The Uni-Pirates continued their magical voyage with their second National League 2 game against Gai Wu Hawks in Happy Valley. The team suffered a blow before kick-off with winger Pricila Wang fracturing her finger in the warm-up. Gai Wu requested to have uncontested scrums during the match as they didn’t have enough scrum trained forwards – a frustrating situation for the Uni-Pirates who had a clear advantage in forward pack weight, but safety first.
Gai Wu took advantage of an uncontested scrum in the Uni-Pirates twenty-two to create their first try, scored by their fly half. A second quickly followed as the Hawks scored from a quickly taken penalty close to the Uni-Pirates try line. The Uni-Pirates played their way into the game using their forward strength and a ten-minute period of possession deep in the Hawks’s half finally paid off with a penalty five metres from the Gai Wu line. The Uni-Pirates forwards worked hard and drove hooker Kon Chan over the try-line for their first try of the season. Gai Wu used a long restart kick to pin the Uni-Pirates deep in their own half. Unable to clear the danger, Gai Wu scored a third try and then a fourth just before the half time. Half-time 30-5.
Gai Wu’s backs were pushing the Uni-Pirates defence hard and scored another try early in the second-half. Down, but not out the Uni-Pirates responded with some powerful forward play which was almost rewarded when Estelle touched the ball down, only to have the referee disallow the try for a knock-on. The uncontested scrums really favoured Gai Wu whose backs scored another long distance try. With fatigue setting-in for the Uni-Pirates, Debby was shown a yellow card for a high tackle. Gai Wu took full advantage of the extra woman scoring three tries.
An exchange of tries then followed as the Uni-Pirates strong forwards put together over 10 phases of play which finally released full-back Gloria Law who scored with a nimble pick-up before darting over the line. The Hawks responded, taking advantage of a line-out fumble to score another converted try. Back though came the Uni-Pirates as scrum-half Estelle Barbaroux continued her scoring streak taking a quick penalty near midfield and breaking through seven defenders to score close to posts. Looking for bonus point the Uni-Pirates pushed hard in the final minutes in an attempt to score a fourth try. Another line-out fumble though saw Gai Wu steal the ball and score another try in the games closing minutes. Final score 68-15.
Although the score looks lop-sided the young and in-experienced Uni-Pirates – a combination team of the University Unicorns and the DB Pirates – learnt a lot of lessons and scored some confidence boosting tries to show that there’s more to come as season progresses.
Uni-Pirates:
Forwards: Debby Cheung, Monica Aoko Ariwi, Florence Li, Imogen Dean, Joyce Leung, Kon Chan, Amoy Hugh-Pennie, Lai Ka Yan, Meg McGrath, Renee McCreadie, Julie Buddle
Backs: Sombo Sisay, Estelle Barbaroux (Captain), Cheng Hiu Yi, Bonbon Jan, Gloria Law, Sienna Stubbs, Celine Malunes, Keren Shahar Gafni, Liza Avelino
Tries: Kon Chan, Gloria Law, Estelle Barbaroux