High Wycombe Rugby Club

Captain's Foreword

(by Sam Akerman)

I am so proud of every single lady that played a part in our first league match of the season. We have been so lucky in gaining new players and Lisa Fitzpatrick and Jessica Crawshaw had their debut match! The whole team pulled together, bringing lots of knowledge acquired during the preseason sessions, I love that we we are gaining confidence in our own ability and not afraid to try new things. The rate of successful tackles is on the increase and that all down to the hard work, week in week out

Bring on the next game...

A new season in a new league, we're feeling good...

(by Louise Payne)

What a beautiful Indian summers day at High Wycombe Rugby Club - a fabulous day for the first league match of the season and we welcomed lots of home supporters. The heat made match conditions difficult, the ground was hard and the sun was shining, but that didn't stop us from keeping our work rate high.

London Irish arrived with the intention of gaining ground, pushing our scrum back and taking the wind out of our sails! 

Little did they know, we've been gaining skills, perfecting our game but most importantly believing in ourselves - we will not be an easy opposition, we will defend our ground and we will give our all, regardless of the result. 

The whole game saw powerful tackles by Harvey Kaur (Forward of the match), skillful control by Lee Danangher (Back of the match) and fantastic ball carrying, rucking and clear ball presentation - all skills worked on during the summer. Overall fitness had improved which meant the girls were arriving at the breakdown faster, which impacted on London Irish's ability to run around them. 

There was a wonderful use of space by the backs, they held their line and nerve when it was so easy to move in to help out. This meant that as London Irish pushed the ball to their backs, Wycombe was ready for them.

The second half saw the pace pick up as well as the intensity, hard tackles and a clear eye for the opposite number meant the Belles kept the threat to a minimum. 

We also saw new player Alina Neuser put in a solid performance, creative kicking from Evie King and pace from Katrina Bassick. 

Of course all games have highs - ours was Lisa Fitzpatrick's try -well done!

With thanks to the referee and coaches.