It was the weekend Leicestershire Rugby Union had been waiting for. The County ladies had played and won all of their qualifying matches to meet Berkshire in the Gill Burns County Championship Division 1 final to be played at Twickenham having only been promoted this season.

Both teams were fired up and ready from the first kick off with Leicestershire coming under some early pressure due to the Berkshire scrum and conceding a few penalties in the process.

Berkshire won their own lineout in the midfield but were quickly put under defensive pressure from Leicestershire, pushing them back into their own 22m forcing them to kick. The high ball was caught by Eleanor Udall who passed the ball out wide through the hands of Philippa Balcombe and Daphne Fromes allowing Sarah Smart to get the first points of the game for Leicestershire. The try was converted for a score of 7-0.

The next 10 minutes saw a physical response from Berkshire, getting up to a body length from the line, but Leicestershire maintained composure under pressure, stealing back possession and worked their way back up the field. After some direct play in the Berkshire 22, Leicestershire shipped the ball out wide again for Sarah Smart to stretch her legs and get her second try of the match. 

Leicestershire’s next score came from another counterattack. A gathered kick by Sarah Smart gave her prime opportunity to run down the wing and clinically offload the ball back inside to Bryany Chalk who sucked in a couple of defenders before getting an offload of her own away to Danni Allen Solly to take the ball over the line. Sarah Smart added the conversion for a half time score of 19-0.

After a short five minute break, the second half commenced with Sarah Smart securing her hattrick early on after pressure on Berkshires lineout saw Charlotte Fray gather a misplaced kick, shipping quickly to Tash Jones who threw a miss pass out wide to Smart who ran it in from 60 metres, skilfully stepping around the Berkshire full back to score under the posts.

Berkshire came back after the restart and persisted to apply prolonged pressure for around 20 minutes until second row Annabel Hawkins broke through the defensive line to add points to the board for the opposition. 

The final ten minutes saw Leicestershire’s Danni Allen Solly score two more tries, reaching a hattrick of her own from short range, resulting in a full time score of 40-5. 

The score line does not reflect the game as Berkshire applied plenty of pressure throughout and it is a testament to Leicestershire defence that they did not cross the line on multiple occasions.

Leicestershire director of rugby, Marc Birr says, “Saturday was a fantastic day for the women’s game in Leicestershire. I would like to thank the management and coaching team for their hard work, and not forgetting the players who set the record straight from the final in 2019 in such a dominant fashion against Berkshire.” 

President for Leicestershire, Barbara Crellin, recently awarded the MBE says “This week has been memorable for so many reasons and to watch these ladies win this game in their first season at Division 1 really was tremendous. After three seasons as President during unprecedented times, this really was the best way to end with grassroots rugby once again being played at Twickenham. Many congratulations to all the players, coaches, officials and volunteers behind the scenes who make these things happen”

Leicestershire side v Berkshire: 15. Eleanor Udall, 14. Sarah Smart, 13. Bryany Chalk, 12. Tash Jones, 11. Lucrezia Iavarone, 10. Ellie Turner, 9. Emma March; 1. Becca Church, 2. Pip Balcombe, 3. Amy Sheldrake, 4. Jess Panayiotou, 5. Daphne Fromes, 6. Leilah Mills, 7. Danni Allen Solly, 8. Charlotte Fray

Replacements: 16. Laura Turner, 17. Carla Jones, 18. Ella Woodward, 19. Anna Poulsen, 20. Tia Rich, 21. Lucy Pratt, 22. Rosanna Collis

Try scorers: 

12 mins               Sarah Smart + conversion
28 mins               Sarah Smart
37 mins               Danni Allen Solly
38 mins               Sarah Smart conversion

HT 19-0
42 mins               Sarah Smart + conversion
58 mins               Opposition 5 no conversion
72 mins               Danni Allen Solly + Sarah conversion
77 mins               Danni + Sarah conversion

FT 40-5