ENGLAND WOMEN 72 - 3 SCOTLAND WOMEN
Tuesday, 24 March 2009

A clash of styles marked the game most of all as Scotland Women were beaten heavily by England Women at the London Welsh club, in Richmond on Saturday.
From the kick-off Scotland pushed hard into the England half, with the majority of the territorial advantage going Scotland’s way however, after just six minutes, the crowd witnessed the awesome speed of England right-wing Katherine Merchant who broke down the line to score.
Soon after the restart Scotland got their first real chance to cross the line.
England conceded a penalty for holding on the ground and an excellent chip kick and chase by the impressive Scotland full-back Lucy Millard allowed the Scotland backs room to run and attack at pace but a miss-timed pass near the line stopped Scotland from scoring.
England battled back and after quarter of an hour a remarkable section of play from their back-three which exploited the wide Old Deer Park pitch.
England full-back, Charlotte Barras, scored a brace of tries – the first thtough an excellent display of pace and movement.
With a try from Merchant between Barras’ two, the score went from 5-0 to 22-0 in a torrid seven minute spell.
Scotland, still unbowed, continued to attack with flanker Ruth Slaven leading the way.
A storming run through the centres had the England defence in disarray before she was brought down 15 metres out –the resulting ruck ended with another penalty against England but scrum-half Louise Dalgliesh sent it painfully it wide.
An interception by the exceptionally quick Fiona Pocock secured another five points for the hosts before Katy Mclean added the extras.
Half-time: 29-0.
Scotland made two changes at the half with Sarah Gill and Suzie Newton coming on for the injured Tanya Griffith and Erin Kerr.
Unfortunately it was only a minute into the first half when England’s slick handling paid off and a pop pass sent Barras over the line for an unconverted try, 34-0.
Scotland attacked immediately with Millard and Newton working well together to force their way into the England 22 before more English indiscipline saw a penalty awarded and a yellow card for no.19 Sarah Beale.
Replacement Sarah Gill took on the kicking mantle and slotted over Scotland’s first and only points of the day.
Despite being a player short England continued to pressurised notching up another two scores through Merchant and Barras.
An aggressive Scotland defence was not enough to stop the latter darting over the line and under the posts, leaving a straightforward conversion for Mclean.
With fifteen minutes left and only 14 on the park, the tries against Scotland started to rack up.
England captain Spencer crossed the line, Beale registed two herself (including an amazing 60 metre dash) the final score was from England replacement Sarah Hunter. Two conversions for Mclean left the final score at 72-3.
The result meant that Scotland finished fifth in the table and now travel to the FIRA European Championship in order to secure World Cup qualification in a group with Russia, Belgium and Netherlands.
Final score: 72-3
Scotland Women’s team v England at Esher RFC, London on Saturday 21 March (kick-off at 1.30pm)
15 Lucy Millard (Murrayfield Wanderers)
14 Cara D’Silva (Royal High Corstorphine)
13 Laura Steven (Murrayfield Wanderers)
12 Erin Kerr (Richmond)
11 Victoria Blakebrough (Richmond)
10 Tanya Griffith (Royal High Corstorphine)
9 Louise Dalgliesh (Royal High Corstorphine)
1 Heather Lockhart (Hillhead / Jordanhill)
2 Sarah-Louise Walker (Watsonians)
3 Beth Dickens (Murrayfield Wanderers)
4 Louise Moffat (Kirkcaldy)
5 Joy Lyth (Lismore)
6 Lynne Reid (CAPTAIN) (Royal High Corstorphine)
8 Susie Brown (Hillhead / Jordanhill)
7 Ruth Slaven (Murrayfield Wanderers)
Replacements
16 Nikki McLeod (Edinburgh University)
17 Ellen Beattie (Murrayfield Wanderers)
18 Natalya Macholla (Stirling County)
19 Keri Holdsworth (Watsonians)
20 Sarah Gill (Murrayfield Wanderers)
21 Suzi Newton (Team Northumbria)
22 Lynsey Douglas (Richmond)

This article was posted on 25-Mar-2009, 19:42 by Hugh Barrow.