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Match report: SCRFC Ladies vs London Irish

Match report: SCRFC Ladies vs London Irish

Millie Ross16 Sep 2019 - 10:10
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Streatham-Croydon manage to obtain a bonus point win in their first away game of the season at the famous London Irish home ground.

Whilst London Irish ladies are fairly new on the women’s rugby scene, they have made an immediate impact, and have been promoted twice in two seasons having never lost a league game. Their first game in NC1 last week saw them put 73 points on Ashford, and therefore the SCRFC ladies went into this game with a determined attitude to not let the same happen to them. The summer weather does not seem to be leaving us, and the sun beat down hard on the beautifully conditioned pitches at the Hazelwood centre, home of London Irish.

Streatham came firing out of the blocks from kick off and were immediately camped in the opposition 22. London Irish demonstrated excellent defence, holding up the ball over the try line three times in the first five minutes as Streatham attacked from different angles. Eventually, from the 5m scrum, Alayna Hunte picked the ball from the back of the scrum and managed to ground it for the opening try.

With prop Daisy Leach subbed early with a knee injury, Streatham were delighted to welcome back Mel Laidlaw-Anderson, returning from injury obtained in Barbados playing with Jamaica Ladies 7s side. She made an immediate impact, identifying a weakness around the rucks and running it in under the posts but a last ditch tackle by the Irish fullback managed to strip the ball, denying her the try. The London Irish defence continued to work hard with great line speed, but Streatham managed to get the ball early from a strong scrum to centre Jenny Frost, who side stepped the flying defence and ran it in from about 30 metres out.

The wonderful conditions allowed for some impressive running rugby, and some slick hands from winger Charlie Uden got the ball to full back Alicia Wyke who dotted down in the corner, bringing the score to 0-15. Keen to continue playing in the right areas of the pitch, Streatham managed their exit from their half well from kick off, and a nice loop between centres Helena Solomon and Jenny Frost opened up the defence. Running out of room on her touchline, Frost used her footballing prowess to dink the ball through, and continued to dribble it from the 10m line, neatly dropping on it to score in the corner for her second.

London Irish came at the team with a renewed attack, and a wayward pass from fly half Millie Ross was intercepted by the Irish number 8 who made a storming run down the middle of the pitch. Whilst the cover tackle from centre Helena Solomon prevented the try, it also led to a yellow card for a high tackle. Down to 14 men, Streatham’s defence was stretched and eventually London Irish went over for their first bringing the score to 5-20 at half time.

With Streatham starting the second half with 14 players, London Irish had the wind in their sails and Streatham’s discipline began to slip, allowing Irish to progress up the field with penalties. Great defence from winger Amy Allen, stepping in at 13, prevented multiple tries but eventually London Irish went over for two tries in fairly quick succession bringing the score to 17-20.

This was the wake up call that Streatham needed, and with Paige Abbs coming on from the bench, they returned to their organised attack with wave upon wave of carrying puncturing the defence. After patient phase play putting the ball into the hands of the backs, eventually Mel Laidlaw-Anderson returned to the score sheet to bring the score to 17-25.

With the try bonus point secured, Streatham needed to see out the rest of the game. Katherine Cowling moving to flank ensured that the strong London Irish 8 was contained at the back of the scrum, and in cleaning up loose ball from the rucks allowed Streatham to retain possession. With full back Alicia Wyke punishing Irish any time they kicked possession back, they chose instead to keep running it from their 22. A forced error put the ball back into Streatham’s hands, and Jenny Frost powered through three tackles to go in for her hattrick try. Full time score 17-30 to Streatham.

Forward of the match: Rosie Carr
Back of the match: Jenny Frost
Scorers: Jenny Frost (3T), Mel Laidlaw-Anderson (1T), Alicia Wyke (1T), Alayna Hunte (1T)

Further reading