Cardiff Ladies 15 – 45 UWIC
Cardiff entered the match as extreme underdogs as they had the bad luck of being drawn against UWIC in the first round of the BUCS knock out cup. UWIC being top of the Premiership and having only three tries scored against them in the entire season.
However they had a nasty surprise when they came up against the Cardiff Ladies, who played a clean but mean game, with UWIC having to concede a large number of penalties. The match did not begin well with UWIC’s number 12 quickly breaking free to score under the posts, which was converted. But after that Cardiff immediately responded, tightening up the defence with Kiri Shuttleworth putting in a massive tackle that allowed Cardiff to win the ball and work their way up the pitch. A high tackle by UWIC saw the penalty awarded in the 22 and Captain Claire Molloy kicked the ball easily through the posts 7-3, giving Cardiff a confidence boost. Despite excellent work by scrum-half Meg Tudor, UWIC went on to score another try from a lineout in their 22.
Fantastic set pieces by the forwards, especially in the lineouts with Rosie Hutton getting a good foot above the UWIC jumper every time, set the ball up well for the backs. However UWIC’s winger caught a kicked ball and managed to sneak another try through. Moments later hooker Emily Baird stole a UWIC ball in the scrum, allowing Sally Tuson to smash through the defence and a quick kick and chase by Tina Lee gained Cardiff ground, but Cardiff failed to maintain the ball and though there was constant counter rucking by Jen Hawkins and Mary Poynter, and a fantastic flying tackle made by Heather Warwick, UWIC scored another two trys leaving the half-time score at 35-3.
Second half began with more fantastic defending from Cardiff resulting in UWIC getting frustrated with gaining so little ground that at one point Emma Fox even threw her body over the ball to protect it. UWIC went on to score another try on the wing but missed the conversion. A brilliant lineout by the forwards saw a change in events for Cardiff and allowed Leila Hughes to gain momentum including handing-off three UWIC players. Fran Manzi then came on for Mary Poynter at prop and a driving scrum brought Cardiff within five metres of the try line.
After playing fantastically at full-back, Hazel Watchthorn’s knee gave way and Louise Mettlainé came on as her replacement. Another awesome scrum saw half the pack dive across the line but Emily Baird landed the first try for Cardiff. After that Cardiff played with more confidence allowing UWIC less time with the play, however they managed to score one last time despite the efforts of Nikki Lovell.
UWIC managed to make one more break but were quickly stopped in their tracks by Louise Mettlainé, after that Cardiff gained true dominance over the game with every member of the team putting their body on the line.
Despite the Ref not allowing what was clearly a try, Cardiff ended a truly exciting game on a high, winning a big scrum by their try line and quick hands resulted from Tina Lee to Leila Hughes resulted in another try leaving the full-time score at 45-15.
