With clear skies and the sun shining it was a perfect day for rugby with Oxford University Women's 2nd team making the long trip down to south London for a much anticipated home development game, writes Development Captain Rosie Carr.

Excitement was high in the Streatham-Croydon camp with debuts from newbies Coco Briden and Anna Gates in the back row. Chichester University was well represented in the team as always and added another element of youth and energy to the team.

The game was kicked off by Streatham-Croydon and a big chase kept Oxford in their own half for the first quarter. Some huge hits from flankers Juliana Boateng and Coco held Oxford at bay but an inexperienced backline couldn’t stop a number of breaks from the Oxford backs with the opposition testing our try-line defence and ultimately coming away with a try from a pick and go over the line. Shortly after a turnover close to the Oxford 22 led to another breakaway try for the away team. Despite this Streatham were starting to find their feet defensively with new half back pairing Rosie Carr and Phili May getting some order into the rucks and forwards pods, the scrums proving consistently too strong for Oxford and some excellent exit play from fullback Dani Reynolds. With the half-time score standing at 0-10 Streatham were not demoralised and felt confident that the second half would prove more fruitful.

The latter part of the game saw Streatham really come into their own, dominating possession and more organised in their defensive line. Losing new debut forward Anna Gates to an ankle injury was a blow but first-team regular Mel Anderson stepped in to bolster numbers, adding some confidence and experience to the pack.

Streatham’s first try came from fullback-turned-hooker Ana O’Connor’s lovely crash line off the ruck just outside the Oxford 22, showing off both her speed and strength with Oxford’s defence unable to bring her down. With sustained pressure from Streatham continuing it was only a matter of time before Mel Anderson got our second try from a pick and go over the line.

With spirits lifted and two tries apiece Streatham could smell a victory in the air and no one could contain the celebrations when Ana O’Connor’s wonderfully placed exit kick from the Streatham try line bounced in and was masterfully picked up by Chichester University player Rain Robinson, who outpaced the Oxford backs to run 70 metres and get her first points for Streatham.

Final score 19-10 victory for Streatham-Croydon, a huge result for the well-supported ladies development team. And with two more development games in the diary before the season ends there may well be further success in the pipeline.

Next Saturday 16th February the ladies first team will play Championship South West 2 team Wimbledon RFC in the Surrey Cup (away).

Forward of the match: Juliana Boateng
Back of the match: Rain Robinson

Scorers: Ana O’Connor (1T), Mel Anderson (1T), Rain Robinson (1T), Dani Reynolds (2C)