Tournament Report: RDF #1

Irish secure 5th place at First Sevens Tournament

Berlin Irish Women kicked off their RDF Sevens Series this weekend in Velten. The ‘Ofenstadt’ —not normally a stop on the series— had jumped in at the last minute after flooding had forced a switch away from Dresden’s Ostrapark. The change of location saw only 7 of the 9 series teams able to field a squad, so the 4+3 mix pool format was used.

The group stage saw Irish drawn with local rivals BSV92 as well as new opponents in the form of USV Jena and RC Dresden. The opening game against BSV was a cagey affair where Irish controlled possession but struggled to break down the BSV defence. The Wilmersdorfer opened the scoring after some midfield miscommunication allowed a counter-attack, but Irish almost immediately pegged them back through Dankou, who picked a sweet line past a flailing opposition center to open the team’s scoring for the season. The teams were tied at 7–7 at half-time, but again BSV seized on an Irish mistake to score from a counter-attack early in the second half. When half-back Ziffels was brought down just short of the line after a lung busting 60m run with seconds to go, it seemed the chance for a win was gone. Unfortunately it got worse, support was slow arriving, and a turnover became a counter-attack which became a 7–19 defeat.

An hour later, Irish took to the field against USV Jena knowing they needed a solid win in order to qualify for the semi-finals. The defensive work-rate remained high, with halfback Menghini particularly impressing, and this time the attacking system began to click. First Hein, then Dankou got over the whitewash on the end of multiphase moves, before Hein scored her second of the game crashing through tackles from close range, leaving a 19–0 scoreline at the break. Jena improved after half-time with two scores from their lively scrumhalf, but Hein wrapped up her hattrick with another score to finish the game at 26–10

Unfortunately, this left the team with a -3 points differential behind RC Dresden, who likewise had one win and one defeat, meaning Irish would head to the 5th place playoff. This meant another game against… USV Jena.

Here the game played out similarly to the first, with Irish defensive intensity creating a platform to play from. Hein again was the primary antagonist for Jena, popping up with two scores, whilst Caron celebrated her transfer over the summer with a first try for her new club, scoring after good work in the corner. Jena answered with a snipe from close range, but Ziffels showed her strength to fight over from close range to cap off a 22–5 win for the Green Machine.

The final match of the day was against the familiar foes Berlin Bruisers, who had equally just defeated Jena 17–12 and shown they had some real attacking firepower, particularly with their speedy outside backs. Irish controlled the game well, though, with great line speed and hard tackles, resulting in multiple turnovers. Menghini and Gariup dominated opponents much larger than themselves and created opportunities for the wider players to work from. Ziffels opened the scoring within the first minute and the score quickly began to rack up. Hein got another 2 in the first half, with Dankou and Caron both crossing out wide to bring up 27–0. In the second half Bruisers tightened up and played very close, almost 15s style rugby, which made slow meters until Caron blasted through a ruck allowing Hein to pick up and finish her second hat trick. Andraka finished the scoring with a snipe around a ruck to take the game to 37–0 and give the team their third win of the day.

Unfortunately, the 7 team system meant that the afternoon games really were damage control in terms of league points. With only 12 points awarded to 5th place, the pressure will be on the team to finish 3rd or higher in Leipzig on the 27th October to have a good chance of making the championship round in the Spring. Nonetheless, the level on display was excellent and Irish showed how well they have developed their squad, with 6 first team regulars missing, yet still able to perform at a good level

October 12th sees the Autumn Cup hosted by RK03 — a chance to impress in front of a home crowd and build up match fitness before the big dance down in Leipzig.