RUWRFC Dominate Roehampton In A 128 – 0 Win

Having had several matches cancelled by opposition Reading were itching to get on the pitches to take on their newest competition Roehampton University and kick off their 2017/2018. The stage was set for the ultimate test with the team ready to put their skills to the test. The game saw the team’s new coach Sammie Philips step up to the plate and she was superb in her support encouraging those who were playing positions for the first time that day along with her daughter Kimmy who acted as the number one cheerleader for the ladies.

The game was kicked off by the captain, Hearn who was stepping up to lead as regular captain, Watts, recovers from injury. The opening few minutes saw Reading immediately take charge of the match with a fast passed try scored by newcomer Iverson shocking not only Roehampton but her team mates with some quick reactions. These came in handy later on with her racking up six in total for Reading.

Reading took the game forward from start to finish with the team smashing through Roehampton’s defences causing several handling errors from both teams, leading to several scrums in Roehampton’s half inches away from the try lines. The team have come in leaps and bounds since the start of the year with many of the players having never touched a rugby ball in their life and now were making effective use of space supporting experience players such as scrum half, Davidson, took advantage of the scrambling Roehampton defence, taking a quick penalty and charging through several players who were not back 10m in order to cross the whitewash for a sneaky try and they scores kept on coming. The backs were slick in their ball handling skills with Hearn and Skeels supporting one another in runs making 6 tries between them and Hearn banking in 14 conversions in total for the match.

Reading worked Roehampton for every attempted carry into their half putting in big tackles, pushing up together in a defensive line and worked the ball round well passing out wide along the backs to get out to wings Crevel , Parry and Jones who came on for the second half scoring a cleverly executed try from a quick pop pass from centre Duffus. Captain Watts ,who was supporting from the side lines, was impressed with the squad’s performance “It was simple rugby executed so perfectly!”.

Roehampton kept fighting Reading until the end but they couldn’t match the intensity of Reading’s thought out moves with the forwards binding together forcing them to drive back into the Roehampton half in both scrums and mauls demonstrating some of Reading’s best scrummaging of the season so far. The forwards also took the ball at pace with numerous points scored by Hambly, Sheppard and Erdgoan making her first try for the team.

Back of the match went to Skeels for her amazing work rate and her showcase of incredible runs breaking through Roehampton lines. Forward of the match was a Reading first having a joint nomination of Erdogan and Hambly for their determination in securing tries for the team and strong tackles. Final Score: 128 – 0 to Reading a brand new record for the club and smashing Brighton’s earlier victory against Roehampton of 108. Reading’s next game will see them take on Sussex on the 29 November at the University of Reading home grounds.

Team starting line-up:

1. Liz Lucas 2. Zuzia Briggs 3. Rosa Erdogan 4. Ella Povey 5. Nebo Meyiwa 6. Sophie Moseley 7. Open side flanker: Katherine Sheppard 8. Megan Hambly 9. Ellie Davidson 10. Laura Hearn 11. Daisy Parry 12. Safeeyah Iverson 13. Aimee Duffus 14. Amélie Crevel 15. Anaëlle Borderes