Two rounds in, and the promise that the Exiles ladies showed in the second half of the 2012 season is starting to pay dividends. After a fourth place finish in the opening round of the 2013 season in Odder, they dug deep to come third in Odense in testing conditions on Saturday 25 May.
The first pool game pitted the ladies against the hosts Odense, but any fears that home advantage might be telling quickly dissipated as the Exiles ran in four tries without reply to win the game 22-0. Hannah ‘Baby Smurf’ Wolf, Merel Doijer, Sophie Rosgaard and Friederike ‘Freddy’ Giese all added their names to the scoresheet, alongside conversion taker Annie ‘Mini’ Lysebjerg.
But no sooner had the party started and it was over in the shape of the second game opponents, Frederiksberg Rugby Klub, the powerhouse of Danish women’s rugby. Exiles will take positives from Rosgaard’s try – their first against Frederiksberg this year. But the 5-42 scoreline suggests the Exiles still have a long way to go until they can challenge for the title.
The defeat meant that for the second successive round, Exiles had finished second in their pool and qualified for the third-place playoff. Once again it set up a game against Grenå, who had beaten them 7-5 in a very tight game in round one.
The onus was on the Exiles to take revenge, and an opening try by Giese saw them lead 5-0 at the break after an opening half in which they had dominated possession. They then continued to pressurise Grenå, mostly on their own line, in the second half, and when the inevitable mistake came, debutant Lora Matway was there to capitalise with her first try for the Exiles.
Grenå responded to cut the lead to 10-7. However, the Exiles remained calm under the ensuing pressure and scored two more tries (Rosgaard and Matway) to win 20-7. It sealed a highly satisfying win, and the team duly celebrated with cake and some magic rum and shrub.
The team can now look forward to hosting the next round of the league at the DTU in Lyngby between 11:00 and 15:00 on Saturday 15 June, which will be followed by a men’s league game against Speed Rugby Klub.
The club invites anyone interested in finding out what rugby is about to please come along.
The Exiles women’s rugby squad is always looking for new players of all shapes and sizes!
No experience is necessary – to find out more please contact headladies.exiles@gmail.com.
