PWR: Harlequins 42 – 17 Leicester Tigers: Quins Women Player Ratings from Big Game 16 triumph at Allianz Stadium
12/29/2024 06:26 AM
Harlequins Women cruised to a comfortable 42-17 win over Leicester Tigers Women at the Allianz Stadium in the first of a double header at Harlequins Big Game 16 celebrations.
Tries from Connie and Kayliegh Powell, Lisa Neumann, Carys Phillips and doubles from Claudia Pena and Ellie Kildunne were enough to see off the visitors.
Tigers women looked to spoil the party early on with England international Meg Jones going over from short range but Quins replied straight away through Pena in a like for like try. Connie Powell then got over on the end of a rolling maul before Kayleigh hot-stepped her way over just minutes later.
Meg Jones was then sent to the sin bin for a cynical penalty and the home side made Leicester pay straight away, Neumann finding space on the edge to score. A chip in behind from Lucy Packer then allowed Pena to dive in for her second in a thrilling first half.
Tigers responded mid way through the second fourty with Emily Henrich sliding over in the corner before a Julia Omokhuale yellow card meant Carrys Phillips could get on the end of a rolling maul and make the extra player count.
Ellie Kildunne then finished a flowing move from inside her own 22 in stunning style before stepping round several Tigers defenders to score a second mere minutes later. Keia Mae Sagapolu Sanele would let the visitors end on a high note though, powering over from metres out. Our reporter George Davis takes a look on how the players got on.
HARLEQUINS WOMEN PLAYER RATINGS
15. Ellie Killdunne 9/10
Marshalled the back field well and was a livewire in attack, using her deadly speed to get on the outside of defenders and should've had a try assist if Pena didn't drop the ball with the line at her mercy. The fullback finished off a lovely flowing move in the second half before getting another shortly after, looked like she was playing it on all easy mode.
14. Beth Wilcock 7/10
The winger produced a massive hit on Meg Jones when she was attempting to get on the outside, stopping dead the tigers attack. She also found herself in all sorts of space at times, proving to be a real livewire in the Quins attacking arsenal.
13. Claudia Pena 9/10
The Spaniard flew her flag high for her country, putting in a performance she can be proud of. She scored the first Quins try with a simple walkover before putting on the afterburners after a Lucy Packer kick through saw her score. The centre also marshalled her sides defensive line well, making reads and putting in tackles all game.
12. Lagi Tuima 6/10
The England international didn't have her best game as she missed touch when deciding to go for the touchlone further away from a penalty and struggled off the tee as well only making one conversion. However she did the hard work when it was needed and stuck her head down to make yards when no one else could.
11. Lisa Neumann 7/10
Marshalled her wing really well defensively and consistently looked to come off her wing for work to make sure she didn't get too cold out there in the Twickenham afternoon. The left winger also got a try too, a simple walk in but that couldn’t take away from her excellent work around the field.
10. Kayleigh Powell 8/10
Given player of the match at the Allianz stadium in what must have been a tough call. She brushed off one tackler and stepped another to produce Quins third try of the afternoon and also steered her team around the pitch with an air of confidence.
9. Lucy Packer 7/10
Noticed the space in behind for Pena's second try really quickly and put in a perfectly waited kick for it too. She controlled the tempo of the game really well and put others through gaps like she was playing for England, a great performance from the scrum half.
8. Jade Konkel © 7/10
The part time firefighter put out Leicester’s spark all game. She slowed down Tiger's ball and got through a load of work in the tight and fought all afternoon, a proper leader’s performance.
7. Alex Callender 9/10
A warrior like performance from the Welsh international who was everywhere all afternoon, from barnstorming carries to powerful hits, she even had a bruise above her eye to go with it. The flanker put her head where no one else wanted to go, just yet another player that could've got player of the match.
6. Abbie Fleming 8/10
I think if Fleming wasn't playing this afternoon Tigers could've got a lot more go forward as she was absolutely everywhere on either side of the ball. Some of the tackles made by the blindside could be felt in the upper stands, a monumental shift.
5. Sarah Bonar 7/10
A monstrous performance from the Scotland international, carrying with huge amounts of power and stopping Tigers players in their tracks.
4. Kaitlan Leaney 7/10
The tall second row controlled the lineout with ease and produced a proper physical performance. Leaney put some barnstopping hits in and gave Quins the front foot ball they needed to allow their backs to shine.
3. Lizzie Hanlon 6/10
The prop didn't get any edge at scrum time but contributed with overall around the park performance and gave the front foot ball needed.
2. Connie Powell 8/10
Scored off the back of a well controlled rolling maul, a performance that kind of reminded me of Dave Ward in Big Game 10 the breaks and the rolling maul work was outstanding. Defensively the England international pulled off some nice chop tackles, stopping the Tigers momentum in its tracks.
- Silvia Turani 9/10
What a performance from the Italian international. The 29 year old was impossible to put down at the first time of asking without conceding metres, she consistently put in massive post contact metres numbers and was a nuisance in defence all afternoon.
REPLACEMENTS
16. Carys Phillips 7/10
Scored off the back of a well steered driving maul and was a physical carrier all afternoon. The replacement was flawless at lineout time and was ever present around the pitch.
17. Jessie Spurrier 7/10
Carried well in the limited time she was on the pitch, helped wrestle back a bit of momentum in the second forty when it looked like Leciester were threatening.
18. Laura Delgado 7/10
The same as her replacement prop partner she bruised and battered that Tigers defence when she came on, the away side could just never stem the flow.
19. Lauren Brooks 7/10
Kept the lineout functioning at a good level and provided some fight in contact to stay alive.
20. Harriet Millar Mills 6/10
Perhaps didn't have the same impact as the other backrowers but that was always going to be hard to live up too.
21. Emma Swords 6/10
The replacement came on and lost a little bit of the fluidity that Packer brought into the team but linked up with Kayleigh Powell well and helped the side tick to the end.
22. Sarah Parry (N/A)
Came on with ten minutes to go and never quite got involved.
23. Lauren Torley 6/10
The winger didn't really get the opportunity to showcase her pace like she would've wanted but didn't put a foot wrong either.
The post PWR: Harlequins 42 – 17 Leicester Tigers: Quins Women Player Ratings from Big Game 16 triumph at Allianz Stadium appeared first on Ruck.
