BUDE Women’s rugby team may only have formed last year but both experienced and new talent were selected for the 2018 Cornwall Ladies team, which took part in Pool Three of Division Two of the Gill Burns County Championship recently.
Eight Bude players — Hannah Pickard, Lydia Furse, Claire Onions, Rachel Shackleton, Nicole Rowland, Steph Prior, Frankie Perry and Emma Stefanotti — were selected for the county squad following tough competition at a trials weekend.
The three-match championship started on Sunday, April 29 with a difficult away match against Dorset and Wiltshire at Warminster, which resulted in a comprehensive 74-0 defeat for the Duchy ladies.
Spectators commented how spirited the Cornish players were to maintain composure and the final 10 minutes saw the most successful phase building of the game, with Cornwall turning over possession in their 22 before working their way up to just 10 metres short of the home line, but the whistle blew before they could capitalise on their strong play.
Launceston Rugby Club have welcomed the Cornish Ladies team with open arms and hosted the remaining two matches over the last two Sundays, which were both well attended by local supporters as well as the friends and family of the Cornish players from across the county.
The first home game was also the very first victory for the Cornwall Ladies, beating Somerset 37-12.
Bude’s top try scorer, Frankie Perry, got her name on the board with two lightning-quick runs to score under the posts, and flanker Nicole Rowland showed commendable energy considering the blistering 25 degree heat to cover ever blade of grass.
Cornwall took heart from the victory the previous week to put out a fantastic final performance against Hertfordshire, who admitted they had underestimated the home side.
The Duchy managed to score twice through captain Zeta Penrose, but the Hertfordshire side, who featured two Premiership players and an Irish international, ran out comfortable 47-10 winners.
Bude winger Emma Stefanotti was the standout tackler as she prevented players double her size from scoring, which is doubly commendable seeing as she only converted to the oval game from football at the beginning of the year.
To get involved with Bude Women ahead of the 2018/19 season, search ‘Bude Women’s Rugby’ on Facebook.
l CORNWALL’S men won’t be making it six consecutive trips to Twickenham in the Bill Beaumont County Championship as they lost 20-19 to old rivals Devon at Camborne.
The Black and Gold team, who included Cornish All Blacks inside-centre Jon Dawe on the right-wing, as well as former Launceston backs Fraser Honey and Jake Murphy and Bude’s Duncan Tout, who now plays for Tonbridge Juddians, found themselves 17-0 down at the break in a disappointing performance.
However a stirring second-half performance, which included tries from George Jones, Jake Murphy and Tom Notman wasn’t enough as a Tom?Putt penalty meant that Devon beat Graham Dawe’s men for the first time in eight years.