19 May 2010
by Wang Shao Ing
pictures courtesy of Hana Haron and Swalk
Anyone who has been watching the last 2 weeks of the Guinness Singapore Rugby Women’s XV 2010 must be kicking themselves if they had hedged any bets based on last year’s results.
The teams go into the 3rd round of the GSRW XV’s with SRC trailing behind Bucks who are 2nd in the table (two places up from where they were last year) and a loss this weekend by Blacks or Bucks will leave the two spots in the finals to be decided by point difference and at this stage, the competition is still open.
Blacks
Blacks' set pieces have suffered this season with the loss of 5 of their senior forwards to injury and unavailability in every department from the tight five to the back row as well as their scrumhalf Aslinda Abdullah. No.8 Tan Hui Juan, assisted by the return of hooker cum flanker Gina Tan, has had to bear the mantle of guiding the rookie forwards who have been playing opposite much bigger packs the last two weeks.
Despite the above and scoring 71 points less than last season at this stage in the competition, Blacks have come out with two wins out of two. Blacks have a chance to seal their finals placing if they are able to match the SRC forwards and get quick ball out to standoff Eunice Tay who may release the fury of her backline who have been doing the right things at the right times so far.
Bucks
With the return of Rebecca Lewis, Lena Brantmark and Kami Valentine to the side for this season, Bucks are heading for the finals at full steam. Lewis and Brantmark have undoubtedly been key to Bucks success, punishing their opponents with every lapse in defence and covering every break in the opponent’s attack.
The Bucks forwards have also seemed to have found their rhythm and have made up for their inexperience by playing their hearts out every weekend. Their off field camaraderie reflects on their on-field play and Bucks have moved forward for it. Bucks should be shoo-ins for the finals unless RSC backline up their game.
RSC
Despite the slide in their rankings at this point, RSC have closed the gap on the point difference, registering a 62% improvement on last year’s scores. Traveling away without a full bench last weekend, they threatened to cause an upset against SRC but lost focus and fitness in the second half.
Their feisty and heavy pack are no doubt the strength of the team securing steady and consistent possession from scrums. They lost possession in lineouts to SRC’s Sophie Gollifer last weekend and must figure out a way to get past Bucks’s lanky Kami Valentine. This has been made difficult by the disciplinary proceedings based on a citation by SRC against one of RSC's lineout jumper's, Aki Loh, for kicking during the Round 2 game on Saturday. RSC will nonetheless find equals in the Bucks pack in Kuala Lumpur this weekend and must contain the Lewis and her in-side back partner, Brantmark, if they hope to win this game.
SRC
SRC mark the biggest variance in terms of points scored and conceded this season and the last. They were short of three starting forwards in their first game and the loss of Phin Lee in particular is significant as the pack operates without a 2nd lineout option and a workhorse at the breakdowns. Notwithstanding, SRC still have a heavy pack with several experienced operaters and are capable of dominating the scrums and lineouts against any other pack in the league.
The SRC backline have felt the loss of Angelina Liu and may lose Wendy Chia for this weekend from an injury sustained in the RSC game. Against the Malaysians, the SRC backline had not capitalized on the possession provided by their pack with their first phase attacking play easily contained by drifting RSC defence. They will need their backline defence to be at their best, their attack to be firing in all cylinders and their pack to be in full song this Saturday if they want to cause and upset and have a shot at the finals.
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