York Women's Rugby Dominate Roses

York and Lancaster square up for one of the many scrums

York faced off against extremely tough Lancaster competition on the Saturday of the Roses weekend. After losing one sevens match and winning the other the previous day, the York team was well aware of the challenge ahead and the Lancaster girls proved themselves a well organised and skilled team

Tempers were also running high on the pitch from the outset and the Lancaster girls repeatedly hurled out insults between tackles. The extreme competition continued throughout the match, with one Lancaster player receiving a yellow card for dirty tackles. Underneath the rucks, heated words were exchanged between players, and Lancaster was not beyond throwing an unseen punch or two before returning to the game. York managed not to rise to the challenge, and as Lancaster were repeatedly reprimanded for high tackles and undisciplined behaviour, York took advantage of the many penalties to take control of the game.

The first half of the match was gruelling. York spent almost the entire game in Lancaster’s 22, but the defensive tackles were precise and the speed with which Lancaster closed down the attacking formations made it difficult for any real break through to be made.

York entered the second half confident in their dominance but still with no points on the board to ensure a lead. The York forwards played an exceptional game, winning every single line out and repeatedly re-setting scrums as Lancaster collapsed scrum after scrum.

With Lancaster closing down York’s back line attack, the backs focused on simple looping attacking formations, but were still unable to break through to the try line. The first points were finally put on the board by scrum half, Emma Hodgson who kicked for a drop goal after York gained yet another penalty.

The game continued much the same; as York kept the Lancaster defence pinned to their own try line. The victory, however, was not secure until, Outside Centre, Emma Cooper sped around the Lancaster defence for a late try underneath the posts, converted by Emma Hodgson.

Overall, the game was by far the toughest of the season yet York’s discipline held out. The tireless rucking efforts of the forwards allowed the backs to maintain their formation and repeatedly launch themselves towards the try line. Both teams, played hard, tackled hard and injected enormous amounts of energy into the match but York was undoubtedly the stronger team and thoroughly deserved the win.

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