I think it’s fair to say that this season has been a difficult one for the T-Birds.
A change of coaching staff always brings disruption, but the Ladies are now back to something approaching their best.
Long distance away games are always a challenge, but this 550 mile round trip to Plymouth ended up a breeze.

The game was not as one sided as the scoreline suggests. The sheer power of the T-Bird scrum was the real undoing of Plymouth. Unable to win clean ball from a single scrum, they struggled for possession and spent most of the game defending.
They were well organised in defence and tackled and rucked hard, but mostly to no avail.

Having already demonstrated their set piece dominance, the T-Birds drove the hapless Plymouth pack back over their own line from a 5 meter scrum for Dyche to claim the first score in only 7 minutes and the writing was on the wall.
Despite committed tackling, T’s slowly put the squeeze on Plymouth who were unable to handle the T-Birds in full flow as forwards and backs combined.
4 trys down in 30 minutes Plymouth fought back with a fine score of their own right at the end of the first half to bring the score to 7-24.

After the break and a rest Plymouth competed hard for 20 minutes, but still shipped 2 trys to Smith and Tyler as the T-Bird backs began to fire.
The last quarter was torture for a tiring Plymouth as they started dropping off tackles and the Ts backs put them to the sword.
2 trys for substitute Macdonald, followed by a fine score from Harvey, who had marshalled the backline all game, brought the final score to 7-55.

Team: Parsad (T), Lawther , Smith (T), Tyler (T), Longdon-Hughes, Harvey.I (T), Cook.G, (T, 5C), Hepper, Duffy, Pugh, Franklin, Baker, Rettie (T), Edwards, Dyche (T). Substitutes: Harvey. S, Dixon, Macdonald (2T), Shaw

Next game is Sunday 28th Jan when the T-Birds are at home to Cheltenham 2.15pm KO.

As always, Thurrock Ladies, the T-Birds, welcome new players of any standard to their 2 teams.
No matter how big or small, there is a place for you in a Rugby Team. Many are beginners, playing in their first Season, so don’t be put off if you are new to the game.
We can promise you great training and a great social life. Just turn up on a Wednesday evening at 7.30.