After missing out on round 1 due to a forfeit, the Yass Ewes had a gutsy come-from-behind victory against the Bungendore Mudchicks on Saturday.
Down 17-7 at half time, the Ewes responded with a 17 to nothing second half finishing in front at 24-17, in what was an impressive first game for the side and even more impressive considering it was a debut to rugby for many of the ladies.
“It was excellent; girls stuck with it really well!”
“We defended really well in the second half and stuck to it. We scored two late tries to win the match,” said Coach Stephen Crisp.
Stephen couldn’t pick his best players, describing an even contribution across the board, epitomised by the five minutes they played undermanned in which they were able to prevent the Mudchicks lead from extending by holding possession.
“It really was the whole team; they were fantastic,”
“We had one girl in the sin bin for five minutes, and they managed to retain the ball for the whole five minutes, and this was when we were already 17-7 down,” he said.
Stephen said the Mudchicks were the best side the Ewes had come up against so far, and that standard took some getting used to for the Ewes girls, which was reflected in the first half score line.
“We hadn’t played a team that strong before, so it was a very good experience for the girls, and once they got over the initial shock of having to go with the pace of the game, in the second half when both teams were tiring, I think we handled it a lot better.”
“It’d be great if we could top the [ACT] country division, but that’s not an easy thing, we’ve got to travel to Jindabyne this week, and that’ll be very, very hard,” he said.”
Sitting atop the table in the ACT Country division, Stephen wanted the focus to be on continuing to improve rather than any end goal.
“I think we’ve got to keep our expectations realistic, but by the same token, I don’t want to limit the girls thinking in terms of what they’re capable of,” he said.
In other news at the Yass Rugby Union Club, the Rams fell agonisingly short, losing to the Cooma Red Devils.
The Rams boys struggled out the gate and paid the price for giving the home side an early lead.
“They managed well, kicked a few penalty goals and so forth, and we bombed quite a few opportunities.”
“We got impatient and tried to rush things, and it came unstuck,” said Coach Ian MacFarlane.
They made a late charge and almost looked like they were going to pull off a spirited comeback; however, it wasn’t to be, and they fell one point short at 20-19.
Ian said he’s been most pleased so far this season with the progression of the Rams youth and put the onus on the more senior players to lift in the coming weeks.
“Our young fellas are really standing up; they’re really doing a lot of hard work.”
“They’re the ones who are leading the way at the minute, and we need our older fellas to try to go with them,” he said.
The Rams are now 1-1 after their opening two fixtures as they head into a clash against the top of the table Jindabyne Bushpigs.
Both the Rams and the Ewes will make the trip out to Jindabyne next week in what promises to be a huge test for both sides.
Max O’Driscoll
