Surrey away 17 - 12 win

Playing an away game at Surrey sports park (amazing facilities - KCL take note!), we had not realised quite how much effort it would take to get the whole team just from the train station to the grounds (not helped by the rarity of bus services!) This meant warm-up was pressured and brief, it seemed like we only had time to take in the amazing facilities before it was the whistle was blown to begin.

In particularly windy conditions we kicked off with the wind in our favour, and dominated the first 10 minutes of the game in terms of possession, but Surrey managed to capitalise on a badly secured ruck and steal the ball only to score it directly under the posts and convert it. Following this we had a slump of confidence where our Captain Jenny had to go off due to a groin injury, our Scrum Half Helena got badly squeezed in a ruck and our defensive line was a mess. Surrey scored a second try but didn't managed to convert it.

Towards the end of the first half we seemed to regain our confidence in attack and the forwards put in a massive effort in the scrums and forwards balls which led to Georgina finally getting it over the line in the right corner. Sara kicked the conversion which was slightly unclear if it was inside the uprights, but the ref wasn't looking as was neither team so that remains a mystery. Points were not awarded though.

Going into the second half the forwards were getting slightly greedy with the ball, to the point where Lynn who stepped in as Captain had to tell them off for stealing Helenas ball. We dominated the majority of the second half in terms of possession, but didn't manage to actually turn any of it into points for a long while. After a brilliant breakaway run by No. 8 Liz to the left corner and a subsequent scrum in the same corner she was held up by Surrey from an 8-pick. In the next scrum we got held up again by Surrey, who to their credit had an incredible defence on their try-line, and kept making us work for it. Finally Liz got her try in the left corner, after a gruelling 15 or so minutes on their try-line. Sara kicked for a conversion that flew off the tee by the wind bursts twice before actually being able to kick. No points. 

We continued to pressure Surrey in their 22 with plenty of forwards balls combined with centres crashing it. Finally Sara managed to squeeze it over the try-line next to the posts after a pick up from behind a ruck only a few metres off the try-line. Mia kicked the conversion and comfortably cleared the posts.

Towards the end of the second half Surrey regained momentum and kept the pressure on in our 22, but we managed to keep the defensive line straight and everyone made their tackles. When we turned over the ball we didn't make much ground but was able to keep it safe with forwards balls until the whistle blew. 

(Also shout out to the fact that when buying a pint (any pint) you get a FREE BURGER at their sports facilities!)

Forward of the Match - 
Back of the Match - Ana
Opposition's Man of the Match - Liz C.
Dick of the Day - Liz C.