By Matt Priest
The reigning back-to-back PWR champions started their season off strong with a well-rounded performance, against a Leicester Tigers side who will be hoping this match isn’t an indication of the rest of their season.
Braces from Emma Sing, Amy Dale and Charlotte Woodman as well as a try a piece from Gwennan Hopkins, Rachel Lund and Jade Shekells were enough for Gloucester-Hartpury to overcome Leicester Tigers Women.
Charlotte Fray opened the scoring in the 4th minute for Leicester after a mistake straight from Kickoff by Gloucester-Hartpury fly half Ellie Green allowed the visitors a scrum on the halfway line which put the hosts under a sustained period of pressure inside their own half for the opening five minutes. However, Sarah Nicholas was unable to kick the conversion through.
Gloucester-Hartpury tried to respond immediately after a powerful maul saw El Perry held up on the try line. An injury to Tigers captain Roisin McBrien saw her replaced in the 8th minute by Tiana Gordon in the middle of a Gloucester-Hartpury attack inside the Tigers 22.
A sensational line break by Beth Stafford and a follow up kick to touch by Green put Gloucester back inside the Leicester 22, forcing some ill-disciplined defending by Fray which caused referee Mike Hudson to send her into the sin bin.
Gloucester-Hartpury eventually took advantage of their superior numbers when a rolling maul was pushed through the Tigers weakened pack resulting in Gwennan Hopkins scoring the champions first try of the season, with Emma Sing converting with her first attempt from the T, putting Gloucester 7-5 up in the 20th minute.
This lead was short lived however when Tigers prop Zainab Alema pushed over the line in the 22nd minute putting the visitors back in front in what has been an extremely even opening quarter of the game. Nicholas this time made the kick giving Tigers a 7-12 lead.
The Gloucester-Hartpury maul once again caused Tigers problems when Amy Dale scored in the 25th minute with the champions finally finding some attacking consistency, really maximising their superior numbers. Sing couldn’t kick the conversion this time, tying the scores back up at 12-12.
Gloucester-Hartpury found themselves down to 14 when Rachel Lund was sent to the bin in the 29th minute.
Leicester made the most of their superior numbers, just as Gloucester did, when they retook the lead in the 33rd minute through an overlap on the wing providing Evie Wills with an easy finish, Nicholas missed the extras which put Tigers up 12-17.
Gloucester didn’t let the sin bin to Lund phase them when a beautiful dummy from Sing sent two defenders the wrong way which gave her an easy finish which made it three tries a piece. Sing also got the conversion which put the hosts back in front.
Gloucester-Hartpury secured a try bonus point within the first half when Sing scored her second of the game in the 38th minute with a fantastic kick chase that left the Leicester defence looking at each other complexed. Sing converted her third of the game.
A fifth try of the first half for the champions was the result of another driving maul which saw Dale score her second of the game. Sing converted once more putting the half time score 33-17.
A slow opening to the second half saw both teams come close to scoring but neither able to convert their chances. The deadlock was eventually broken by Tigers winger Elin Beaver in the 53rd minute who dived for the corner after a lovely Tigers move created an overlap on the far side. Nicholas missed the kick, reducing the deficit to 11 points.
The hosts reacted instantly with a score of their own through Rachel Lund, two minutes later who ran half the length of the pitch to score right in front of the Shed stand. Sing missed her second kick of the game putting the score at 38-22 just before the hour mark.
Charlotte Woodman provided the 7th try of the game for the hosts on her competitive debut straight from the kick off after Meg Davies created a two vs one leaving the Tigers fullback in awkward position. Sing converted once more adding to her tally for the afternoon.
The tries started coming thick and fast for the back-to-back champions as Woodman scored her second on what was quickly becoming a dream debut. Sing missed the kick, leaving the score as 50-22 at the hour mark.
Team GB’s Jade Shekells got herself on the scoresheet 63 minutes in, in what was becoming a sensational game for Gloucester-Hartpury who seem to have started the season as strongly as they finished the last. Sing converted another moving her tally up to 22 points for the game.
Leicester finally got one back of their own when Beaver scored her second of the game in a solo try where she intercepted a pass and ran it in herself, 15 minutes from the final whistle. Providing the visitors with a losing bonus point. Mundy got her first conversion of the fixture, making the score 57-29.
A slow final ten minutes saw fatigue set in for both set of teams with Gloucester-Hartpury protecting their lead and Leicester Tigers not having too much left in the tank. A sensational game in this opening round of PWR fixtures and the reigning back-to-back champions looking very comfortable for a historic “three-peat” of the league.
Gloucester-Hartpury: 57
Tries: 9 (Hopkins 20’, Dale 25’ 40’, Sing 35’ 38’, Lund 55’, Woodmann 58’ 60’, Shekells 63’)
Conversions: 6 (Sing 20’ 35’ 38’ 40’ 58’ 63’)
Penalties: 0
Drop goals: 0
Yellow cards: 1 (Lund 29’)
Red cards: 0
15. Emma Sing 14. Charlotte Woodman 13. Pip Hendy 12. Millie Hyett 11. Rachel Lund 10. Ellie Green. 9. Bianca Blackburn 1. El Perry 2. Amy Dale 3. Ranni Samuda 4. Beth Stafford 5. Gwen Crabb 6. Steph Else (captain) 7. Tabitha Copson 8. Gwennan Hopkins
Replacements
16. Lucy Simpson(75) 17. Alisha Smith (59)18. Megan Lewis (59)19. Robyn Davies (65) 20. Gemma Bell (40’) 21. Meg Davies. (51’) 22. Charlie-Mai Manns (59) 23. Jade Shekells (51’)
Leicester Tigers Women: 29
Tries: 5 (Fray 4’, Alema 22’, Wills 33’, Beaver 53’ 65’)
Conversions: 2 (Nicholas 22’ Mundy 65’)
Penalties: 0
Drop goals: 0
Yellow cards: 1 (Fray 16’)
Red cards: 0
15. Amanda Swartz 14. Charlotte Daley 13. Evie Wills 12. Katie Childs 11. Elin Beaver 10. Sarah Nicholas 9. Amy Relf 1. Zainab Alema 2. Nikki Simpson 3. Jade Jones 4. Leah Heath 5. Charlotte Fray 6. Jordan Russell 7. Morgan Richardson 9. Roisin McBrien (captain)
Replacements
16. Rowann Sinclair (50’) 17. Ellie Smith (50’) 18. Nadine Vincent (16’) 19. Eeva Pohjanheimo (40’)20. Tiana Gordon (8’) 21. Jenny Maxwell (58) 22. Celia Quansah 23. Emma Mundy (58’)
Five Talking Points: Gloucester-Hartpury 57-29 Leicester Tigers Women
1. The Slater Cup remains in Gloucester
Another win against the Tigers sees the Slater cup remain in Gloucester, the back-to-back champions won their third consecutive Slater cup match, asserting themselves as favourites for the league once again this season.
2. Dream Debut for Woodman
Charlotte Woodman will be rather pleased with the outcome of her competitive debut for Gloucester-Hartpury, a pair of tries, a blowout win and the Slater cup. An extremely effective day saw Woodman start the season very strongly and she will be looking to build on this success for the season.
3. Could Gloucester-Hartpury make history?
Is a three-peat on the cards for the reigning champions? If that performance is anything to go on, then yes. A superb display showed the depth in the squad of this side, even with 21 players missing or on international duty, those still in the squad stepped up massively.
4. Will Leicester finish bottom again?
A blowout loss like this certainly isn’t what last year’s wooden spoon winners would’ve liked to start their campaign but there is much to look forward to for this inexperienced side. A couple of new standout players have come through the ranks and some moments of brilliance through the likes of Elin Beaver will leave the Tigers faithful with confidence for the season.
5. Emma Sing’s magic boot
A tally of 22 points for the opening game of the season for Sing in a game that saw her easily grab the player of the match award, a brace and 6 conversions starts her season off vert comfortably and even poses the question, why isn’t she in the Red Roses Squad.
Players of the Week: Gloucester-Hartpury vs Leicester Tigers Women
Emma Sing: The Gloucester-Hartpury fullback ran the show, scoring two tries within the first half and setting up play beautifully throughout. Easily player of the match and will surely raise questions as to why she wasn’t selected for the England squad.
Amy Dale: One of the best performances from any front row this weekend, a brace in the first half, 100% lineout success rate and an all-round stellar performance saw Dale be a commanding force in the Gloucester-Hartpury pack.
Elin Beaver: what a debut for the young winger, not only did she get two tries but she was arguably the best Leicester Tigers player on the pitch. Made one of the tries completely by herself as well as stopping multiple Gloucester breaks. A debut to remember in this league and if she keeps this form up will soon become a star.
England Hopeful: Red Roses One to Watch
Amy Dale: A superb game from the first whistle to the moment she taken off for the Gloucester-Hartpury hooker. At only 21 years old the young front row has a great career ahead of her and if she has many more games like this it won’t be long before she is called up to the Red Roses squad.
