York women’s rugby take home silver in BUCS Cup
UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL FIRSTS 32 vs. UNIVERSITY OF YORK FIRSTS 20
BUCS Cup (Rugby Union) Final, Wednesday 25th March 2009
York made Liverpool work for their win in the tense conclusion to the BUCS Cup competition, but ultimately it was not enough to prevent their opponents taking the gold. Both teams gave everything they had, racking up ten tries evenly split between the first and second half, providing a gritty spectacle for the Liverpool crowd and the bus of York supporters who had made the trek across the Pennines with their team.
York continued the excellent form they have displayed throughout this season at the scrum and line-out, repeatedly stealing Liverpool’s ball. This match presented the first opportunity the pack has had to play after practicing on the newly-repaired scrum machine, and this prior preparation showed as they kept low and tightly bound together even as they began to battle exhaustion in the later stages of the match.
The under-19 rule that limits scrum drives to 1.5m has often seen York penalised in the past for driving too far, but after both teams and the referee agreed to waive the rule for this match, York gleefully unleashed their full strength on the home side. Although Liverpool’s pack was certainly a match for York’s in size, they did not seem able to channel this potential as well as York, and time and again they were slammed back enough for York to gain possession of the ball. The ruck and maul were also strong points for York, and the work they have put into tightening up their defence at the ruck showed.
Although York were expert at stealing the ball, they were slower than their opponents at converting this possession into tries. Once they had the ball, Liverpool passed it smartly and were quick to spot space in the York line and take advantage of it. This difference in the two teams’ style of play was demonstrated by the types of tries they scored; with most of Liverpool’s tries coming from long runs from deep infield, and York’s from mauls driven over the line at close range and play from the back of scrums close to the try line.
The first try came within the first ten minutes of the game, scored by Liverpool’s number eight, who proved a formidable player throughout the game and her team’s top try-scorer. The rest of the half proved to be a back and forth between the two teams, with tries by Fiona Parr and Lizzie Prance for York interspersed with Liverpool scores until at half-time York were one try behind Liverpool’s three.
Liverpool’s eagerness to close up on York’s line and move in for the tackle made it difficult for the away side’s backs to use any moves to open up space, with plays falling apart and having to be reset as the ball carrier was brought down before she could pass. This seemed to change in the closing phases of the match, as Liverpool tired, and once again the York backs experienced a strong period of play.
The entire team seemed to experience a resurgence in the last twenty minutes of play, which they spent camped on Liverpool’s try line, engaged in scrum after scrum. Liverpool’s back line remained tight, so York switched tactics, using their dominance at the scrum to drive the ball within spitting distance of the try line while still keeping it inside the scrum. Emma Hodgson then quickly picked the ball from the base of the scum and delivered it into the hands of Chrissie Leahy to barrel over the line. Leahy secured two tries in this fashion in the last fifteen minutes, but ultimately it was not enough to make up the points deficit caused by Liverpool’s two tries early in the half.
This match was undoubtedly the toughest that York have played this year, and will have given them a good dry-run for Roses, by making clear where their strengths lie and which areas of their game need more work. Despite not taking home the cup, the team still have much to be proud of, as one of only three York teams to reach the cup final. They have certainly come a long way from the team who experienced a humiliating crushing by Lancaster at Roses only two years ago, and will now be putting all their energy into repeating last year’s Roses victory.
YORK TEAM LIST: 1. Chelsey Sprong, 2. Vic Cusick, 3. Kirsty Wheeler, 4. Fiona Parr, 5. Sarah McLoughlin, 6. Louise Blockwell (Nikki Parker), 7. Gemma Parry, 8. Lizzie Prance, 9. Emma Hodgson, 10. Chrissie Leahy, 11. Sabrina Ammi (Amy Davies), 12. Aimee Miller, 13. Emma Cooper, 14. Kate Fullilove, 15. Clare Beer
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Well done to the ladies – an awesome end to a brilliant season!!!