Straight from kick-off, both sides showed they were evenly matched, any ground gained by the Blues forwards who carried the ball well through contact, was equalled by a Dragons side able to kick well for territory, and possessing a well organised rolling maul from their lineouts.
An early pickup from a scrum by the Blues looked likely to break the deadlock but some good defensive work by the Dragons centres saw the ball lost forward over the try-line. For the remainder of the half, the respective defences were on top – the Dragons matching up to the Blues physicality whilst the Blues outside backs, particularly Rhian Gower and Niamh Christopher stopped the Dragons more expansive play – and ensured the first half finished 0-0.
The deadlock was finally broken, when after a quickly taken penalty, the half-back pairing of Kira Philpott and Millie Williams switched play and found Georgia Fricker 10m out. A powerful run saw her score the opening try, which was converted by Millie Williams.
The Dragons came back well and spent considerable time inside the attacking 22m, just being unable to cross the try-line due to more outstanding Blues defence.
Having soaked up this pressure, the Blues finally managed to go through some phases of play, and progress up the field, thanks to strong surging runs from Kirsty Elliott and Kirshia Williams. More recycled possession again found Fricker in space and she dived over for her and the Blues second try. Again Millie Williams converted to leave the score at 14-0 to Cardiff Blues.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, the Dragons refused to be beaten, and showed great character in responding. They instantly gained some territorial advantage and started to pressure the young Blues side. A nice passage of play saw Dragons centre India Berbillion, whose range and timing of pass was impressive all day, release a pass to winger Kourtney Lewis, who rounded the defence and ran down the sidelines to score. The conversion by Berbillion brought the scores within seven points – and still all to play for with three minutes remaining.
A long kick off by Blues was collected by Dragons and they made their way into Blues territory winning a lineout near halfway. Good accurate handling saw the backline combining and again Kourtney Lewis managed to breakaway to score under the posts. India Berbillion coolly dropped the conversion to level the scores up, with the final whistle blowing soon after.
Speaking after the game: Blues Head Coach Owen Smith said: “Anybody watching today can only have been impressed with what was a really tense competitive game. It was a great advert for girls’ rugby, and especially highlighting the strength of the girls game in our two respective regions’’.
‘’As a Cardiff Blues squad, we’re especially pleased with how quickly we’ve managed to start putting some structure to our play…the girls have worked really hard in the training sessions, and have today set their standard to build on for the remainder of the programme’’.
The Cardiff Blues U18 Girls next regional fixture is on Sunday 15th November against the Ospreys at Llandarcy Academy of Sport.
