2019 Womens Super League Round Five Review

Round five of the Women's Super League began with a comfortable 50-0 win for Leeds Rhinos Women as they humbled York City Knights Ladies. The Rhinos opened the scoring through Hanna Butcher with Courtney Hill converting for a 6-0 lead that became 10-0 when Charlotte Booth touched down. Two scores in five minutes opened up a 22-0 lead into the interval with Hill crossing for a self-converted try before improving a try from Chloe Kerrigan.

The second half saw the Rhinos open with a second self-conv for Courtney Hill before she improved a try from Suze Hill for a 34-0 advantage. Sophie Nuttall crossed to extend the lead to 38-0 ahead of a Fran Goldthorp score which Hill converted for 44-0. The half century was brought up seven minutes from the end as Butcher went over for her second try which Hill converted for her seventh success with the boot to complete the 50-0 rout.

St Helens Women also secured a huge win as they eased to a 66-0 win over Wakefield Trinity Ladies at the Mobile Rocket Stadium. The Saints struck inside nine minutes as Tara Jones crossed with Faye Gaskin converting for a 6-0 lead that became 10-0 on 20 minutes as Jodie Cunningham touched down. A trio of self-converted tries from Gaskin sandwiched a Naomi Williams score as Saints led 32-0 into the interval.

The visitors spree resumed with two scores within eight minutes of the restart with Claire Mullaney and Zoe Harris crossing with Gaskin converting both for a 44-0 lead. Trinity put a hold on the spree as they kept Saints out further until the 66th minute when Danielle Bush touched down with Gaskin kicking for 50-0. Further tries from Eboni Partington and Lizzie Gladman saw Gaskin convert the latter before she improved a late effort from Leah Burke to wrap up a 66-0 with a huge personal haul of 30 points including nine successes with the boot.

Wigan Warriors Women bounced back from recent defeats with a comfortable 42-4 win over Featherstone Rovers Ladies at Robin Park Arena. The Warriors opened up a 14-0 lead in the opening half hour as Megan Grace-Holding crossed for a brace either side of a superb try from Alison Burrows with Kate McMullan converting just the latter. Wigan went into the interval 18-0 to the good as Victoria Molyneux went over on 37 minutes.

The spree continued instantly after the restart as Rebecca Greenfield capped her return from injury with a try which McMullan improved for 24-0 before crossing for a try of her own ten minutes later as Wigan led 28-0. Fev ended the scoring streak on the hour with a clever play seeing Chloe Renyolds evading defenders to score but it was short lived joy with Burrows racing over for her second at 32-4. Wigan wrapped up the win with an effort from Amanda Sibbald before Greenfield claimed her second try in the final seconds, McMullan kicking her third success for a 42-4 victory.

The round ended on Thursday night as Castleford Tigers Women won 42--22 against Bradford Bulls Women at Odsal.

The Bulls struck first through Amy Hardcastle's try which Leah Jones converted for 6-0 on 22 minutes but Cas soon hit back with Rhiannon Marshall crossing for 6-4. Back to back scores for the Tigresses saw Katy Tordoff and Georgia Roche go over before a late try from Emma Slowe saw Tara Stanley convert twice to open up a 20-6 lead at the interval.

The visitors went further ahead with a Stanley try inside six minutes of the restart before suffering blow on 50 minutes with Marshall sent off after an altercation with Hardcastle. Cas defied the numerical disadvantage as Roche claimed her second try just minutes later, Stanley kicking for 30-6. Maisie Lumb crossed just before the hour for 34-6 before a Sarah Dunn try cut the gap to 34-10. A second Stanley score pushed the lead to 38-10 on 70 minutes before Ecem Acikgoz went over for the hosts, Jones converting to cut the gap to 38-16. Lumb claimed her second try before a last-gasp try from Danielle Bose left the final score a 42-22.