Two full squads of Ladies players from Zurich & Luzern faced-off this
Sunday in a game of 15’s (only the second time in the Swiss League), a
Luzern win would see the title in their hands, a defeat would kill our
title hopes.
As expected the game was very close with Zurich opting for a
forwards-dominated approach and Luzern wanting to move the ball out to
their strong back three. Zurich played a patient game, happy to string
together many phases of play. This patience paid off eventually & they
created an overlap on the right to score in the corner.
We came back into the game, got our defensive line organized & started
to move the ball wider with pace. We got the ball out to Judith on the
right wing & a the little space she has to work in was all she needed
to streak past the opposition for a great try. Another move sent Sarah
through the middle and down the right wing; the ball was recycled,
spun the other way & out to Carole on the opposite wing to touch-down.
Half-time: Luzern leading 10-5.
The second half started well again, we were exerting a lot of pressure
on Zurich & again moved the ball well out to Judith on the right wing
with the small amount of space she needs to score a try. 15-5 up.
The rest of the game passed in a blur of defensive work in our own 22.
We were giving away too many penalties at the breakdown & losing
concentration. The defensive effort was full of spirit, but sadly not
enough. After one penalty given away on our own 5m line, we did not
reorganize quickly enough and Zurich took a quick tap & easily dove
over the line for a soft try. 15-10 the lead.
From *another* penalty, Zurich took a kick to cut the lead still
further: 15-13. At some point during all of this we also received a
yellow card for repeatedly coming in from the side at rucks. From
*another* penalty, Zurich took a kick at goal which narrowly missed
the upright.
It seemed at this point that Luzern would hang-on for a hard foiught
victory, but from yet another penalty almost the entire team was
caught napping & Zurich easily executed a 3 man overlap to score the
easiest try to win such an important game. We had only 1 minute left
to try & construct a score & were unable to do so.
Final score 18-15 to Zurich. Our championship lost.
Angel of the Game: Esti – superb defensive effort
Devil of the Game: Angi – she didn’t play but having lost the game we
wanted to win the drinking
Zurich chose Judith as our player of tha game.
Tries: Judith (2), Carole
Next Saturday’s home game vs.Nyon is cancelled.