In a tight cagey affair between the Scarlets and Cardiff Blues in the opening game, it wasn’t until the 35th minute that the first points were notched up. Lleucu George with the break for the Scarlets in midfield, left her opponents scrambling in defence.
The Blues managed to secure the turnover, but a poor clearing kick gave the Scarlets backline room for fullback Delun Allcock to slice her way through to score to give the Scarlets a narrow 5-0 lead at halftime.
A quick pick up and drive over the line sent skipper Alex Callender over for the Scarlets’ second try of the game. George’s conversion extended the lead to 12-0.
The Blues then attacked out wide, Catherine Richards ran in for the line before a high tackle stopped her in her tracks. Taking the penalty quickly, Blues ran the ball out wide and good hands from the backs sent Rebekah O’Loughlin over for the Blues first try.
Keen to get back on the front foot, the Scarlets raced their way back into the Blues 22. With a penalty near the posts, George slotted the three points to increase the lead to 15-5 in favour of the West Walians.
With less than five minutes remaining, George took the game out of the reach of the Blues when slotting a penalty to ensure the Scarlets got their campaign off to a winning start.
Scarlets regional lead Daryl Morgan said, “We are thrilled with the win but more than that, we are very proud of the whole performance.
“We have a very young squad with the majority having come through our development programme over the last few years, couple with the international experience of the likes of Sioned Harries, captain Alex Callender and Lleucu George. Not only did they make a big difference on the field but they gave the young players the confidence to go out and perform. That is something we pride ourselves on is senior players bringing younger players on.”
In the second game of the afternoon, the Ospreys made early pressure tell when Lauren Smyth had no trouble breaking through the defence to open the scoreing.
RGC looked to answer back with a quick break out wide from Jess Kavanagh. Securing the penalty for the Ospreys not releasing, allowed Elinor Isaac to kick to touch deep in their opponents 22. But RGC’s attack was short lived, after a penalty for holding on handed possession back to the Ospreys.
Clearing out of their 22, the Ospreys made quick work from an attack and a run on her wing from Sasha Bailey, recorded the Ospreys second try of the game.
With momentum with the Ospreys, centre Ffion Bowen with a blitzing run made a break into RGC’s 22. A few penalties going against the North Walians kept the Ospreys firmly in control and Smyth eventually broke loose for the brace. Snowsil slotting the extras, took the Ospreys 17-0 ahead with 20 minutes on the clock.
Keeping on the front foot, a break from Ospreys prop Ruth Lewis kept play in RGC’s half. Looking for their fourth try of the game, Bowen made her second solid break of the game to go over the whitewash in the corner to put the Ospreys ahead 22-0.
The Ospreys continued to dominate and finished the first half strongly when Carys Phillips finished off a team effort to give the hosts a comfortable 27-0 lead at the break.
Scarlets’ Sioned Harries goes on the run against Cardiff Blues
RGC made a solid start to the second half to take play into the Ospreys half. With the penalties stacking up against the Ospreys, RGC looked to capitalize but struggled to finish off their chances.
Trying to conjure up an attack against the Ospreys, a turnover from Gwen Crabb and quick play out wide sent Lowri Norkett over for the Ospreys sixth try of the game.
Wasting no time in looking for try number seven, Bowen powered her way over the whitewash for the brace to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Fellow centre, Angharad de Smet joined her teammate on the scoresheet with a clear break in midfield to score under the posts only minutes later. Snowsil slotting the extras took the scores to 44-0.
Despite having a comfortable lead, the Ospreys were on the back foot as the game entered its final 10 minutes. RGC showed no signs of giving up despite the score deficit, and stormed their way into the Ospreys half looking for their first score. The penalty count began to creep up on the defending champions, with the referee having no option but to award Amy Thomas a yellow card for repeated infringements.
Keen to take advantage of the extra woman, RGC kept plugging away at the Ospreys defence, but the black wall held firm and kept RGC at bay. Struggling to gain any territory out of their half, the Ospreys defence was relentless against their opponents and instead, a quick turnover and pass out wide sent Norkett out wide for her second try to make the final score 49-0.
Scarlets host Ospreys on the Parc y Scarlets training pitch on Friday evening (7pm), while RGC host Blues at Rhyl’s new Ty Newydd Field on Sunday (2.30pm).
Daryl Morgan added, “The region have been very supportive of us as a programme for a number of years now and we are looking forward to playing at home.
“We are under no illusions of the size of the task ahead of us in facing the current champions – they fully deserve the accolade, but we will be ready for the challenge.”
