Scunthorpe, a side RI played in one of their first matches in 2003, were today's visitors and they seemed to bring a similar sized pack to last time out, i.e much bigger than ours. RI kicked off and had the benefit of the biting wind at their backs for the first half. Within two minutes of kick off RI were in the lead with a nice passing move, Ruth to Angie and then Angie to Ruth who'd run around the back, making space herself to outpace the defence for a great start.
Scunthorpe got themselves back into the game with some good rucking and mauling forcing RI onto the back foot. The pressure came to nothing as a scrum won against the head and clearing kick from Su Walker lead to another Ruth try moments later. Scunthorpe again took control of possession but couldn't break through the excellent defence. Jenny Harvey then marked her return from injury by outsprinting the defence following a cheeky ball steal from the scrum by the RI no 9.
From the restart RI stretched the lead further as Su Walker saw a hole in the Scunthorpe defence and sprinted through it to score another excellent try. RI kept piling on the pressure as Ruth completed her hat-trick using her trademark speed to finish a nice passing sequence. Scunthorpe rallied late in the half and were unlucky to be held up over the line on the stroke of half time. 35-0.
Scunthorpe started the second half playing much smarter rugby and keeping the ball with their stronger pack for long periods. A pause for an injury to Diane's shoulder was followed by the inevitable try as RI switched off, Scunthorpe's tall no 10 taking advantage with a strong run. The injury problems were then made worse with hooker Laura Nellist being carried off with an ankle injury. The loss of two experienced forwards didn't help RI's cause and they spent the remainder of the game on the back foot against some excellent Scunthorpe forward work.
The Scunthorpe no 3 went over from close range and then they proved their second half dominance with another try, this time in the corner to bring the score back to 35-19. A classic game of two halves which sets up an intriguing return in Scunthorpe later in the season.