Women’s Premiership: Worcester stay top after huge win

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Bristol Ladies 0 52 Worcester

After a tight first 40 minutes, Worcester totally dominated a 14-man Bristol in the second half to record a huge bonus point win that keeps them top of the table after three rounds of the Premiership.

Both sides had a confident start, with strong attacking play and good offloading in the tackle. The sides were well-matched; both making exciting breaks, but strong in defence too, preventing any scores in the first 30 minutes.

As half time loomed though, Worcester created some decent scoring chances and despite being initially denied by good defence from Claire Molly and Kate Hancock, a combination of fine play from Danielle Waterman, Kat Merchant and Sarah Guest put Joanne Watmore in for the first of her three tries.

Bristol hit back with some strong ball carrying from Izzy Noel Smith but Worcester took the lead into the break.

It was a totally different game in the second half with Worcester dominating in tough conditions to score seven more tries and wrap up a confident win.

A red-card for flanker Marlie Packer, for dissent following a penalty, didnt help matters for the home side but Worcester were regardless much stronger in the second period.

Worcester took full advantage of the extra person in the second half with tries from Watmore, Ceri Large, Megan Goddard, Sarah Guest and Merchant. Megan Goddard converted two and Ceri Large a third.

Despite the flood of tries from the impressive backs, this victory was a sound all-round performance, the platform being provided by energetic and powerful forwards which saw strong performances from Rochelle Clarke and Heather Fisher, the latter getting the forwards reward with a fine try.

Lichfield 7 Richmond 17

Lichfield welcomed Richmond to a very wet and windy Cooke fields to see if they could repeat last seasons closely fought victory over the same opposition.

Both teams struggled to in the early exchanges, with the weather being a factor, as a series of handling errors in attack halted any flow of the game.

Richmond settled into their stride better though and after the first real set of phases they managed to create an overlap in the Lichfield defence with Tess Forsberg finishing off the move and Alice Richardson adding the extras.

Richmond continued to put the Lichfield defence under pressure and from this good rearguard work, Emily Scarratt intercepted a pass and ran under the posts and she also added the extras to level the game.

With half time fast approaching Richmond struck again when Richardson spotted a gap in the Lichfield defence to break and score a fine try adding the extras to make it 7-14 at the break. she also added the extras.

The weather again played a key role in an error strewn second half, but despite starting to dominate the set-piece, the home side couldnt find the key score.

The only points of the second half came from the boot of Richardson to secure the 10-point win.

Wasps 10 Saracens 12

In a stop-start game reflective of the wet conditions, Saracens came out on top in this tight match between the London teams.

The rain made the ball slippery and both teams struggled to keep hold of the ball in the first 20 minutes. The Wasps scrum dominated, which gave the home team the upper hand in the first half, and some great breaks by Tash Brennan and Sarah Mitchelson put Wasps in a good attacking position. Wasps opened the scoring, finding space around the breakdown to drive forward and Jane Leonard touching down over the line.

Saracens made some excellent line breaks but handling errors in the wet conditions stopped them from scoring but eventually Canadian centre Mandy Marchak broke through the Wasps defence and in an individual effort chipped over the cover defence to collect and to score.

The Wasps forwards made ground around the ruck and having created the overlap, Wasps moved the ball out wide. Tash Brennan straightened up on a powerful run to put Wasps back in front, without the conversion the score stood at 10-5 going in to half time.

Saracens spent much of the second half camped in the Wasps 22m and while the Wasps defence held strong initially, the pressure from the visitors finally told and Kelly Wallis crashed over to score and tie the game up.

Marchak kicked the conversion to put Saracens in a lead which they held throughout the remainder of the game and to give her side their first win of the season.

DMP Sharks 45 Thurrock 20

In only the third match of their Premiership campaign, Thurrock learned that competing for 80 minutes in key in this competition.

After a 250 mile drive, the newly promoted side put in a dogged performance for much of this game, but shipping a total of 20 points in the last 10 minutes of each half cost them the possibility of a win and finally the losing bonus point.

Playing catch up from the 3rdminute, Thurrock struggled to contain England captain Katy McLean, whose 15 points from the boot and all round play were hugely effective.

Dominant in the scrum, but very much in second best at the lineout, Thurrock were 15-0 in 15 minutes. McLean had kicked the first points and then there was a try for Rachel Lund and another for Ruth Laybourn to give the home team an early lead.

But Thurrock fought back with tries from Tanya Pinkham and Katie Fenn.

With DMP Sharks pushing hard, the home side reached the break 26-10 up with another score and two kicks from Mclean stretching the lead.

Thurrock came out fighting after the break and dragged themselves into real contention with 2 quick scores, Rachael Burford chasing down a loose clearance kick and then the T-bird pack completing their set piece dominance by pushing over from a 5 metre scrum and Twin Frank touching it down.

At 26-20 Thurrock were right in it until McLean manufactured a Darlington overlap that put Rachael Lund into the corner.

In the last 10 minutes Sharks suddenly looked the stronger and were finding space in vital areas of the park. Ruth Laybourn completed her hatrick with two moretries which put the game beyond any doubt and secured the bonus point win for the home side.