There were eye-catching results for two of the Army’s Senior Women stalwarts over the weekend.
On Saturday evening SSgt Jade Mullen (AGC (SPS)) marked her return to Harlequins by helping the team beat Saracens in the opening round of the Allianz Cup in Barnet.
Although the growth of the Premier 15s means that there are ambitious outfits across England, the London rivals remain two of the league’s most recognised outfits, and they put on an entertaining show for those watching in the stadium and online.
Harlequins opened the scoring in the first minute, but Saracens were not deterred, and the teams matched each other blow-for-blow until the final play of the first half, when a try for Harlequins gave them a 24-19 lead going into the break.
This became 31-19, and Harlequins continued to hold off Saracens until the final whistle, 36-29 the result.
Then on Sunday, Bdr Bethan Dainton (RA) started for Leeds Rhinos as they booked their place in the Super League Grand Final.
Leeds faced down the challenge of travelling to St Helens for a repeat of the Challenge Cup final, but this time the final result was to be different, even though Saints built up a 16-6 lead with half-an-hour to go.
But the Rhinos showed their character to go on and tie the scores to send the game into golden point extra time, and then the first try after the resumption of play to win 20-16.
“The players stuck together as a team,” said Head Coach, Lois Forsell. “When you get people who are willing to work hard and stick together it’s really powerful. The rugby stuff was better today, but it can be much better again, we’ve got so much potential. Our job is to take it up another level before the Grand Final.”
Leeds play York Valkyrie in the Grand Final on Sunday, October 8th, KO 1500hrs.
Words © New Dogs, Old Tricks
Header and featured images – Alligin Photography © Army v Navy Match
