Women’s rugby: Jersey go close to ending Canterbury’s run

Only four points separated the teams at the final whistle of thisNational Challenge South East South I fixture at a wet, cold and windy St Peter, with the division’s powerful and unbeaten joint-leaders Canterbury just holding on for a two-tries-to-one, 12-8, win after a scoreless second half.

Conditions were always going to play a big part and the early stages seemed to indicate that Canterbury’s bigger and stronger pack, with the wind at their backs, would be better equipped for an attritional game.

Jersey captain Laura Poingdestre kicked a penalty to give her side an 8-5 lead before the visitors struck back

Yet it was Jersey who drew first blood after eight minutes, with centre Rosie Corbett searing through the visitors’ defence wide on the right after possession was turned-over on the half-way line.

Captain Laura Poingdestre pulled the conversion just wide of the far post, but the number eight and captain was already driving her pack on well and it was their contributions in the breakdown and scrum that kept Jersey in the game throughout.

It was not, however, a day for the backs, with a combination of cold hands, wet ball and strong winds making handling desperately difficult.

But defensively, the ladies stood up to be counted . . . although, conversely, going lower in the tackle may have brought them what would have been a deserved victory.

Certainly, the powerful ball carriers in the Canterbury outfit proved to be difficult to stop – any hesitation in the tackle would be punished.

Referee Martin Holloway, who had an excellent feel for the game and the conditions, penalised Corbett for a high tackle on the home 22 line and Canterbury took full advantage, with powerful flanker Hannah Batley surging through several challenges to stretch forward and score by the posts.

Natasha Eastwood chooses her route forward with Katie Silva in support

The ‘easy’ conversion was missed as the wind blew Layla Little’s effort wide.

Corbett restarted the action and her kick down the middle forced a knock-on and offside offence from the visitors – an error that Poingdestre punished with a penalty kick that regained Jersey the lead at 8-5.

Much of the play was, as expected, in the Jersey half, but they doggedly denied Canterbury until Batley again was allowed to get into her stride on the half hour, the powerful forward offloading well for Charlie Barter to score by the posts. Little this time made no mistake with the conversion.

When the half-time whistle blew, few of the small but hardy band of spectators would have been anything but positive about Jersey’s chances, with the elements now in their favour, of overturning the 12-8 deficit.

Jersey’s inexperienced side are clearly coming on well and the improvements they are showing defensively and in the set-piece will serve them well for the remainder of the season.

Cara Mackay holds off the challenge of one of Canterbury's prop forwards

But it was, ultimately, a frustrating second period for Jersey; handling and passing errors denying them the try that would probably have been enough for victory. Credit must go to Canterbury’s well-drilled squad for continually being able to relieve the pressure with their big ball-carriers and – although denied further scores by Jersey’s stubborn defence – they ran the clock down well at the death to secure victory.

Jersey left the field with a losing bonus point, but their faces told the the story of a famous victory that got away in their final fixture of the year.

Coach Rhys Owen, was, however, upbeat about the day’s efforts: ‘The performance was really good – a couple of errors when we were on the attack in their 22 in the second half were probably all that prevented what would have been a tremendous win. The last few weeks we’ve worked really hard on the breakdown, especially the defensive breakdown. And there must have been six or seven turnovers out there today, so the training is really paying dividends.’

Cara Mackay, Elsa Moya, Beth Rosser, Anel Crowther, Kimberley Vallance, Sara Felton, Giselle Gosselin, Laura Poingdestre; Jade Knight, Kimberley Hacquoil; Tracey Da Costa, Estefanía Santos Barea, Rosie Corbett, Natasha Eastwood, Katie Silva. Replacement: Alice Bougourd.

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