By Greg Nixon
WARRINGTON Wolves sit top of the National Women’s Championship after a dominant 44-6 win on Humberside.
Hull had no answers to a dominant Wolves pack led by their strong running captain Megan Bragg and the ever-impressive Beth Hayes, supported well by second rowers Kayleigh Bradshaw and Georgia Westwood.
The energy of hooker Danni Bound from dummy half also put the home side’s defence on the back foot, allowing the ball to be worked out wide where the Wire had the most joy.
And when the Black and Whites did have possession, fearsome Warrington tackling more often than not forced errors – highlighted by a completion rate of three from 11 sets of six in the second half from the home team.
Full back Hollie Gregory was solid under the high ball and player of the match Libby Clarke impressed on her 20th birthday in the centres.
Unbeaten Wire started much the better side on a sunny, blustery day in front of a small but vocal crowd at the University of Hull and, after Bragg and Hayes had made impressive metres after contact, Bound made one of her trademark breaks from dummy half.
The ball was worked out to right winger Teneisha Fairbrother who outpaced the cover out wide to cut inside and touch down under the sticks.
Michelle Davis, who took the opposition player of the match award, added the extras to give Warrington a 6-0 lead on three minutes.
Despite an error from the restart which gifted Hull possession, their attack couldn’t break through the Wire’s goal-line defence, especially some tenacious tackling from loose forward Maddie Price and Fairbrother, which eventually forced a knock on from Kayleigh Waller.
It was a high shot on Price that led to Wire’s second try on 13 minutes, when Bragg forced her way over by the posts to make life easy for Davis to make it 12-0.
The game became a little scrappy with errors from both sides, but after Hull were adjudged to have knocked on from a play the ball on 21 minutes, Mead burst through the defence for Bound to finish by the posts. With Davis converting, Wire had weathered a little storm to move into an 18-0 lead.
Just minutes later, another break from Price led to a cut out pass from Gregory being clutched out of the air by Ellie Jelves – playing in the centres – to crash over. For once, Davis was off target to leave the Wire 22-0 in front.
Again, the game became a little scrappy, but when the Wire were pulled for crossing and then for offside, it gave Hull the foothold they needed for Olivia Wilsher to force her way over and Abby Price to convert to make it 22-6 in the dying moments of the half.
But any hopes Hull might have had of making an unlikely comeback were dispelled within seconds as winger Hollie Brussels finished off a sweeping move to take Wire into a 26-6 half time lead.
Things went from bad to worse for the home side in the opening minutes of the second half as their impressive full back Nya May was forced off with an injury after losing the ball in the tackle, gifting Wire possession.
Brussels subsequently cut through the defence to take Wire inside the Hull 10, giving Shannon Stephens the room to crash over by the posts. Davis converted to make it 32-6.
And when Hull knocked on just moments after the restart, fast hands saw the ball moved out to the left for Brussels to show a clean pair of heels and finish under the sticks for her second. Davis, who had controlled the game superbly throughout, made it 38-6 on 54 minutes.
Again, errors began to creep in as both sides tired, and it wasn’t until the dying moments that Wire underlined their dominance with Bound grabbing her second after another great move straight from a scrum. Davis converted to make the final score 44-6 to Warrington.
Head coach Lee Westwood said: “I thought today was another step up from the last couple of weeks and that’s what we have set out to do – to get a little bit better each week.
“They were a lot more physical and fitter than a couple of teams we have played over the last few weeks, so it was really pleasing that we have improved on some things with ball in hand and playing into space rather than running into faces when they don’t need to.
“The biggest thing for me today is that everybody in defence did there job hence them only getting over the line once.
“The score board looks after itself if they all do their jobs and all I’m after is a slight improvement on certain aspects of our game each week and we are doing that.
“There are still things we can work on which is exciting with this group. Everyone is competing for places and that can only make us better.”
