Report: Bristol Bears Women 26-18 Richmond Women

What happened?

The first points of the game went the way of the visitors after Lucie Skuse was penalised for a high tackle and Jessica Wooden stepped up to slot the penalty goal between the uprights.

Wooden then doubled her side’s lead with a second penalty, before Rownita Marston took matters into her own hands and bulldozed through three Richmond defenders on her way to the chalk with Attwood adding the extras.

With the wind and rain causing both sides all sorts of problems, the hosts kicked to corner and elected to keep it tight with captain Clara Nielson being the beneficiary as she burrowed her way over the whitewash.

However, Richmond were not going to go down without a fight. The visitors looked destined to score when Emelie Hellgreen burst through a gap in the Bears defence, but with the try line beckoning she was impressively hauled down short of the line by Lilly Stoeger-Goddard. Richmond weren’t to be denied though as they inched their way to the line with Charlie Willett eventually crossing.

Attritional rugby was on display in abundance at Shaftesbury Park this afternoon and the Bears forward pack flexed their muscles once again with Naomi Keddie diving over the line in the last action of the first forty.

Bristol wasted no time in getting out of the blocks at the start of the second period as a fine break from Marston brought the Bears within five metres of the Richmond line and Daisie Mayes secured the vital try bonus-point with a strong leg drive to get herself over the line.

Richmond managed to get themselves back into the game and within touching distance of the Bears after a driving line-out resulted in Laura Kapo touching down.

As the second half progressed, conditions deteriorated and handling errors occurred in abundance. However, Abbie Parsons reacted well to secure a loose ball from a Richmond line-out and give the Bears possession and allow them to see out the game and claim victory.

Teams:

Bristol Bears Women

15. Lucy Attwood (CC), 14. Lilly Stoeger-Goddard, 13. Phoebe Murray, 12. Lucie Skuse, 11. Lois Bird, 10. Becky Hughes, 9. Lucy Burgess; 1. Naomi Keddie, 2. Clara Nielson (CC), 3. Sarah Bern, 4. Marlo Boyd, 5. Hollie Cunningham, 6. Daisie Mayes, 7. Poppy Leitch, 8. Row Marston

Impact Players: 16. Abbie Parsons, 17. Caryl Thomas, 18. Jess Thomas, 19. Ebony Jefferies, 20. Serena Settembri, 21. Kim Grundy, 22. Jo Smith

Richmond Women

15. Jessica Wooden, 14. Maia Daw, 13. Ellie Boatman, 12. Georgia Gray (VC), 11. Emelie Hellgren, 10. Vicki Jackson, 10. Vicki Jackson, 9. Freya Aucken; 1. Laura Kapo, 2. Pat Metcalfe-Jones, 3. Hannah Duffy, 4. Charlie Willett, 5. Hallie Taufoou, 6. Libby Povey, 7. Grace Moore, 8. Rowena Burnfield

Replacement: 16. Lindsey Mayo, 17. Stefania Evans, 18. Sian Hobday, 19. Sadia Kabeya, 20. Tess Braunerova, 21. Abi Chamberlain, 22. Louise Burgess

Key moment:

As the two teams emerged from the sheds for the second half the next score would be a vital.

It would either see the Bears take a commanding leading or bring Richmond right back into the game. It went the way of the hosts, thanks to the power of Daisie Mayes who drove her way over the line and secured the Bears’ try bonus-point.

Vital.

Player of the match: Daisie Mayes

In tricky conditions teams often turn to their forwards to grind out a result and today the Bears had to turn to theirs, and they answered in emphatic fashion. 

Dominant scrummaging, patient pick and goes and bruising hits in defence could have seen the Player of the Match accolade awarded to any one of the eight, but the one that stood out the most was, Daisie Mayes. 

The flanker worked tirelessly all afternoon on both sides of the ball and stepped up when it counted to score the all important fourth try.

Reaction: Kim Oliver

🎥 | “We made it difficult for ourselves, the conditions didn’t help that but we got the job done and secured five points.” @Kimoliver125 speaks after her side’s bonus-point victory over Richmond. pic.twitter.com/BBN5BM4Fm3

— Bristol Bears Women (@BristolBearsW) October 26, 2019