Women’s Rugby Bring Back the Silverware

In the final game of the season, Imperial needed a win against Kingston to successfully defend their LUSL title. The weather and train engineering works did not seem to be in the team’s favour but once on the pitch, little could stop Imperial continuing to play some magnificent rugby.

The game began with both sides looking pretty even. They were well matched in the forwards, with possession being kept by the attacking side through good supporting play around the breakdown. In a classic forward play from the maul, Heather Grant went over for a decisive try.

Eventually, Kingston got sloppy over the ball and were penalised on multiple occasions for not rolling away at the tackle. They didn’t learn from the quick tap penalty which allowed Imperial to gain forward momentum more than once and score.

Kingston clawed one back using the wind to kick into the distance and allowing their pacey wingers capitalise on the 50-50 balls. At half time, both teams had scored but Imperial led by three tries to two.

In the second half, Imperial put pressure on Kingston’s clearance kick which led to the most spectacular individual try by Clara Gago on the wing. She caught the ball just beside the try line on the 22 m line and held strong to break two tackles and score right in the corner.

Changing tactics Imperial opted to exploit their strong centre combination and pass out quickly in the backs. Inside centre Charlie Stephens crashed through to score a hat trick and was well supported by outside centre and player of the match, Carolanne Vouriot.

Imperial could’ve extended their lead if only they chose to pass out more and exploit the overlap from the wing. However, they kept moving forward thanks to supporting runs from forward of the match Kirsty Edward who followed up every break.

However, Imperial’s performance couldn’t be equalled with the final score at 58-10. Congratulations to the team to securing the LUSL championship again!