• Day One Roundup

Tries Galore for Dazzling Devon

Devon women proved too strong for Cumbria, scoring nine tries to secure their County Championship victory.

The first try was started and finished by Devon winger Charlie Hopkin. She gave her team territory with an arching run down the wing. The forwards advanced and quick passing gave Hopkin the ball and she darted down the outside to score in the corner.

Cumbria responded with a wraparound ball between flyhalf Sarah Smyth and inside centre Lucy Branthwaite which was then passed to Lily Hodgson, who popped the ball back inside to put fullback Bethan Royd in the corner. Branthwaite added the extras from the touchline to give Cumbria the 7 – 5 lead.

The next try was started by Devon fly-half Mollie Pepper who made a break to get in the opposition's 22. She was brought down by Cumbria’s Bethan Lloyd, but Pepper popped the ball up to support runner Abby Woollett who scored under the posts and put the Devonians back in the lead.

Devon scored another in quick succession when prop Charlotte Gale powered over to extend Devon’s lead 15 – 7.

In the 35th minute, Devon prop Enya Surtees received a yellow card, but Cumbria failed to capitalise on their advantage.

After halftime, Devon struck first. They played the ball from out of their own 22 and Hopkin ran the length of the pitch to dot down under the posts. Surtees added the extras making it 22 – 7.

Devon's Phoebe Reed dove over from close range to score, which Surtees converted.

Cumbria’s penalty count mounted, resulting in Leanne Grave receiving a yellow card. Devon capitalised through two tries in two minutes from Number 8 Megan Heath, who ran two hard lines to score a brace bringing the total to 41 – 7.

Devon scored two more through a stunning individual effort from Chloe Huxter then a moment of individual brilliance from Pepper which brought up the half-century.

The final say of the game went to Cumbria when Hayley Hodgson intercepted a Devon pass and won a foot race to score under the posts.

The final score was 53 – 12 and Devon were the deserved winners of the Gill Burns Division 3 Final.

Devon battle past North Midlands

A commanding Devon men’s side proved too much for the North Midlands and the team from the south-west were 39 – 20 victors in the Bill Beaumont Division 3 Final.

North Midlands struck first. Scrumhalf Joe Carter box kicked from the back of a maul and the Devon defence let the ball bounce. North Midlands’s William Tanner hacked it through, and wing Tom Saddler had the pace to get to the ball first and bundle over the try line. Tanner added the extras to put them 7 – 0 ahead.

Devon began to test North Midlands’s defence in their 22 and eventually, the ball travelled through Devon hands until it reached winger Matt Crosscombe who crossed the line.

Fullback Joel Ashworth scored a penalty to put Devon ahead for the first time, which was followed by a Devon try from George Hillson. After collecting a kick in the backfield, Devon trucked it up and Robin Edbrooke made a dart for the try line. He was brought down just before the line but passed out the back door to put scrumhalf Hillson in. The conversion made it 15 – 7.

Thanks to two Tanner penalties, North Midlands went into halftime just two points behind.

After the break, Hillson got his second of the game through a weaving run that skipped round defenders. Ashworth extended the Devon lead to 22 – 13.

A penalty in front of the sticks from Ashworth made the gap 25 – 13 before replacement hooker Kai Allton picked up a loose ball and drove over the touchline with defenders hanging off him. The conversion was good, and the score was 32 – 13.

North Midlands brought themselves back into contention with a Sam Brown try. Callum Megram threw a long, looping pass to Matt Moseley who darted toward the line and offloaded to Brown. With the conversion, it was 32 – 20.

But Devon responded quickly with a break from Ashworth who passed to Rich Goldsby-West who then put Crosscombe in for his second. The conversion from the touchline was good and Devon ended the game 39 – 20.

Hampshire dominant winners against Durham

Hampshire women showed their strength to beat Durham 36 – 12 in the final game of the County Championships at Twickenham.

Hampshire started strongly through fullback Abigail Pearson who picked a hole in Durham’s defence and beat their fullback to dot down. Centre Rose Brown added the extras to give Hampshire the lead after three minutes.

After a sustained period of Hampshire attack, Brown found a gap to cross the whitewash and she converted her own try to make it 14 – 0.

Durham got one back through Tamsin Thompson. A tap and go from a 5m penalty was defended by Hampshire but Thompson’s carry from the breakdown couldn’t be stopped. Captain Marguerite Julia converted the try and the score was 14 – 7.

Hampshire’s third came just before halftime. The forwards punched towards the line and Carol-Ann Tennant picked up from the back of the ruck and drove over. Brown’s conversion hit the posts, so the score remained at 19 – 7.

Durham struck after seven minutes after halftime. A lovely pass from Jess Clabby to fullback Toni Robinson put her in a gap before she threw an inside ball back to Clabby for her to score. The tricky conversion was missed, and the score was 19 – 12.

Nina Hoadley and Cerys Ralph showed their pace to score Hampshire’s fourth and fifth tries, Brown converting both to make it 33 – 12.

Ten minutes before the final whistle, Brown added a penalty to make the score 36 – 12.

Then, Hoadley scored a try in the final seconds of the game. Brown converted impressively again to crown her team 43 - 12 Gill Burns Division 2 winners.