Hammersmith and Fulham Ladies vs Barnes Ladies (25th October 2015)

Sunday’s Cup game against Hammersmith and Fulham was an inspired 70 minutes of heart and commitment from every player on the field. The team clicked beautifully - the forwards put in the ugly work with a big performance in the scrums and breakdowns, while the backs elegantly moved the ball through their hands as they danced their way around the defence.

Even though our Captain and Vice Captain were late to Hurlingham Park playing fields (£2 fine each) Barnes ladies seemed up for it and got out onto the pitch with plenty of time to warm up and practice drills in the barmy Autumn sunshine. The Hammers looked a professional outfit, with one or two first team players seen darting around during the warm up.

Once the Barnes team Coach and fan club had arrived (Mr Stone traveling all the way from Bristol and Hellie’s mum and Chris stationed pitch side with water bottles at the ready) proceedings started with a minute of silence in honour of Hammersmith and Fulham club member Dave Richards who had sadly passed away earlier in the week.

The game kicked off with some pretty tentative tackling from our forwards and a little disorder in our defensive line. This was quickly rectified by strong words from the smallest player on the pitch – when GB talks the forwards listen! Newest recruit Anna was thrown in at the deep end, earning her stripes as flanker even though she turned up without kit and no intention of even playing.

Despite the scrappy start, within the first 5 or 6 minutes, Em got her mitts on the ball and powered around the Hammers’ defence to cross the white wash. This was the perfect nerve settler, and the team got stuck in.

The Hammers kicked off with the ball trickling just over the 10 meter line, but a few fumbles handed possession back to them, allowing them to charge their way upfield towards our try line. Some epic defending from Eleonore (who was dying from a cold and may have coughed up a lung in the second half) cut the Hammers lock short just a few meters out from the try line with the ball exposed and just asking to be stolen away. After the steal, the ball was sent quickly through Barnes hands and back down the field towards their try line, with Fran sprinting effortlessly past defenders who had been caught off guard.

Our tails were up and the momentum was with us. Our Captain lead the charge, taking on some massive hits and holding up the mauls (yes, those choke tackles were deliberate Nat) just long enough for the forwards to pile in and drive the Hammers backwards whilst the backs set up a sturdy defensive line to chop down any attackers that might peel off.

Our scrums were solid despite the Hammers being a relatively big and powerful pack. The second row - both still relatively early into their rugby careers - drove incredible power through the scrums, while the experience of the back row (and our first-timer who looked as though she has played for years) created the perfect platform for the ball to be safely shipped out to the wings via Leah and Jen. Some silky handling skills from the backs put the ball in Rhiannon’s hands and she was next to cross the try line with a full on sprint from just outside the halfway line, a few Hammers nipping at her heels and Jo backing her up.

There were two more scores to close down the first half, one from Rhiannon and one from Fran, both off the back of solid scrums and steady hands allowing them to open up the throttle and motor down the wings. Jen’s boot was steady and we managed to secure 2 conversions off five first half tries.

The Hammers must have had Steve Hansen in their half time team talk giving them the same chat that he gave the All Blacks on Saturday, as they came out guns blazing. The big efforts from the first half started to show in the Barnes ranks as the fresh legs from Hammers’ half time replacements put the pressure on us.

The Hammers managed to break our defence three times within the first 20 minutes of the second half, but we gave them these opportunities as we played far too much of the game in our half. The 'scrum-after-scrum' flow of the half seemed to be taking it’s toll. A quick lineout throw by Hammers off the back of a long kick from the restart caught Barnes on the hop. Their centre brushed aside our defenders as she powered down the field to where Em (who was in the process of tying up her boot laces) made a crunching try-saving tackle off Barnes’ 22m line. It was epic!

This set up another pivotal turning point for Barnes with around 7 minutes left in the game - we seemed to get our second wind. Another passage of play involving a series of short and precise passes between the backs (surely a move they’d been working on for weeks) saw Em cruising up to the 22m line before being hacked down by two defenders and possession was lost in the ruck. The Hammers played the ball wide off the set piece, trying to find a gap out on our left, but our Captain threw herself into another powerful choke tackle to set up a maul and regain possession resulting in the final try of the game off another solid scrum and some nifty hands out to Em. This time she cleared the defence just inside of the right wing channel, dotting down under the posts to set up an easy conversion for the final points of the game.

Barnes battened down the hatches for the last five minutes, with every player committing in defence to prevent the home team from picking up any more points. Finally the whistle blew and the half ended with a bottle of Port being presented to the winning team by the Hammers’ Captain.

Highlights of the game:

Millwall at home this week ladies, let's carry this winning feeling with us into the game on Sunday. We've seen what we can do, so let's keep doing it!