Putting on a show of winning talent
Bath Rugby Ladies welcomed fourth-placed Henley Hawks to Lambridge for battle on a chilly but dry autumn afternoon.
The blue, black and whites, fresh from their victory at Richmond the week before, welcomed back top try scorer Bethan Wakefield on the wing, and also included prop Abi Jones, hooker Jess Sprague and lock Kathryn Hyland in the pack. With great strength in depth, the starting line-up and the bench was loaded with talent across the board.
It was Bath that started the quickest following the kick-off, a period of defensive pressure forced Henley into a mistake and a few phases later Bath were rewarded with a kickable penalty. Centre Anya Small stepped up to add three points.
It wasn’t long until the ball found its way out to the left where prop Megan Wynne fed winger Wakefield to speed up the touchline, beat the full-back and score in the corner. A fantastic conversion by Small increased the score to 10-0.
Bath were very much in the ascendancy and were hugely dominant up front – the scrum in particular provided a fantastic attacking platform for the back row and backs to play from. After a few phases, it was full-back Holly Edmonds who scythed through the chasing defenders following a clearance kick to score from 50m out.
Showing great footwork, pace and a brilliant dummy she was able to outpace the covering defenders to dot down and take the score to 15-0.
The Bath back-line were making breaks at will, with centre Rebecca Wye having a great time, but unfortunately the last pass went begging. It wasn’t long though until fullback Edmonds again came into the line and bamboozled the defence again to sprint in for her second try, which was expertly converted by Small again.
On the stroke of half-time though Bath let Henley back into the contest following some unforced errors and missed tackles. After a few phases, Henley were over the line in the corner, with the try being converted for 22-7 at the break.
Henley started the second stanza in galvanized fashion, and looked dangerous with ball in hand with their off-loading game causing problems for the Bath defence. However, Bath weathered the early storm and settled back into the game.
After another dominant display at the scrum, Bath kicked the resultant penalty to touch into the 22. An excellent catch and drive attack again reinforced Bath’s dominance up front as hooker Sprague was the one at the back with the ball to score the try, and score Bath’s all important fourth which secured the bonus point.
With a few minutes left on the clock, Henley did score again, but the final word went to winger Wakefield who sprinted in for her second try of the day to secure a good home victory by 32-14.
Bath Rugby Ladies face an away trip to Hove this Sunday, whilst the 3rd XV are at home against Thornbury.
■ AVONVALE made the long trip to Swanage & Wareham for their first ever league game against the Swans. Although they are near the bottom of the league, the Vale are competitive in what is their highest-ever league standings. With both sides trying to play running rugby, it was a real surprise that the scoreboard remained pointless at half-time although both sides were making lots of mistakes.
Midway through the second half, with the score still 0-0, Vale crucially missed two penalties before having a player sin binned and Swanage took full advantage. Swanage kicked the ball to the corner and from the line-out they rumbled over the line for the first try of the day with 15 minutes remaining.
Swanage kicked two quick penalties while Vale were down to 14 to open up a 11-0 lead. With time running out and with Vale back up to 15, Vale went in search of a losing bonus point. After a penalty kick to the corner, Vale went for a catch and drive. This was stopped illegally and Vale opted for the scrum.
After five more scrum penalties, the referee finally awarded Vale a penalty try to give them a losing bonus point.
Vale coach Dave George said: “We were unlucky today not taking our chances but the lads are showing great determination and effort and with a bit of luck going our way we will hopefully stay up. It will certainly not be without effort and commitment.”
■ AVON earned local bragging rights with a comprehensive 41–12 win against city rivals Stothert & Pitt to move up to sixth in the Somerset Premier.
From the outset, Avon showed their attacking intent and opened the scoring with a try in the corner from energetic flanker Will Hayward. Full-back Jonny Batchelor converted magnificently from out wide to start an impeccable personal display which resulted in five successful conversions and two penalties.
For the next 15 minutes though, Stotherts camped inside the Avon half and were only repelled by some excellent tackling, led by wingers Tai Harwood and Iain Parris and ably supported by Sam Book and Jonny Griffiths up front. Avon were guilty of trying to play expansive rugby from too deep around their own 22 and thus put themselves under unnecessary pressure.
After soaking up the pressure, Avon worked their way upfield and set up a powerful forward drive after clean lineout ball from Dan Griffin. Having sucked in the defence, they quickly moved the ball into midfield where Tom Boreham burst through to touch down near the posts. Another flowing counter-attack shortly afterwards, after a powerful charge from Josh Hiscott, led to the position for Batchelor to extend the Avon lead with a penalty.
Shortly before half-time, Stotherts were rewarded for their endeavours with scrum-half Matt Watkins to the fore as they pounced on a loose lineout to go over for a try on the blind-side to reduce the deficit to 17–5 at the break.
After another Batchelor penalty, Stotherts again responded strongly with some threatening midfield breaks from Harvey Dellow and Nick Dagger with their second try. Sensing the challenge, Avon increased their intensity with the strong bench of Zak Harwood, Dan Cousineau and Ben May making their presence felt.
Avon then started to completely dominate and added another three tries in front of the sizeable crowd. Having established an attacking platform inside the visitors 22, Xander Davis cut a tremendous line to surge through the despairing tackles for another Avon try.
Now playing more tactically and with a comfortable points cushion, it was no surprise when Kiddie Skeikh’s fine performance was rewarded as he sniped up the blind-side for the bonus point try.
The last word, though, was reserved for Avon’s irrepressible try scorer Iain Parris who touched down his ninth try of the season after a perfectly executed lineout catch and drive drove play deep into the 22 before a cleverly constructed switch move in the backs gave him the opportunity to celebrate his man-of-the-match award in style.
■ BATH SARACENS claimed all five points in their latest Dorset & Wilts League fixture against Melksham 2nd at the Sulis club. Both sides notched up a brace of first half tries, with a Sarries conversion giving them a narrow 12-10 lead at half-time.
The second half was a somewhat protracted affair with nasty injuries to a player from each side resulting in lengthy delays. In between the stoppages, Sarries increased their lead with an unconverted try, before sealing the win and claiming a bonus point late on in the gathering gloom, with their fourth and final try.
Sarries are in action at the Sulis Club again this weekend, when they play host to North Dorset, kick off 2.30pm.
The Gillingham-based visitors are sure to provide a stern test for their hosts, as prior to their loss last weekend they had topped the league unbeaten in their first five games.