University of Cambridge 5

University of Gloucestershire 46

BUCS Premier South

Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club Women (CURUFCW)’s first BUCS Premier South game of 2017 was marred by a horrific injury to Cambridge’s Catriona Brickel, overshadowing an impressive performance from the University of Gloucestershire Women’s Rugby Football Club (UOGWRFC) on Wednesday afternoon. The Light Blues were comprehensively outplayed by 46 points to five by their opponents, whose raw pace and power outclassed their Cambridge hosts at the Cambridge Rugby Football Club.

The signs looked ominous early, as a scintillating solo run from Becki Pritchard saw her collect the ball inside her own half, race down the left wing past several Cambridge players and open the scoring with a try, which was converted with barely two minutes on the clock.

Very soon 7–0 became 17–0. A kick over the top allowed the dynamic Hannah Loughlin to race to the ball first and touch down Gloucestershire’s second try, while some more powerful running and effective passing from the visitors created an overload on Cambridge’s right wing that allowed Courtney Bishop to further extend the lead.

The Light Blues then began to rally, making some good inroads and completing a string of promising phases of play. It was in this context of Cambridge commitment where the match was brought to a sudden halt owing to a sickening injury to Catriona Brickel. As the centre attempted to engage her opponent, the collision and subsequent fall contrived to cause a distressing broken ankle.

Both teams were evidently shaken mentally as Brickel received urgent treatment from both sides’ physios. The 30-minute wait for an ambulance disrupted both teams’ rhythm and forced the referee to curtail the first half prematurely, such was the gravity of the injury. Helped onto a stretcher and carried away by the ambulance crew, the courageous Brickel made her way off the pitch amid universal applause from players and spectators, encapsulating the good spirit in which the match was played.

Following such a harrowing incident, it would have been easy for Cambridge to feel sorry for themselves, but the final scoreline did not do justice to what was a keenly contested half in which the Light Blues showcased some of their best play. Gloucestershire’s pace and power, however, was relentless, with their fourth try coming from some more unstoppable solo running, this time from Jess Elbeck, who, gathering the ball just inside her own half, burst through and touched down under the posts. More high-quality rucking and possession from the away side ended with Emily Sumner once more breaching the Cambridge defences and setting up Daisy Fahey for the fifth try, which was superbly converted by Loughlin. And a momentary lapse in concentration allowed Rebecca Trist to intercept a pass and race through all too easily to make it 36–0.

Nonetheless, Cambridge’s spirit and resilience were undimmed. Throughout the afternoon, the forwards were more than a match for Gloucestershire at line-outs and scrums. Plenty of good progress was made through the centre, only for some handling errors and Gloucestershire’s superior backs to offset Cambridge’s advances. Yet when the try came, it was undeniably fully deserved. More good work by Cambridge at the scrum earned sustained territory in the Gloucestershire 22 and initiated another offensive towards the try-line. Having been thwarted on several occasions, the breakthrough finally arrived when Laura Suggitt powered her way over the line to get Cambridge on the board.

There was still time for Gloucestershire to embellish the scoreline even further, though, adding two more tries before the final whistle. The second in particular was eye-catching, as Loughlin once again displayed her searing pace down the right wing, handing off two Cambridge defenders en route to sealing the match at 46–5.

Cambridge’s captain for the day, Nikki Weckman, reflected on a tough afternoon with Varsity after the game: “We were really hoping to put some pressure on them today, but we had a few really bad injuries, so I think that set us back a little bit. But I’m really proud of the girls for working through that.

“We just wanted to go out there and give it our all for Cat – that’s what she was doing when she went down with her ankle. So we didn’t want to let up at all because it would have felt like a disservice to her, so we just wanted to push on and work as hard as we could to do her proud.”

Gloucestershire’s captain Abi Walker was extremely satisfied with her team’s confident display, remarking: “Today was a great win for us all, I can’t fault any of the girls’ passion throughout the game. I thought we did incredibl[y].” On Brickel’s injury, she added: “It’s such a massive impact on the game, having to start and warm up again, and mentally the girls who are new to rugby have never seen injuries like that, I can imagine [how] it would be so hard. But we stayed professional throughout it, and in the end we just played really well – I can’t fault any of them.”

CURUFCW: Sanchez, Pierce, Nunez-Mulder, Weckman, Bramley, Probert, Elgar, Pratt, Byrne, Marks, Wood, Brickel, Burgess, Farrant, Suggitt, Shuttleworth, Spruzen

UOGWRFC: Haines, Jones, Grieveson, Davis, Wilson, Belcher, Elbeck, Trist, Godby, Fahey, Vallance, Walker, Bishop, McGlone, Pritchard, Stroud, Loughlin, Sumner, Dyer, Murphy, Gonzalez, Longdon-Hughes