Second placed Sydney University Women’s Rugby Club (SUWRC) have delivered competition leaders the Parramatta Two-Blues their first defeat for 2013, with a superb 22-5 win on home turf on Saturday.
The first half was dominated by strong defence from Sydney Uni, which eventually resulted in the first try of the game to Uni halfback and captain Fary Hayati. A series of mistakes were made due to some over eager and fast paced play. This led to several scrums against a heavy opposing pack that Uni was able to control and win, thanks to the technical prowess of the University front eight.
Uni went into halftime up 5-0, but soon after they stretched their lead to eight points after a penalty goal from Ashleigh Hewson. Parramatta were quick to respond with a try, but this didn’t faze the Uni backline (which included Ili Batibasaga who returned from her Rugby 7s World Cup plate win in Russia) who put together two tries – both scored and converted by Hewson. With the score moving to 22-5, Uni made a number of changes, most notable the introduction of USA squad member Katie Dowty and her sister Carol Dowty.
Post-match, several Sydney Uni players drove to Snape Park in Maroubra to support and cheer on the clubs youth players in the U18 NSW trials – Mikayla Baker, Ianeta Baker, Jade Fonua, Sera Naiqama, and Narmeen Mohamad. The future is certainly looking bright for the next generation of Sydney Uni players.
This weekend the blue and gold meet rivals Warringah at Rat Park to face off one last time before the finals. Uni has defeated Warringah both times they have met this season, but the Rats will be much stronger this weekend thanks to return of some key players. Warringah have a history of stepping up their game at the back end of the season and Uni are expecting a challenging match that will test experienced and new players.
