Match report: Exeter Chiefs Women 41-10 Bristol Bears Women

Exeter Chiefs Women scored seven tries and kept Bristol to just one try per half to secure a five-point win at home.

More than 1,700 fans turned out to watch these Westcountry sides go toe to toe and although Bristol seemed to start brighter, Chiefs were more than up for the challenge.

An early Chiefs penalty resulted in a scare for the home side as the ensuing lineout was stolen by Bears and the kick ahead went to Reneeqa Bonner to speed down the wing. Fortunately, the ball was knocked on as Chiefs scampered back to prevent the try.

Chiefs then had to defend a penalty kicked for Bristol’s first lineout and although the throw went over everyone’s heads, the Bears still found the space to advance. Bonner came close again only for lock Abbie Ward to knock on as the try-line went begging.

Chiefs’ second lineout and kick downfield were more successful. As Bonner ran the ball back up the field, centre Alex Tessier brought her down to get Chiefs into Bristol’s half for the first time. A charge-down kick gave Chiefs the possession they needed with full-back Sabrina Poulin going down the wing to get into Bristol’s 22. The forwards sucked the ball in to enable lock Abby Duguid to score her first try for the club.

Their second try came from a lineout too. Not the tidiest set-piece, but second row Linde van der Velden cleaned up to set up the drive. When Chiefs were awarded another penalty, they opted for the scrum and scrum-half Flo Robinson simply ran round from the back to make it 12-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Bristol wasted no time getting back into the game though. Another penalty kick for a lineout saw the ball then cross the field to winger Mille David who had a simple job to run over the try-line.

With more of the game being played in the Bristol half, Chiefs were keen to keep the scoreboard turning over, especially as their dominance at the scrum began to tell. Fly-half Liv McGoverne, van der Velden and prop Hope Rogers combined to put pressure on Bristol, but a knock-on halted their efforts giving them the scrum in their own 22. Never fear! Chiefs pushed Bristol off the ball and McGoverne ran in the try.

Another penalty and lineout situation saw Chiefs’ drive over the line to give the home side their bonus-point try though hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald to make it 22-5.

Half-time: 22-5

Bristol tried to hang onto possession as the second half opened but Chiefs soon had the ball back in their hands when a kick failed to reach David. Chiefs lost their first lineout of the half with the Bears’ scrum-half Kiera Bevan picking up the ball but also picking up an injury that stopped the game for several minutes. Local Kingsbridge RFC girl Tilly Ryall came on to replace her as Bristol set up the scrum and the penalty.

Fly-half Ruahei Demant kicked to touch for the inevitable lineout. The throw was caught at the front by Ward, then sent out along the line and through the hands, but play was halted for a high tackle by Poulin. Chiefs tried to defend a quick-tap penalty but, ultimately, centre Emma Orr arrived at pace to score.

When Bristol fumbled a ball in their own half, flanker Maisy Allen was quick to kick the ball ahead for Poulin to chase down and score. Centre Gabby Cantorna stepped up take the conversion and was successful to make the score-line 29-10.

Allen had definitely had her Weetabix this morning as she was heavily involved in the next two tries too! Her run into Bristol territory saw the ball eventually spun out wide to Katie Buchanan who made progress down the wing for Allen to get involved again to offload to centre Alex Tessier for try number six.

Try seven saw her combine with the ever-present Poulin with No 8 Emily Robinson’s offload seeing Allen slam the ball down over the try-line and McGoverne kick the conversion to make it 41-10.

Bristol kept trying to fight back but an interception from Tessier saw her run into the Bears’ 22 but she was penalised for holding onto the ball as she waited for her team-mates to catch up with her with Duguid first to arrive despite limping at the last breakdown. David had another go down the wing but ran into Poulin. There was no going through her today!

A satisfying win at home for Chiefs after two defeats at the hands of Bristol last season to put them into second place in the league, albeit before all other games had been played.

Full-time: 41-10

Exeter Chiefs Women: S Poulin; K Buchanan, A Tessier, G Cantorna (N Brennan 66), F Granzotto (M Flutey 66); L McGoverne, F Robinson (vc) (L Nye 72); H Rogers (D Swann 58), C Moloney-MacDonald (E Tuttosi 53), A Rule (D Menin 53), L van der Velden (L Whitley 71), A Duguid, D Wall (Z Dare 66), M Allen (vc), E Robinson (c)

Tries: Duguid, F Robinson, McGoverne, Moloney-MacDonald, Poulin, Tessier, Allen

Con: McGoverne (2), Cantorna

Bristol Bears Women: E Lovibond; R Bonner (J Joyce 53), E Orr, S Picton-Powell, M David: R Demant (L Skuse 74), K Bevan (T Ryall 45); H Botterman (S Pam 53), A Dale (H Pashei-Taraghoun 74), E Clarke (A Jah HT), H Cunningham, A Ward (c) (T John 69), C Balogun, J Herring (G Hopkins 66), E Gallagher

Tries: David, Orr

Referee: Henry Pearson

Attendance: 1,727