Respect earned from The Warriors

The West Norfolk Warriors had more than 20 players keen to make amends for their unexpected defeat on The Common 10 weeks ago. We made the 3 hour trip with just 13. Fortunately, in this League, they had to match numbers but with rolling subs they had a seemingly never ending supply of fresh legs.

They scored their first try after 15 minutes swiftly followed by three more, 3 of which were well converted. Despite some heroic tackling their talented Centres were making breaks and drawing in our defence then off-loading creating overlaps all over the place. So it wasn't looking good at 26-0! But shortly before halftime we spotted an opportunity after turning over the ball in our 22 and Poppy, who hasn't played since the West Norfolk game 10 weeks ago, sprinted down the wing to dot the ball down under the posts - only after spilling it backwards in the tackle but quickly jumping back on it. Ri slotted the conversion. This galvanised the team and 13 very tired women went in to the halftime break with renewed spirit.

We came out in the second half with new heart and desire but despite having the majority of the possession with our forwards winning the scrums against the head, we conceded an early try. 15 minutes later, after some attacking flare with numerous offloads, Mariia broke the line and beautifully stepped the fullback and out ran the chasers to score our second under the posts - again easily converted by Ri.

Despite a few line breaks and some great pick-and-goes we were unable to get another try - though we clearly deserved one. Meanwhile, very tired legs managed to hold their fresh ones out until the closing stages when we conceded one more. The final whistle was blown a few minutes before time following a possible neck injury to Annabel after another of her hefty tackles.

The Warriors were full of praise for our commitment and 110% effort and so indeed were the coaches who were expecting a much bigger defeat under the circumstances. Though we lost our last League game of the season we should be very proud of our performance.

We awarded two Forwards of the Match and two Backs: Our forwards were Stacey for stepping-up and playing hooker for the first time in her short rugby career and winning 4 against the head and Rianna who has consistently played well despite often being on nights and just having a few hours sleep before stepping on the field! Our Backs of the Match were our two try scorers - Poppy for managing to escape Outage to support the team despite zero rugby for 10 weeks, and Mariia, who tackled relentlessly but also made numerous line breaks. Mariia has been offered an opportunity to study and play rugby in Poland who she represented recently in U18s Sevens tournament - we all wish her all the best on her rugby journey.

Arn the Women of the Wold