Staines Women vs Barnes Women's 2s

Saturday saw the mighty 2s finishing off our season with a solid performance, taking a hard fought 10 – 29 win at Staines RFC. Despite the fantastic result, it was also a slightly sad affair as we said farewell to three stalwarts of the Barnes Women’s set up, all of whom have had a captaincy role at some point during their career at the club and who will certainly be missed for their experience and commitment to the squad. We wish Hellie, Bethan and Sarah all the best in their next adventures and hope to see them on the sidelines at future games…or back in the green and gold if they’re going to be pitch side anyway – might as well play…

And although we are disappointed to be losing seasoned members of the squad, we are so happy that no less than 9 of the women on the pitch on Saturday were taking part in their first ever season as rugby players, with a further 2 of them returning to the game after a long spell away. The future of the women's section looks positive with the number of talented newbies that have joined the club over the last 6 months and we can’t wait to see them kick on again next season.

The sun was beating warmly down on us as we set up to kick off and with the wind behind us, we put in a big chase. Sarah led the defence with a huge opening tackle on one of Staines’ strong forwards. This pressure held them in their own half and eventually forced an error which led to the first of a gazillion scrums. An unfortunate tackle on Livi as she was making a strong break down the left wing saw her retire early from the game with a knee injury, and it wasn’t long before the big Staines forwards managed to break through our one-up tackles to score first. The conversion was missed and it gave us an opportunity to reassess our tackle strategy and make sure we were doubling up on the hits in defence.

From that point onwards it was all Barnes as the Swans stuck to their game plan of using their big runners to hit up the middle, but our defence had adapted and they couldn’t get through. Ruby and Maria were formidable in defence, chopping down players left, right and center! The pressure was on from both sides which led to a fair few knock-ons and ultimately meant scrum after scrum – there must have been one on just about every inch of the pitch by the end of the game. Our 9 and 10 combo was firing off the back of the set pieces though, with Prudence and Jen calling the plays and working well at a quick tempo to keep us to our structures.

Our backs were eager to play with the ball in hand and get us up the field and we challenged the Swans defence out on the edges of the pitch, but Staines managed to scramble well. We reset and built up our attack with some powerful carries by Allie and Kate in the forwards. The ball swung wide through the back’s hands out to Beans who put in a blistering run through a few defenders followed by a superb offload out to Biggars who was positioned perfectly on her shoulder and she was away to the tryline like a whippet. 5 – 5 with about 10 mins left in the half.

We managed to retain possession from the restart and came back at the Swans with intent. A few fumbles within their 22m meant that they won the ball back and cleared into our half but a huge chase and solid run from Sophie (featuring two trademark hand-offs) pulled us back into their territory. We couldn’t complete our phases and we gave away a few pens to push us back towards the middle of the pitch which allowed Staines a breather for a second – until Beans showed up again to spoil their day with the filthiest of intercepts, powering up the pitch and managing to pop the ball once more out to Bigland just before the Staines defence dragged her to ground. Of course, Bigland needed no directions to the try zone and breezed in under the posts to set up a lovely conversion by Jen-ten to take us into the halftime at 5 – 12.

The second half started as lively as the first half ended, including a change in personnel as Hellie, Zoë J and Bethan took to the pitch. We looked set to score off another huge run as Sophie charged down the right wing. Unfortunately, the ball went loose mid-play and bounced up into the hands of an opportunistic Staines player who hurtled away down the pitch to bag the Swans another 5 points. 10 – 12 and 20-odd minutes to go.

Again, we regrouped and kept Swans pinned back in their half and with some formidable rucking and general interference at the break downs by Rosie (who was also as reliable as ever in the lineouts) we managed to keep the pressure up long enough for Jenn P to have a stab down the left wing. It was a strong run and she got so close to scoring but again somehow the Staines defence had managed to scramble up the pitch to slow the play down. However, a try was inevitable as Bailey put in a huge carry to go barreling over the whitewash in the left corner. This put some breathing space between us and Staines with the scoreline growing to 10 – 17 with about 12 or so minutes left to play.

Meli and Jemima who had also joined the fray were rampaging around the pitch, tackling anything that moved and providing great support lines for the forwards in attack. Anson had a huge stint to close out the game, hitting nearly every second carry at the front of our pods and earning us good ground. Once again, a small error gave Staines the opportunity to clear their lines and push us into our own 10m, but Hollie was having none of it, and despite pulling off one of the most audacious cover tackles on one of the Staines centres only a few minutes beforehand, she set her target on the try area up the other side of the pitch and danced her way through the Swan’s defence at pace to dot the ball down for a Helford conversion. 10 – 24 with about 5 minutes of the game left to fight out.

With our tails up we pushed hard down the pitch off the restart and some more fantastic interplay between Sarah, Beans and Biggars saw us almost score another worldy out on the right of the pitch…but we have to take our hats off to the scramble defence that the Swans put in all day, as we were stopped just short yet again. We rebuilt though, patiently playing the phases and moving the ball over to the left of the pitch where Beans, who had been setting up play and defending like a beast all day, got to finish off the game with a try that she absolutely deserved out to the left of the posts. That score brought the game to an end – final tally 10 – 29 for us.

It was an amazing game and a great way to end off the season. It has been a real rollercoaster of a season as we’ve regrouped following the pandemic. Our recruitment has been incredible and players have been consistent and diligent in their own development and it truly shows in the standard of rugby we’ve seen throughout the season. Well done to the mighty 2s and here’s to a well-earned rest before we do it all again next season.

Forward of the Match – Maria Cienfeugos or her fervent, pitbull-like defending
Back of the Match – Sarah Bosworth for some big hits and solid game management
Player’s Player – Zoë 'Beans' Green for a generally epic game in defence and attack