Sun 22 Oct 2023
A ton up for Launceston Ladies as they record their biggest ever win and continue
their impressive start to the season, beating Totnes Bluebirds 107-0.
Launceston seemingly had a point to prove never taking their foot off the throttle as
they ran in 17 unanswered tries against a Totnes team that brought a strong scrum
and never gave up.
Captain Mel Ruby got the scoreboard ticking as she profited from Launceston’s fast
pick and go game inside of 2 minutes. From the restart, Meg Tucker broke up the left
wing only to be dragged down by the last defender. A little bit of forward grunt
sucked in enough defenders to give Holly Williams the space to run through and
score her first try.
A scrum deep inside the Totnes 22 gave Launceston the platform to launch an
attacking set piece. Abbie Smith cut a line against the grain so clean she ran in
untouched. From here, The Cabettes fell into a pattern of breaking up the field and
offloading to the onrushing support. Rhian Thomas, Maddie Vine and Vicki Doidge all
made excellent yards up the field before finding Abbie Smith, Joey Sandercock and
Amy ‘Podge’ Warman respectively getting the scores with Meg Tucker finishing off
her own break to dot down in the corner. Scorer turned provider as Tucker linked up
with Holly Williams again with a cheeky offload to put her through for her brace.
HT: 50-0
Launceston could have been forgiven if they slowed down the score rate in the
second half but with a number of fresh legs introduced at half time but The Cabettes
just kept coming. It didn’t take long for the legs of Meg Tucker to take her down the
right wing. She proved too strong and too fast for the opposition as she powered her
way across the line and in under the posts.
Totnes found good purchase in the scrums and at times put the Launceston pack in
a position they don’t often find themselves in, going backwards. But all that hard
work would be undone as a fumble in the midfield was pounced upon by Abbie Smith
with a clear run to the line. Launceston’s fast defensive line speed gave licence for
Smith to steal an intercept and again with open field in front of her she stormed to
the line for her fourth of the day.
Launceston’s confidence was growing fast and began to get inventive in their attack.
A chip in behind the defensive line from Williams was expertly gathered by Smith
before linking up with Joey Sandercock with some fine interplay eventually putting
away Jess Collings for her first try. From the restart, Anwen Wall powered her way
down the pitch before being dragged down by a couple of weary Totnes defenders. A
few phases later in the attack she produced another barnstorming run to set up on
the Totnes 5m line allowing Caitlyn to pick and score from the ruck for her try.
Totnes kept winning the scrum battle but were just unable to contain the Launceston
pack in the loose. Kim Upcott added a quick brace as she left ‘Kimbo’ sized holes in
the Totnes defence. Straight from the next restart Jenna Arnold decided it was her
turn to create a hole and burst through before offloading to Rhian Thomas who
galloped under the sticks.
The final play of the game saw league debutant for Launceston Oz Brazier make a
break down the right wing before being brought down by the covering defence but
she managed to get an offload away as she hit the floor. Plucked out of the air with
one hand, Abigail Matthews, determined to score, weaved around one defender and
carried another over the line for her try in the corner.
An excellent day with the boot from Holly Williams nailing 11 of the 17 conversion
attempts and ended with a personal tally of 32 points.
FT: 107-0
Launceston will take pride in that when they brought on their finishers the standard in
which they played did not drop and every player added something to the teams
performance. A huge credit goes to the Totnes team and coaches who fought and
gave their all for the full 80 minutes. Launceston’s next fixture comes in a week's
time as Bideford head to Polson Bridge to do battle in the cup.
Back of the Match: Maddie Vine
Forward of the Match: Caitlyn Hancock
Report by: Dan Pearce
