Barnes Ladies vs Haringey Ladies Rhino's - 13th March 2016

Despite the score line, Sunday's game was not the finest display the Barnes ladies have put in this season. And not to take away from our opponents either, they put in a great effort and spent a fair bit of time in our half, but we should definitely have posted a few more scores based on our performances of the last few weeks.

It wasn't all negative though. Fran was on fire as always, scoring twice, with Em and Elle getting very close to scoring too. Lorraine's place kicking was reliable as she maximised on the tries by converting both and clearing a penalty kick in the second half. Our rucking was good and our line out efforts were solid, although overall our game play could have been better with more emphasis on sticking to our game plan, running straighter lines when playing crash balls, and mixing it up a little when the ball is moving through hands.

On the plus side, scrums were tough to hold against a strong Haringey pack but we managed to push them off their put-in twice while only losing one to the Rhino’s - Kaeli is definitely taking to hooking and fast becoming formidable in the front row, which was clear in the contest against an experienced counterpart in the Haringey Ladies’ hooker.

And add to that some solid attacking lines from our back of the match Vee along with Rhiannon, both of whom earned us some good yards when we managed to get the ball out to the backs. Unfortunately we didn't do this enough to really capitalise on the few gaps that we managed to create, and some good defence from Haringey meant that a lot of our breaks were shut down before we had a chance to really get the wheels turning.

Fortunately, the weather was great so it made for a good day of rugby anyway. After being briefed by the Ref, who pointed out that the favourable conditions and dry ground made for a good flowing game of running rugby, we lined up ready for the kick off.

We pushed into the Rhino's half right away, focusing tightly on our game plan and managing to bag a try within a few minutes of the starting whistle as a result. After the ball zipped through hands out to right of the pitch, Fran took a flying run to cross the white wash. And then, from that point onwards, we seemed to forget our formation and Haringey ladies kept us hunkered down near our 22m line for the next 20 minutes or so. There were a lot of scrums, a few lineouts and generally a lot more attrition than we’d hoped to face in our own half as we defended our try line.

Finally we were able to relieve some pressure by winning the ball at the breakdown, and following some successful crashes down the middle of the field we swung the ball out to the wings, and again Fran set off running a solid (and incredibly tight) line along the left of the pitch this time to squeeze in a second try under the posts.

There were a few moments when we almost got it together and gave our backs a chance to stretch their legs a bit, with Vee and Em making good ground. But we couldn't get away and before long we'd been charged back up the field and again spent the last three minutes defending our line while we ran down the clock to half time.

After a strong team talk at the break, we took up our positions on the pitch and resumed some forward dominated rugby. Tiredness was beginning to set in and injuries started to mount for both sides. Rhi had put in some fantastic crashes through the middle despite an achy ankle, with little Rachel (in age only, certainly not in stature and power) taking some stabs at the Rhinos' defence, but still we didn’t manage to break through.

When Haringey Ladies had the ball in hand, Grandma put in some sweeping tackles to help cut down the odd attacker who took a chance at breaking our defensive line, while Kaeli, Tracey, Eleonore and Ian set about ploughing down green and red banded players, scrapping to win the ball and charging up at the Rhinos forward runners.

At one point we seemed to lose the Ref and it felt that Barnes were being pinged for fairly cynical matters which resulted in scrum after-scrum-after-scrum, so much so that even the Rhinos' groaned when the ref blew his whistle for yet another infringement - they were as tired of scrimmaging as we were. After it seemed that we'd been fighting for a long time to get beyond the Haringey ladies' 22m, Elle ran a fantastic line through their defenders only to be stopped short just inside by an unfortunate tug to her ponytail. It wouldn't have been so bad had the Haringey player not held been dragged up the pitch a good 7 or 8 meters as Elle powered forward - in hind sight it was quite funny. This earned us a penalty right in front of the sticks which our captain slotted perfectly.

With the clock ticking down the Rhinos' front row started to take a bit of a beating in the scrums. A few times we were wheeled as they gave way under the pressure Ian was exerting at loose head, and the structure collapsed with a few players getting a bit crushed. After the fourth scrum in a row in that passage of play, with the injured and tired forwards from both teams wearily lining up for yet another set piece, Haringey Rhinos ladies tight head spoke to the Ref about possibly playing uncontested scrums, but with 20 seconds to go and this likely to be the last play of the game he blew his whistle and we shook hands.

Highlights of the game:
• Andy's birthday: And doesn't he look good for twenty!
• Another zero: This is the second consecutive week that we’ve held a team to a 'nil' score, our third time this season.
• Having so many supporters on the side line: This week we had Harry, Mr Davies, Mr and Mrs Mottershead, Mr Stone, Pete, Caths and the second cousin, Chloe (on camera duties…it’s only a matter of time before they get you too you know!), Grandma's sister and other half(eventually), Dave, Bethan and the lovely treats and a few others, apologies if I missed anyone.
• Outstanding performance: Obama's second forward of the match award, a first for Vee as back of the match, and not to forget Fran’s zippy feet. Although I must register my disappointment at losing the boat race…
• Elle's great response to having her hair yanked: although we wish you would have been allowed to score.
• Our scrums which were surprisingly stable considering the power of the Rhinos ladies.
• Some very solid hands from our backs in gathering in the restarts and clearing kicks that rained down during the game.

And last but not least, the camaraderie after the game was exceptional. We've said before that there are a few teams in the league that we love to play against and Haringey is definitely up there with the best of them. I'm not sure the Red Lion knew what hit it at 6pm when the usual loud crowd turned up with some equally rowdy reinforcements. Following a tough game the week before where a few of the younger team members dragged down the spirit of the club for the rest of their team, it was so refreshing to have the complete opposite a week later with a team who are the epitome of what a rugby club should be. We went out on the pitch and played as hard as we could against each other, neither side holding back from putting in a big tackle or digging in with all their force during a scrum or maul. We rucked over and cleared each other off the breakdowns viciously but cleanly - very much in the nature of the game. And then after we'd worn each other into the ground, with players from both teams having shed a tear in pain and/or frustration at some point between the start and finish whistle, we went back to the club house, had a drink together and made plans to hold a friendly tournament over the summer and meet up at the Bournemouth Sevens festival in May. It was great to hear a team that had been our fierce opposition for an entire game few hours earlier tell us that they hope we win the league and wish us luck for the remaining few games over the next couple of weeks. That is rugby.

And although it probably wasn't our greatest display this season, it was certainly one of the better spirited and fun natured games we've had all league, and it was our 8th league game win in a row. We need to keep this in mind and use it as momentum and belief in ourselves as we face what is likely to be the toughest league game ever in Barnes Ladies' history. We have double training this week - let's make sure we're there and that we fully participate so that we give ourselves the best possible opportunity to be successful this weekend.

C'mon Barnes!