The Saint
Dundee women prove too strong for Saints
ST ANDREWS WOMENS 3RDS 0 - 27 DUNDEE WOMENS 4THS
Siobhan Dooley
Photo: Jake Threadgould
Despite concerns the frozen pitches would prevent more rugby games from taking place (whats new?), a last-minute venue change allowed the much anticipated top 16 BUCS knockout match between the Saints WRFC and Dundee University on Wednesday 3rd March to go ahead as planned.
Although it has to be said, this fortunate turn of events resulted in this reporter trekking around St Andrews in search of the elusive Saints WRFC and their rivals. They were however found before the full time whistle was blown. Although having missed the greater part of the game, the last quarter spent doggedly defending the try-line provided sufficient reason to believe that Dundees victory of 27-0 is not at all reflective of what happened on the field that day.
Arguably, the Saints WRFC and Dundee University represent the best of womens rugby at university level in Scotland. As would be expected, this generates great rivalry between the two sides, always resulting in contests that bring out the best in both of them. On paper, the teams were evenly matched with several games a piece to their name. The Saints had the advantage of playing at home where they had not yet lost a match for three years running, but Dundee coming off the back of a highly successful BUCS season were yet to be defeated. A brusque encounter between the two sides earlier in the year saw St. Andrews defeated 31-18, but this had no bearing on this fixture. This one was up for grabs.
As the match kicked off, the Saints strategically kicked for territory, simultaneously placing the ball squarely in their opponents 22 and making it very clear they intended to dominate the run of play from thereon. For the first twenty minutes, the Saints had the lions share of both possession and territory.
However, as the game progressed, their failure to turn their advantage to points proved fatal as Dundee were able to exploit the gaps in their defence, resulting in three tries against the run of play. These gaps would only grow larger as the players tired, and injuries took their toll.
Although upset that neither the halftime (17-0) nor fulltime score (27-0) reflected their efforts, the Saints WRFC intends to build on its performance thus far and looks forward to the upcoming Sevens season.
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