JERSEY RFC WOMEN welcomed back their captain Katie De La Cloche on Saturday for her first game back after a long injury stint, but it was not the homecoming she would have wanted, as they went down 53-0 away at Medway Ladies.
On a boggy surface, Jersey struggled to implement their fluid attacking style of play, and were made to pay by a strong Medway outfit.
Skipper De La Cloche said post-game: “This one didn’t go our way today unfortunately.
“The conditions were not great for us and Medway started really strong.
“We arrived pretty late to the ground so it was a bit of a rush getting ready, we didn’t have too long to warm up.
“I thought they defended really solidly and had some strong attacking phases and I thought we showed our promise, too, but we just weren’t able to make it over the line.
“I thought Willow [Le Luan] had some brilliant forward carries, with Holly [Bertram] and Ella [Vieira] dominating tackles throughout, which really drove the momentum for the rest of the team.
“There were lots of scrums and in difficult conditions, it was challenging to build strong platforms.
“Andi Vaughan also had an outstanding game coming back from injury, as well as Vanessa [Kruger] debuting as part of the pack.
“We also had Lucy Kendrick as one of our newer players, she had a stand out performance at full-back with some phenomenal tackles to earn an easy title as back of the match.
“Despite the scoreline, we all kept our heads high and we played well despite the touch conditions.
“It’s a disappointing result, but we will be back in a couple of weeks and will look to take the learnings from this game and continue to push on with our development as a group.
“We have so many new faces in the group and this is such a developmental period for us as a squad.
“But we fully back ourselves, everyone is pulling their weight and adjusting to their roles superbly and the togetherness in this unit is never in doubt.
“We’re excited to come back home now for our next game against a strong Canterbury side and show our home supporters what we can do and produce a great performance.”
Jersey RFC Women are back in action at Coinshares Park on 23 February against Canterbury Women, scheduled for a 12pm start.
There will be a match day lunch after the game, with the clubhouse open for the Italy v France Six Nations contest.
JRFC Women’s squad: [1-15] Beth Rosser, Ella Vieira, Holly Bertram, Georgie Keens, Anel Crowther, Willow Le Luan, Andi Vaughan, Kerry Bisson-Mercury, Bethan Hughes, Taye Boakye-Yiadom, Abi Lappage, Stacy Benstead, Kate De La Cloche (c), Rebekah Troy, Lucy Kendrick. Replacements: Hannah Le Moignan, Vanessa Kruger, Morgan Carter
