JERSEY RFC Women were handed a tough defeat last weekend, falling to Canterbury Women 58-19 in a hard-fought game away from home.
Despite a determined effort and a powerful first-half display, a short-handed Jersey were unable to contain a fast and skilful Canterbury side, who never stopped piling on the points.
One of the Jersey RFC Women’s coaches, George Thomas, praised his team’s efforts, but acknowledged the challenges they faced against a disciplined Canterbury squad.
“I thought the girls played very well given the less-than-ideal circumstances.
“We knew Canterbury would be tough, and we had a couple of players drop out last minute Saturday evening on top of our injured players.
“Despite the loss, I’m proud of the resilience the team showed, for them to adapt as well as they did really is a testament to them.”
The game started off with a bang and continued with a rapid pace through the first half. By the break, the score was already 31-14 in Canterbury’s favour.
The Islanders managed to stay competitive throughout the first half, with Kimberley Hacquoil and Seren Coombs crossing the try line.
Georgina Ruellan converted Hacquoil’s try, with Hacquoil herself adding the extra points for the second, keeping Jersey in the hunt going into the break.
However, Canterbury’s offensive power proved too much to handle in the second half.
The home side added another 27 points to their tally, courtesy of an excellent all-around performance, with tries from Alice Hayward, Lily Adams, Hannah Sandeman, Ella Jenkins, Lucy Relf, and Nicole Money.
Katherine Rutherford, who also contributed a try, converted three of Canterbury’s scores successfully.
Meanwhile, the Caesareans were seldom able to find their way through the Canterbury line, with Hacquoil being the only exception, scoring again to take her side to 19 points.
Thomas continued: “I thought the game was very well played by every one of the players, they did everything we could’ve asked for and they never stopped fighting.
“It was just a case that they came up against a very well-drilled side in Canterbury, and they had the experience where it counted.” he added.
The coach also highlighted some standout performances from the team in spite of the loss, citing Ruellan in particular, who was playing her first game in the fly-half role.
“Georgina had her first game out at number 10 and she was absolutely amazing. She controlled the attack, really organised the forwards and overall put in one hell of a shift.
“Kim [Hacquoil] in the back field as well. She had some excellent running lines for her tries.
“The entirety of our forward line – Nicole [Rodrigues-Magalhaes], Holly [Bertram], Ella [Vieira] – along with Jo [Shipton-Taylor] playing her first game at prop, they really set a platform for us to play from. So in terms of the game, they did themselves credit.”
With this result, Jersey’s record moves to two wins and three losses for the season.
Despite the recent string of losses, the team remains focused on growth and resilience as they look ahead to their next game at home against Heathfield & W Ladies, scheduled for 23 November at CoinShares Park.
In a concluding statement, Thomas remained steadfast in his resolve: “Moving forward, we are going to just keep looking to build on our principles, using the foundations we have given them so far, so that they can play the Jersey way.
“Everyone has now had a few days off, so tomorrow at training they can come back fresh and we’ll go from there.”
Jersey RFC Women [1-15]: Jo Shipton-Taylor, Ella Vieira, Holly Bertram, Abbie Syvret, Emilie Langlands, Nicole Rodrigues-Magalhaes, Lucy Hart, Seren Coombs, Bethan Hughes, Georgina Ruellan, Claudia McGuigan, Charlie Cornwall, Tina Davies, Stacy Benstead, Kim Hacquoil
Replacement: Abi Lappage
