Keswick were caught a bit off guard from the kick off, with WB kicking with the wind behind them they made a determined start and took advantage of the Keswick lasses finding their feet in the first 5 minutes, resulting in a converted try.

The strength of WB’s forwards saw numerous strong rucks capitalised on and whilst Keswick defended hard and gained possession from some great jackling, they couldn’t seem to retain possession for long enough to get a good rhythm of play going. WB overpowered and scored their second try and converted.

Keswick didn’t let their heads drop and fought hard to make a come back right before 1/2 time, with Willow scoring a try from a well worked backs move. Against the wind she was was unable to convert.

Half time 14-5

An injury and illness saw us drop to 16 players up against WB’s 22.

The second half saw end to end competitive rugby. WB’s next couple of tries came due to sheer power and running in from depth to gain meters and despite strong defence from Keswick (and holding a couple of tries up) WB had that extra bit of fight and strength to carry over the line.

Keswick lasses had plenty of stamina left and although WB were able to field fresh legs, our trademark stamina and speed came into its own with the backs moving the ball quickly and accurately to allow Teagan and Willow to exploit gaps to score two more tries with Willow converting both.

Keswick had a renewed belief they could push on and possibly make a come back, but a few poor decisions in our own 22 and 1/2 lead to us giving the ball back too easily to WB and with fatigue setting in in the final 5 minutes, it allowed WB to run another two tries in.

I cant give a more detailed run down of the 2nd 1/2 as I was juggling subs and rearranging players accordingly, but I do know that every Keswick player gave 100% effort from the start to the very end of the game and therefore the coaches couldn’t ask for any more. The girls didn’t do anything particularly ‘wrong’ today, even the opposition and the Ref commented on their resilience and ability to move the ball well.

However, The coaches have identified a couple of areas to work on and we will address these at training and look to go confidently into our next league game against Penrith on Sunday at home.

Oppositions player of the match = Willow - for great conversions and speedy footwork on the wings.

Coach Ange’s player of the match = Caitlin - for being a work horse and ‘unsung hero’.

Coach Louisa’s player of the match = Megan - for playing one of her best games, despite feeling somewhat unsure of her own abilities.