Dorking U16 Girls take on South London’s Finest
Waterfall Cup Round 4, 19th March 2023:
Richmond/London Irish/Battersea Ironsides U16G v Dorking U16G
An early kick off at Richmond’s ground on Mothering Sunday meant that the Dorking squad was somewhat depleted. We arrived with just 11 players, including precisely zero Props. This meant we had to quickly put together a front row (well done to Daisy and Robyn for stepping up to the task).
The mood in the team was good, the weather was at least dry and the team were ready to roll.
The game started with early pressure from Richmond’s pack, who had a significant physical size advantage over the hastily-assembled Dorking scrum. Richmond rucked quickly again and again and despite continued Dorking tackling, they edged closer and closer to the Dorking line. The pressure kept coming and Richmond eventually crashed over for the first score, with two added by their kicker. Not the best start from Dorking.
At this point, our 2, Lily, who carries the well known DRFC surname of Puttick, decided she didn’t like that, and she wasn’t going to let Richmond have it their way. Must be a family trait! Once the ball was in hand she battered her way through the Richmond defence to reach the line and dot down. We didn’t get the extras, so Richmond led 7-5. Clearly having enjoyed the experience, Lily then did the same thing again with her next touch of the ball, this time getting it down between the posts and kicker Laura didn’t miss her mark. 7-12 to Dorking.
From then on in, the team’s aura of confidence grew stronger and stronger. Try as they might, Richmond simply could not breach the Dorking line. All that tackling practice at training was paying off, as the Dorking girls, every last one of them, stuck in tackle after tackle after tackle, frustrating the Richmond girls at every turn.
We had lots of big carries from the pack of Robyn, Lily, Daisy, Immy and Eva, with the ball being efficiently offloaded and fed quickly out to the backs by 9 Harriet, with Laura at 10 adding good carries, solid defence and fast ball on to the dynamic red-headed duo in the centres of Grace and Bethan, who again carried well, defended relentlessly and ensured the ball got wide to wingers Gracie and Flora, who both played their roles pushing the attack wide and defending solidly. The way they all gelled together as a team was fantastic for us as coaches and parents to watch… Every single one of them played their red-and-white-striped socks off.
Tries followed for Immy (4!!), Laura and Harriet, with 6 of the 8 tries converted.
Final score: Richmond/Irish/Ironsides 7 - 52 Dorking
Dorking player of the match: Gracie
