REPORT: Camberley 13 – 26 Ealing Jades 7th March

Ealing Jades played their first Game against Camberley Ladies this season. Due to injuries, both teams were slightly diminished but carried on regardless despite the lack of numbers.

Ealing started out well by attacking hard and fast but gave away an early penalty, converted to make it 3:0 to Camberley.
However, within the first 10mins Ealing had secured the  lead through a try by Abby Nduva at inside centre. Nicky Dent took the ball in and neatly drew the defender enough for Abby to take the inside pop (at the last minute) and attack the 12 channel. Camberley’s full back must have thought she was in for a try saving tackle when, after running the length of half a pitch, Abby began to slow near the try line just to tease the opposition somewhat but Abby had the try in the bag! Nicely converted by stand-off Tash Holmes.

Ealing, getting complacent by their first try, made a few mistakes in defence and allowed some line breaks to be made by Camberley. Their quick scrum half saw the opportunities and broke the line to score Camberley’s first try of the game.

Because of this, Ealing stepped up once more and in defence put the pressure on doing much better to communicate well and come up as a strong line. The pressure the Jades put on Camberley led to a string of mistakes and the quick thinking of forwards , Lindsey Irvine and Hazel Griffin meant that Ealing could steal the ball and make ground through some fabulous phases – driving over the gain ball line and allowing the backs time to re organise.
Some great support work by the forwards , Anna Willis and Vanessa Dixon meant Ealing kept the upper hand by securing the ball effectively.  This was further shown when winger Stacie Casciani took the ball way up into the oppositions twenty two, made a nice offload to Liz Garvey at scrum half. Being quickly pursued by the full back, Liz popped to Sharron Braddish who, in support as ever, put herself in the gap and carried the ball straight over the line beneath the posts. A well deserved try Bradders!! Converted by Tash Holmes.

The second half saw Camberley come back fighting. An unfortunate (and misinterpreted) quick penalty at the five yard line caught Ealing off guard and allowed Camberley to saunter over the try line once again. Nonetheless, this only spurred the Jades on more and within minutes, the ball was stolen back by (the likes of) Laura Kelly in the forwards who is showing massive improvement in the last few weeks!

The jades were putting everything they have learned this season into practice and creating space and using it! A pick and go at the scrum by Skipper Liz Garvey surprised the opposition and meant Liz was able to side step the opposition and finding HUGE gaps in the defence. Much to her dismay, this meant she had to run almost half a pitch to the try line with the opposition in full pursuit behind! Tash Holmes adding the conversion to extend the lead by 7 points.
The jades were continuously able to move further and further into the oppositions twenty two by running through some great phases and being patient to seek out opportunities and maintained the largest possession of the ball throughout the game. Accurate line outs by Sharron meant Ealing were able to get quick ball to the backs and although Camberley’s pack held a majority share of weight in the scrums, Ealing held up well and continued to retain possession.

With confidence high, Ealing continued to grow in strength. Clean ball from the rucks meant that Ealing were able to use get the ball out a number of times to our new member of the club – Justine who played on the wing. Despite her nerves, she showed great handling skills and she even wowed us with a few side steps and offloads! Well done Justine.

With good direction from Tash at 10, the backs were on form!  Tania at thirteen made some fabulous runs pacing out their centres and wings. Great to have you back Tania! A dummy option from Tania also meant that Abby was able to use her skills and knowledge to out pace the opposition once again by handing off the 12 and side-stepping the full back to score between the posts one more time.

Ealing played the best rugby they have played all season which is encouraging that the team is getting better and better by the week. Everyone put in the hard graft and the result finally came. When the whistle blew, everyone knew they had given their all and got what they deserved – a win of 26:13 to the JADES!!

Special Thanks to Mr Jade for keeping us on top of the details and Stefan whose patience with the girls remains intact somehow. Both of which we could not function without. Thanks also to guest coach Dave Steene for giving the women’s coaching thing a go too!

Man of the match went to Nicky Dent (F) and Tania (B)