Cooma Rugby Union Football Club (CRUFC) played host to the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) teams in round 7 of the ACT Women’s 10s and 2nd Division South Coast Monaro Rugby competitions at Rotary Oval in Cooma. The games, held yesterday, Saturday May 24, challenged both CRUFC’s men and women against strong and fit oppositions in greasy and muddy conditions.
PHOTO: The Devils Angels pack work incredibly hard for one another punching up the middle of the field with numbers and support.
The Devils Angels senior women’s team fell to their first loss of the season against the ADFA Ewes, ending their undefeated streak in a tightly contested match that finished 33-20 in favour of the Ewes.
Jamie Watkins, part of the second row for the Devils Angels, noted the challenging conditions, saying, “The girls put in a big effort, it was really wet out there, so it was hard to get the speed behind us, but we still had the strength to compete today. You don’t mind losing if you’ve played your best football, and we played well, there weren’t many mistakes today.”
PHOTO: Jamie Watkins – Second Row and number 4 for the Devils Angels.
Despite the loss, Watkins remained confident in the team’s strategy, highlighting, “We’re hard straight up the middle with our forwards who set our backs up to be able to put the pedal down.”
Vianne Bolwell, captain of the ADFA Ewes, praised her team’s performance, emphasising teamwork and the effectiveness of their scrums. “It was definitely a team effort, we worked pretty hard to keep that Scrum in our favour,” Bolwell remarked.
Vice Captain Madeline Mathews also reflected on the victory by acknowledging the challenging start, “At the start, they scored on us pretty much off the tap… But yeah, in the end, we were really happy to bring it home.”
PHOTO: Vianne Bolwell, captain of the ADFA Ewes (right) with vice captain Madeline Mathews (left).
In the men’s competition, the CRUFC Red Devils endured a tough, 36-3 defeat against the ADFA Rams. An injury to prop forward Christopher De Rooy seen holding his right arm as he walked off in the first half didn’t help the home side. The advantage in the scrum wasn’t as potent, and after an early wrestle with the Rams, self-inflicted errors became costly for the Red Devils, with the Rams capitalising on the mistakes in both halves.
Beau Lynch, captain of the ADFA Rams, commented on the challenging conditions, saying, “It’s a long bus trip to the Snowy Mountains, and it wasn’t the best conditions today, very muddy out there, and slippery.
PHOTO: Beau Lynch, captain of the ADFA Rams following their win.
“We dug in, we had a good hit out in what was an intense game, but it was good for us, they’re a good opposition, and we really needed to get the win today.”
PHOTO: The Red Devils bundle the Rams over the touch line in effort that was there the whole match.
Damien Roach, Red Devils’ captain and fly-half, acknowledged his team’s efforts but noted areas for improvement, stating, “We just probably turned a bit too much ball over, too many penalties, and discipline let us down.
We’ve been trying to work on our discipline all year, it’s been letting us down, and that’s unforced errors.”
“So we will keep doing a bit of skill work through the week, and a bit of fitness. Our fitness is actually ticking along fairly well, we just need to string a bit more continuous play together.” Despite the loss, Roach maintained optimism for upcoming matches, asserting, “We’re still at the right end of the ladder, we have the Bushpigs next week so we’ll be ready for that one.”
PHOTO: Damien Roach – CRUFC Red Devils fly-half after the match.
Both CRUFC teams are set to travel to Jindabyne for their next fixtures. The Devils Angels will face the Jindabyne Rugby Union Club (JRUC) Miss Piggies at JJ Connors Oval from 1:15 pm, while the Red Devils encounter the JRUC Bushpigs at 2:30pm, whom they previously defeated at home in Cooma during round 1 earlier in the season.
PHOTO: The Red Devils were forced at times into kicking the football for territory on the back of errors.
With the need for both the CRUFC men and women to bounce back in round 8, the stage is set for another brilliant day of rugby in the Snowy Mountains on Saturday May 31, which is also Ladies Day for the JRUC.