Match Report: Sunderland W1 60-12 Newcastle W3

Team Sunderland Rugby Union W1’s dominated their first game of the season, as braces from Lillie Stamper and Rosie O’Rourke helped the side to an impressive 60-12 victory over Newcastle W3s at Hill View.

Sunderland raced into an early 24-0 lead, before Newcastle brought the score to 24-12 through Isabelle Golland and Isabella Todd.

At half time, the hosts fought back to lead 39-12, through tries from Sophie Fenwick, O’Rourke and Ella Thornton, before dominating the second half to claim their first win of the campaign.

In their first game of the season, Sunderland kicked off the game with strong runs powering through Newcastle’s defence – allowing Zara Flood to score to the right of the posts within the first ten minutes, followed by an unsuccessful conversion from Stamper.

The hosts extended their advantage when they capitalised on a loose ball, with Gabrielle Pedersen scoring from a strong run up the left side of the pitch, followed by another unsuccessful conversion from Stamper.

Fenwick kept the intensity with a powerful run and quick pass to Stamper – allowing the latter to go on and score directly under the posts, which she converted.

Sunderland’s Chloe Watson followed this with yet another try under the posts, which Stamper converted – giving the hosts a 24-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Newcastle fought back, with Golland and Todd scoring and Todd, following her own try, with a successful conversion.

However, the hosts added further to their lead, when following a scrum on the right side of Newcastle’s half, Fenwick scored to the left of the posts, after a pass from the scrum, but Stamper failed to convert.

Sunderland finished the first half strong with back-to-back tries from O’Rourke and Thornton bringing the score to 39-12.

They kept their momentum in the second half – scoring within minutes as O’Rourke’s strong surge from halfway opened up the Newcastle defence, before Stamper converted.

A Sunderland scrum saw Stamper retain possession allowing her to score directly under the posts followed by her own successful conversion.

The hosts added a further try from Calahan and conversion by Stamper to seal the 60-12 win.

Post-match, Team Sunderland’s Rugby Union Women’s president, Caitlin Gorman, said: “It’s a pretty good start, with a lot of our girls being brand new to the game, so it does a lot for their confidence and women’s rugby in general.”

When asked about how the training leading up to today’s game reflected on the win, she continued: “The girls put a lot of effort in in training.

“We’ve had good numbers, which is pretty new for us.

“Rebuilding from last year, there was a lot of girls who graduated, so I’m proud of the girls for doing well at training.”

When asked about how the new players are integrating within the team, she explained: “I think they’re integrating pretty well and they’re getting involved.

“From the game today, they weren’t shy about getting tackles in, which is usually the scariest thing to get in, but they can just build off the first game.”