurer
16. Sarah Kavnagh 17. Brittany Mole 18. Emily Sowell