5/15: Lions vs Philly
Posted on Monday May 17th, 2010 @ 05:26:01 pm

Saturday the 15th of May, the Leonas traveled down to Philadelphia to play the Philly women, who will be in their divisional bracket in this fall’s league play. The weather was gorgeous, not too hot, with blue sky, and the grass field had only a slight slope and real uprights. Between the regatta taking place at the same park as the game, and the fact that it was Philly’s friends and family day, the mood was festive, and the Lions seemed ready to play.

From the first play, it was clear that Philly’s greater size in the pack would prove a decisive edge. Perhaps they were also thinking of Ruggerfest a few weeks before, when the Lions had beaten their tournament squad, and were anxious to prove themselves. In any case, Philadelphia came out and played with speed and conviction.

Two quick scores went unanswered, and the Lions knew that they were in for a long day. The big girls were difficult to tackle high, and the Lions had trouble adjusting their tackling style during the course of play. Philly’s forwards made nice crashing runs around the breakdown, and their ruthlessness at the rucks meant that they kept possession the majority of the time.

Near the end of the first half, the Lions answered back with a try. Awarded a penalty near the 30-meter mark, the forwards ran two punches to the strong side, sucking in defensive players and retaining possession. Scrumhalf Becca Asser then spun the ball out to the backs, and a nice little juke by outside center Jackie Finlan put her through to the try zone. The conversion kicked bounced off the post.

The halftime talk was encouraging, and the Lions decided to focus on setting up the post defense as quickly as possible and on tackling low. They also decided to eat more steak and grow at least 3-4 inches taller each, but those were the long-term goals.

The Lions didn’t roll over, but Philly’s size, skill and persistence paid more dividends in terms of the scoreline. Their pack had one impressive try where they drove a lineout maul in for a try from about 15 meters out. The Lions defended gallantly, although not everyone adjusted their tackling technique effectively.

Those who did re-focus on their tackling performed admirably, like outside center Alia Kate, who was fearless against the larger forwards. Woman of the Match Collins also did some impressive tackling; taking down Philly’s monstrous tight-head prop a number of times. The referee also tacitly acknowledged the size difference when she said to the Lion’s pack at large, “it’s possible to get her down, just remember to go low!”

Major props (heh) go to Silent Force Taryn Goodman, who was up against the tighthead prop all day, and, along with her usual reliable play in the loose, held her ground in the scrums for the full 80 minutes. She said, “Their pack was very strong, every scrum-down was very challenging.”

At the end of the game, Philly had run in 7 tries to 1 for the Lions, and although there was no doubt that the Lions had played bravely and with heart, the team was aware that they will have to be able to change tactics to effectively play (and win!) similar games in the future. Coach Mary addressed this succinctly in post-game wrap-up: “They were bigger than us and going low, and we’re smaller and trying to tackle high; it’s not a good combination.”

Score: 5-39

Try: Finlan

Lions team: 1 Goodman 2 Harmon (Wiedaseck) 3 Rogers (Fischer) 4 Cardwell (Salem) 5 Houser (Cardwell) 6 Warren (Fisher) 7 Stanley (Beck) 8 Collins 9 Asser 10 Dacres 11 Colman (Stevens) 12 Martschenko (Finlan) 13 Finlan (Kate) 14 Nishimoto (Mulder) 15 Landry (Okamoto)