Report: Bristol Ladies Rugby 19-22 Richmond Ladies

With Richmond in a battle for the premiership title with Saracens, and Bristol looking for a win to end the season 3rd in the league there was everything to play for.

Things didn’t start as planned for the home side, as Richmond Number 8, Rebecca Essex scored 2 minutes in. Bristol’s Izzy Noel Smith levelled the score 10 minutes later, with Amber Reed securing the conversion to take the score to 7-7. Richmond added another before half time as the teams went in at 7 – 12 at the break.

Richmond came storming out of the blocks after half time, scoring quickly after kick off, only for Bristol’s Katie Mason to touch down 5 minutes later keeping Bristol in touching distance at 12 – 17.

Noel Smith was sent to the sin bin on 70 minutes, and Richmond took the opportunity to stretch ahead with another try, leaving the score at 12 – 22. The girls pushed on hard, trying to find a way through the Richmond defence, and Amy Wilson Hardy finally broke through to score, leaving Amber Reed to slot the conversion with the last play of the game. The final score ended Bristol Ladies 19 – 22 Richmond Ladies, with the home team leaving themselves just too much to do in the last quarter of the game.

Head Coach LJ spoke after the game ‘Whilst it’s disappointing not to finish the season on a win, the girls gave it everything today and put in a great performance. Richmond are a well-established team, with a lot of experience and that’s what made the difference today. We’ve got a young squad, with lots of players in their first season in the Premiership – they’ve experienced things for the first time this year, and next season we’ll see this experience shine through’.

Forward of the game: Baylee Annis – it was Baylee’s final game with us today, and her work rate and hunger to work for the team really showed. She played the full 80 minutes, stepping into the front row when we needed her too – a great performance

Back of the game: Sydney Gregson – always aggressive and hungry for the ball, Sydney had a brilliant game today, running hard with the ball in hand and bringing creativity and flair to the pitch.

Full results and league tables

Photo credit: Rikki Teml