Blues women Hun-done
THE WOMEN'S BLUES rugby squad kicked off what they hope to be yet another successful season with a tour of Germany.
The first few days were spent working off the summer lethargy with a tough fitness programme, conducted on the golden beaches of the island of Sylt. But the girls soon discovered that though the scenery was idyllic, there was little time left to admire it.
However, some gruelling sessions stood them in good stead for their matches towards the end of the week against the national champions, San Pauli of Hamburg, and Hanover WRFC.
The first match, against the brown and white colours of San Pauli proved to be a tough opener to the season. The Blues had taken an inexperienced side to challenge the champions, using this tour as a valuable learning experience for those new to the game, or those hoping to be promoted from the second team.
It was little surprise that San Pauli took the match in their stride and the result was a crushing 55-0 defeat for Oxford. The formidable boot of the opposition fly half meant that the German side were continually able to penetrate deep into Blues territory. Their tenacity paid off as they breached the Oxford defence for their first try.
Oxford suffered a blow with the loss of their own fly half, the Swedish international Ulrika Andersson, through a knee injury. Full back Jacqui Street was given the task of leading the backs in Andersson's stead, a task she stuck well to. But despite a valiant fight, the Blues were never really able to get into the match.
Oxford were in action again the very next day against Hanover WRFC, but it was a newly invigorated and confident team that ran onto to the pitch in the early evening light.
After a slightly scrappy start to the match both teams began to settle. Oxford pushed deep into the opposition's half, aided by a number of breaks by outside centre Kate Whyte. But sadly the Blues were unable to convert this pressure into a try faced by a dogged defence of larger German women.
The tide of the match began to turn as the powerful Hanover pack started to dominate the scrum. Skilful defensive kicking by Street, gave Oxford some time to recover, but the determination of the German women paid off as they broke through the Oxford defence.
Some slightly dubious refereeing by the Hanover women's coach, and an overlap on the wing gave Hanover a further two tries. Oxford were unable to recover and in the end went down 20-0.
Plus points from the game included an impressive performance from Kulvinder Kaur. In her first ever game of 15s she put up a tremendous fight, and proved herself a force to be reckoned with. Kate Whyte was named player of the match for an outstanding performance in both attack and defence.
Although the squad was defeated in both matches, captain Karen Jones was pleased with the performance: "It was a steep learning curve for the girls, many of whom were very inexperienced," she said.
"We played against two sides who had been training over the summer and each had a fair sprinkling of internationals.
"I am delighted with the way our girls played, especially against Hanover, and it shows great promise for the rest of the season,"she added.
12th Oct 2000