Litter Picking Round 2

The women of Holloway's finest rugby set out again to clear the streets of Englefield Green. With 8 players in hand they tackled several roads removing anything that was even slightly defined as rubbish was removed, items ranged from condoms to broken tables. A special shout out has to go to Ellie who was incredible with the amount of enthusiasm she put into the task.

After the team were kindly given either a burger or bacon roll, with a warm beverage of their choice by the Royal British Legion and so women's rugby send out a huge thank you for their generosity



They may have looked like they were doing community service in matching t-shirts and a policeman in tow, but it was a very successful day and had one resident of Larchwood Drive state that "I noticed some students on the village green having a clean up with bags etc this afternoon. Will you please pass on my thanks? Well done."

Yes Women's Rugby!

Written by Stephanie Searle

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Women’s Rugby Dominate and Destroy Again: RHUL 39 – Herts 15

Last time, RHUL and Hertfordshire met it was a tough fought match on both sides. Royal Holloway had turned up with fourteen girls and suffered two injuries in the first half, resulting in playing the second half with twelve players versus Hertfordshire’s fourteen, causing Holloway to lose by one try. This time the girls were determined to win and defend their home ground. Unlike the last match, however, Hertfordshire had only twelve players which allowed several of the Holloway’s newer players to switch on and off throughout the game. With a few George Orwell quotes from Joella Dawkes to get the girls in the mood they spread out to receive the first kick of the game. The game got off to a good start and within a few minutes Marissa Lowe (12) had broken Hertfordshire’s defensive line and made a sprint for the try line. Tackled just before, by a speedy defender, she managed to pop the ball to Allie Nelkon (10), who got it over to score the first try of the game. However, there was no time for Holloway to be complacent about their lead as Hertfordshire replied quickly with a try of their own. Another break away run from Marissa Lowe (12) lead to a further Holloway try, shortly followed by another from Tanya ‘Train’ Wilson (proving her nickname to be more than true). When Hertfordshire’s open-side winger once again made a break for the try line, from half way down the pitch, it seemed almost certain that they were going to get another try but Holloway’s Alicia Moses (11) chased her down and tackled her into to touch inches from the line, a fantastic tackle. The last try of the second half was also for Holloway and was scored by Lucy Fleming (13) who breezed past the opposition to score her first try of the academic year. With the first try converted by the team’s Captain, Joella Dawkes (9), the score at half time was 22-5.

Starting the second half, Holloway were hopeful that they could achieve a repeat of the first half but got off to a bad start when Hertfordshire scored a breakaway try. They then spent a good ten minutes, within their own twenty two metre line, defending (before eventually kicking the ball into touch and stopping Hertfordshire from scoring). Another try soon came from Marissa Lowe (12), converted by Heather Anning (3), but Hertfordshire returned straight away with one of their own. This was to be their last however and two more tries were put over the line by Holloway within the last fifteen minutes, the first by Alicia Moses (11) and the second by Lucy Fleming (13), both making fantastic runs. Overall,
Holloway played a very good match and thoroughly deserved their 39-15 win.

A few people who should be mentioned in particular are:
Man of the Match: Marissa Lowe
Forward of the Match: Heather Anning
Back of the Match: Lucy Fleming

As well as Alex Edwards and Kate Mellifont who both did very well in their first games.

Written by Allie Nelkon

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Women’s Rugby Qualify for the Quarter Finals of the BUCS Trophy!

Setting off at 1pm on a Wednesday afternoon, the girls of RHUL Women’s Rugby knew they had a tough game ahead of them. When the team had faced Sussex at home in the autumn term Sussex had been lying at the bottom of the table and the girls had beaten them 26 – 5 but since this Sussex had gone on to beat a number of higher ranked teams in the league. The fact that this game was away in Brighton meant that the team had to drive for over an hour to their destination and that the majority of the team were forced to change on the bus in order to make the 2.30pm kick off. We offer our apologies to anyone on the motorway that witnessed this rather chaotic event. To make matters worse, once the team arrived at Brighton Rugby Club they were greeted by frozen puddles and signs warning of adders. However, they all made it on to the pitch and the game started only slightly later than the 2.30 kick off. Holloway got off to a good start with a try quickly scored by Marissa Lowe (12), a member of the team that everyone was glad to have back after her recent trip to Spain. Due to a number of gaps in the Sussex defence, Holloway went on to score (with further help from Marissa) a further three tries in the first half. However, Sussex were not going down without a fight and had some very strong forwards which allowed them to put two of their own tries over the line in the first half. With all four tries converted by Heather Anning (8) and neither of Sussex’s converted, the score at half time stood at 28 – 10.

After half time Sussex came back with a vengeance, scoring the first and second tries of the second half and converting one of them. They were also narrowly stopped from scoring a further two tries when Holloway managed to hold them up past the line, a credit to the hard work of the forwards. Holloway responded with a further two tries, once again scored by Marissa Lowe (12), with one conversion by Captain Joella Dawkes (9) to bring the final score to 40 – 22. This means the team have successfully qualified for the quarter finals of The BUCS Trophy which has participants from all over the country. They will go on the face UCL on the 22nd of February in what is sure to be a challenging match.



Written by Allie Nelkon

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