The Army Senior Women may have been on the wrong end of a 24-20 result away to Leicester Tigers on Saturday, but Head Coach WO2 Sarah Mitchelson (RLC) and captain SSgt Jade Mullen (AGC (SPS)) were still making the most of the experience against the Championship 1 North champions.
The Army’s opening 40 minutes were superb, strong defence and imaginative attack rewarded by three tries from Maj Chantelle Miller (AGC (RMP)) (2) and Bdr Bethan Dainton (RA).
However the Tigers, unbeaten throughout the season so far, showed their championship-winning calibre after the break, turning on the power and accuracy to score 24 unanswered points, which in turn made Sgt Louise Dodd’s (QARANC) late try a consolation.
“I couldn’t have got anything more out of the game, it was ideal for us,” said WO2 Mitchelson. “It gave us everything – highlights, lowlights, and then what do we do about it when we aren’t doing so well.
“I’ve never seen us play so well in the first 40 minutes. We really executed our game plan, especially our kicking, which we’ve been really hard trying to progress. And defensively we were on the ball.”
WO2 Mitchelson acknowledged that the Army may well have surprised the Tigers in the opening 40 minutes, but that the second half on the back foot taught plenty of lessons.
“I think we did,” she added. “They beat the RAF 41-7 the other week and I don’t think that they were expecting what we brought out of the blocks.
“We did let ourselves dip in the second half, but we did find a way back into the game with players all over the place, which was good.
“The final try was good, and then we thought ‘we could do this here’. Maybe if we’d been able to score a bit earlier then we probably could have come back to get a winning try.
WO2 Mitchelson also said that it was vital that Leicester agreed to the fixture so that the Army had the opportunity to play a competitive 80 minutes before they face the RAF.
“Without Tigers we wouldn’t have had a fixture, and we struggled to get a fixture at this stage. We wouldn’t have been in half a good as a place as we are without the game.
“It’s also good for our girls to see other girls play club rugby. Both ways it has its positives, as players can get recruited into the Army and our players can get recruited into clubs.”
SSgt Mullen added that from the players’ perspective there were plenty of positives to be taken from the 80 minutes.
“It was fast, physical, and Leicester really challenged us,” she said. “It was good to finish with a game like that before we play the RAF in two weeks’ time.
“I’m proud of the girls and their work rate. Our training camp’s been good this week. Myself and Bethan have really focused on team cohesion and getting that right, and it showed in the game, especially the first half.
“Playing on the artificial surface was really important as well. It’s a much faster game, and for players who’ve not played on artificial pitches it’s important to get the feel of the game and what it’s going to be like.”
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Words © New Dogs, Old Tricks
Header and featured image – Alligin Photography © Cat Goryn
