Report: Harlequins Women 61-17 Bristol Bears Women

What happened?

It was a fiery start in West London with both teams setting their stalls out early doors with ferocious hits in their defensive sets.

Quins would be first to land a meaningful blow as Shaunagh Brown powered over from short range inside the opening five minutes to hand the hosts the lead with Green adding the extras.

However, it only took three minutes for the Bears to respond and they did so through none other than Jasmine Joyce.

Joyce’s Welsh compatriot Kayleigh Powell scooped up a loose kick and darted through a half gap in the defence and swung a beautifully weighted ball out wide to the winger, who raced down the touchline to score.

The fast start slowed as both teams arm wrestled for a foothold in the game until the thirtieth minute when Brown crashed over for her second of the game, soon followed by a third try via winger, Emily Wilcock.

Quins took a 21-5 lead into the half-time interval, but it would be Bristol who would make an electric start to the second period.

Jasmine Joyce was at the centre of the action as she scored twice in five minutes to bag a hat-trick and bring the Bears right back into the game.

The first came from a sweeping backs' move from left to right with Powell again turning provider for Joyce, who reached out in the corner to score.

Buoyed by her brace, the winger wasted almost no time in scoring her third.

The ball worked its way across the pitch via Murray and Marston to reach Joyce in the five-metre channel, where she put her foot to the floor and sprinted 50 metres to dot down under the sticks. Snowsill would convert to bring the Bears within four points of the hosts at 21-17.

We’ve got a game on our hands.

🎥 @TheRealRhodri

🃏 26-17 🐻#HARvBRI pic.twitter.com/47pkxFL2AK

— Bristol Bears Women (@BristolBearsW) December 5, 2020

Quins showed their class and immediately struck back to give themselves some breathing space as Amy Cokanyne benefitted from dominant rolling maul to  touch down over the chalk.

Five minutes later the hosts would have their fifth as Kristine Summer stretched out to extend their lead to 33-17 and from then on in it would be one way traffic.

A penalty try accompanied by three scores in the final ten minutes of play from Heather Cowell, Lucy Packer and Isobel Mayhew saw Quins rack up a total of 61 points and maintain their 100% start to the season.

Bristol Bears Women will be looking to bounce back at home next week when Kim Oliver’s side take on Worcester Warriors Women at Shaftesbury Park.

Teams & Scorers: 

Bristol Bears Women: 15. Kayleigh Powell, 14. Courtney Keight, 13. Phoebe Murray, 12. Lucie Skuse, 11. Jasmine Joyce, 10. Elinor Snowsill ©, 9. Rhi Parker; 1. Holly Phillips, 2. Alice Lockwood, 3. Ellie Mulhearn, 4. Hollie Cunningham, 5. Natalia John, 6. Rownita Marston, 7. Manon Johnes, 8. Siwan Lillicrap

Impact Players: 16. Megan Wynne, 17. Stef Evans, 18. Alisha Butchers, 19. Marlo Boyd, 20. Lucy Burgess, 21. Lily Stoeger-Goddard, 22. Lauren Smyth

Scorers: Joyce 7’, 42’, 45’ (TRY), Snowsill 45’ *(CON)

Harlequins Women: 15. Chloe Rollie, 14. Heather Cowell, 13. Lagilagi Tuima, 12. Rachael Burford, 11. Bethany Wilcock, 10. Ellie Green, 9. Lucy Packer; 1. Victoria Cornborough, 2. Amy Cokayne, 3. Shaunagh Brown, 4. Abbie Ward, 5. Fiona Fletcher, 6. Kristine Sommer, 7. Emily Robson, 8. Jade Konkel

Replacements: 16. Hannah Duffy, 18. Chloe Edwards, 17. Tove Viksten, 19. Alexandra Eddie, 20. Lauren Brooks, 21. Isobel Mayhew, 22. Ella Amory, 23. Charlotte Wellbelove

Scorers: Brown 3’, 30’ (TRY), Wilcock 35’ (TRY), Cokayne 48’ (TRY), Sommer 53’ (TRY), Penalty Try 58’, Cowell 60’ (TRY), Packer 68’ (TRY), Mayhew 70’ (TRY), Green 7’, 30’, 35’, 53’, 60’ (CON), Tuima 68’, 70’ (CON)

Pick of the match: Jasmine Joyce

The Welsh speedster yet again demonstrated why she is one of the most dangerous players in world rugby. She glides across the grass, churning up the turf in front of her while making it all look so effortless.

All three of her tries this afternoon took some finishing, in particular her third, which saw her smoke the Quins defence on the outside and race away down the touchline to secure her hat-trick.

Different gravy.