Match report: Gloucester-Hartpury 15 - 21 Exeter Chiefs Women
Caroline Moore at Kingsholm Stadium
Exeter Chiefs Women took home four points from a precious win at Kingsholm to move up to second place in the PWR.
At first, it looked like the usual story was going to play out at Kingsholm – or Queensholm – when a Gloucester-Hartpury lineout, 15 metres out from Chiefs’ try-line, resulted in a solid drive that released winger Carys Williams-Morris for the early try.
Some high ball ping-pong between fly-halves Liv McGoverne and Millie Hyett secured the first lineout of the afternoon for Chiefs, taken by captain Poppy Leitch. Chiefs’ backline then went looking for space but it was prop Mikiela Nelson who burrowed over from close quarters to score on her first PWR start. McGoverne successfully kicked the conversion to take a 5-7 lead.
The lineout proved lucrative again, just minutes later, when Leitch’s fingertips hung onto the throw before sending the ball out to prop Flo Long and lock Niamh Orchard to combine for some hard yards. It looked like Nelson might get her second, but this time hooker Clara Nielson took the five points. With McGoverne adding the extras, Chiefs pulled ahead 5-14.
The Gloucester-Hartpury lineout began to wobble at the start of the second quarter with Chiefs able to steal ball in their own 22 but they were unable to capitalise even when lock Gwen Crabb was shown a yellow card.
For the last 10 minutes of the first half, Gloucester-Hartpury began to show why they are double champions of this league. A nifty lineout move sent hooker Amy Dale down the wing to bring the home side within touching distance and it looked like an easy run-in for Hyett, but the referee pulled both sides back for a forward pass.
A more solid home side lineout finally allowed Dale to grab the try she had been seeking minutes earlier. This score was converted by Emma Sing, who also took a penalty just before half-time, to make it 15-14 at the break.
Half-time: 15-14
The second half was a tense affair with just one try dividing the winners and losers. Chiefs defence held strong for the entire half despite numerous attacks on their own try-line.
The scrum gave Chiefs the upper hand at times with WXV returnees Charli Jacoby and Linde van der Velden adding their experience and fresh legs off the bench to aid the effort.
When Chiefs pushed Gloucester-Hartpury off the ball in the scrum in the 55th minute, it looked like Maisy Allen would score but the visitors still had a penalty opportunity in their pocket. A safe lineout throw from Cli Moloney to Orchard resulted in a punchy drive that almost saw Ebony Jefferies over then Jacoby…but ultimately, Nelson took the spoils with Sisilia Tuipulotu picking up a yellow card.
A break from Beth Stafford got Gloucester-Hartpury back in Chiefs’ 22 and Flo Robinson was saw yellow to bring the teams to 14-apiece.
Excitement mounted as Sabrina Poulin sped down the wing, only for the Canadian to have to retrace her steps and put in a big tackle on Sing as possession went the other way. Sing just would not sit down! It took three tackle attempts to halt her next run, but still no score.
Chiefs' defence had to be immense in the last 10 minutes as Gloucester-Hartpury tried to claw back some points…and they came close. However, as the clock slipped into injury time, the home side were penalised for holding on and it was time to slow the game down.
A Chiefs lineout on halfway saw Jefferies carry over the 10-metre line with Demi Swann and Allen in hot pursuit before Gloucester-Hartpury were penalised for holding on. The final play of the game saw McGoverne miss the kick, but it did not matter as Chiefs had still taken the win.
Full-time:15-21
Exeter Chiefs Women: M Doidge; E Sinclair, N McGillivray, G Cantorna, S Poulin; L McGoverne, F Robinson; M Nelson (D Swann 67), C Nielson (C Moloney 46), F Long (C Jacoby 46), P Leith (c), N Orchard (L van der Velden 57), E Jefferies, M Allen, E Robinson
Tries: Nelson (2), Nielson
Cons: McGoverne (3)
Yellow card: F Robinson
Referee: G Selwood
