Herts players contribute to a London & SE double

Players from the county were at the heart of a unique London & SE Divisional double over North Division at Luton RFC on Sunday.

A strong L&SE team containing five Hertfordshire girls - Alice Nee (Saracens), Sam Voyle (Welwyn), Claire Shutler (Saracens), Shira Kilgallon (Welwyn), Georgia Peedle (Welwyn) - were picked for their match. The L&SE team looked really up for the match from the kick off running the ball back strongly at the North, with Sam Voyle heavily involved. And it wasn’t long before the pressure saw the North defence sucked in and L&SE being able to spin the ball wide to score.

The L&SE tactics were to use the large mobile back row to take the ball up before spinning the ball down the backs. They were playing some good rugby moving the ball from touchline to touchline and having dominance in the scrums. Applying the pressure and dominating possession it wasn’t long before the L&SE again scored this time through the forwards and their captain. The North continued to tackle hard and started to test the L&SE defence with some good runs, but strong competition at the breakdown and good cover defence stopped any breakthrough. An interception by Claire Shutler in her own 22m saw her caught deep in the North half and although she didn’t score from that move excellent forward pressure saw her dive over from close range for a 15-0 half time lead.

The second half continued much the same as the first although both teams used their benches. L&SE were still dominating territory and possession and Shira was getting better ball in the second half to help herself to two tries and then Nina topped off the performance with a great solo try under the posts for a 32-0 full time score.

This impressive performance was more than matched by the senior Divisional With six Hertfordshire players in their squad - Hannah Casey (Tabard), Kat Brinsley (Old Albanians), Sasha Acheson (Saracens), Sonia Green (Saracens), Hannah Gallagher (Saracens), Simone Shepard (Old Albanians) - the Division completed their own "Grand Slam", beating North by 33-13 to complete a 100% record and lift the first ever women's divisional title.

The final table for the senior divisional championship looked like this:

P W D L F A Pts London & South East 3 3 0 0 67 30 6 North 3 1 0 2 66 75 2 Midlands 3 1 0 2 46 57 2 South West 3 1 0 2 46 63 2

The U18s are also unbeaten and will be favourites to lift their title at the Divisional Festival next month.