Ormskirk 59
Collegiate 12
Tries - R Cowan (3), G Kendall (2), A O’Malley (2), J Leitch, K Johnson
Conversions - J Leitch (7)Â
Had it not been for a long lost sister and a bottle of gin prop Lesley Kenny might have been on time for this game. As it was she turned up shortly before half time looking like a haystack in a wind tunnel and as prepared for a game of rugby as …. well … England. So once again Ormksirk Ladies failed to field a full 15 and once again declined to scrummage. A pity because it undermines their credibility as the 1st placed team in North West 3.
All that the Ladies knew about Collegiate before this game was a) no one had beaten them and b) they had only conceded three tries. By the end of the match these two facts were comprehensively out of date. Instead the Ladies had learned that Collegiate were tenacious in defeat and that, in prop Rebecca Prys-Jones, they had a player who would run through brick walls in the cause.
The Ladies are notoriously slow starters. Their bodies kick off on time; their brains arrive ten minutes later. But a previously unbeaten opponent focussed them marvellously. A whirlwind start saw them 14-0 up in ten minutes with tries from wingers Rachael Cowan and Gail Kendell. Centre Anna ‘Rugby Nazi’ O’Malley made it 19-0 before Collegiate replied with a converted try. Further tries from Cowan, purring like a Rolls-Royce, and Kendell, more in startled giraffe mode, gave the Ladies a 31-7 lead. Despite a further Collegiate try the Ladies were effectively in control by half time.
O’Malley’s second try epitomised the Ladies’ qualities - quick hands and mobility. The ball swung out right to wing Kendall who, thwarted, kept the ball alive for leggy lock Cath Nixon to re-cycle and through a least four pairs of hands for O’Malley to run in the try from wide on the left. As veteran No 8 Lou Prescott said, ‘This is the bet Ormskirk Ladies team I’ve ever played in’.
Cowan completed her hat trick, fly half Jenny Leitch notched a try to add to her 7 conversions and scrum half Katie Johnson confirmed her status as Ormskirk’s Girl of the Game by disappearing in a Road Runner style puff of smoke on her own 10m line and re-appearing under Collegiate’s posts with the final try.
All that remained was for the Ladies to resist Prys-Jones’ one woman assault on the Ladies’ line in the closing stages. If Lancashire are still looking for props they need look no further than Prys-Jones - as long as she stays off the gin, that is.
Report by : Sam Botfield
Link to league table :
http://www.rfu.com/fixtures/MatchByDivision.aspx?DivID=6687606
