Frauen
Austrian 7’s tournament in LeobenSamstag, 1. Oktober 2016, Bericht: Line Al Fassih
At the end of the season 2015/2016, the MRFC Ladies team decided to stop playing 15’s for a year because of the lack of players. The perks of this decision are that it gives the team time to really focus on 7’s and become more successful. Moreover, since the team is trying to recruit a lot of new players (with the goal of registering a team in the Bundesliga again in one or two seasons), it gives the new players time to gain experience, playing a fast, fun and strategically less complicated game. But with a maximum of 7 tournaments in a season in the Regionalliga, the girls were worried that they would not be playing a lot this season. That’s why they decided to register to some of the national Austrian Women Rugby 7’s tournaments. After missing the first two Austrian tournaments, we were really eager to play against five new teams. The Austrian teams were also curious to meet us. On their homepage, the host club Leoben wrote that it was the first time that the national tournament welcomed so many participants (9 teams). And that the MRFC, with its first participation, was going to be the “Unknow” of the tournament.
RAK Olimpija Ljubljana : München RFC
5 : 24
The first pool game was against the Slovenian team of Ljubljana who finished 3rd of the previous tournament. Right after the kick-off, the girls in blue were putting a lot of pressure on their opponent forcing them to make a lot of passes in their 22, leading to the interception of Zoé “Stiches” Chioato and the first try of the game after only a few seconds. This good start gave the Munich Ladies a lot of confidence and a lot of good moves were played. The second try came after a messy action, Lisa “Proplife” Goldmann picked-up the ball 5m from the try line and score a typical prop try (running straight through 3 players). Just before halftime, Zoë “Zorry” Vallinga scored the 3rd try of the game between the posts after a succession of beautiful inside steps and hand-offs. The score at halftime was 0:19 for MRFC. The girls in blue were playing well but the girls from Ljubjlana were not taking advantage of the defensive mistake of the MRFC Ladies. The lionesses had to keep up the good work and fixe these few mistakes to secure the win. In the second half, MRFC was struggling more to put their game plan into action. They were making basic mistakes in attack (running into contact without a support, making impossible passes after contact). In defence, they were not shifting properly leaving over-numbers on the wings, that the Slovenians did not manage to convert into points. After a beautiful 30-meters run, steps and hand-offs, Elisa “Captain” Semedo scored the fourth try under the posts. At the end of the game, the Slovenians were keeping the ball a lot and were rewarded by a try on the last play. Even if coach Line Al Fassih had pointed out a lot of mistakes during the game, it was a really good performance from the MRFC Ladies and a good start for the rest of the day. She was sure that the team would fix these details and improve throughout the tournament.
Tries: Zoé Chioato, Lisa Goldmann, Zoë Vallanga, Elisa Semedo
Conversions: Zoé Chioato (x2)
Spartans RUC Melk : München RFC
0 : 34
The MRFC Ladies were determined to play even better for the second pool-game in order to guarantee at least a 3rd place in the tournament. And they did. They had watched the previous game from their opponent Melk and had noticed that they were playing a “15’s style” of rugby. Doing a lot of pick and go and using a lot of players in the rucks leaving a lot of boulevards on the pitch. The game plan was simple: in attack making a lot of passes and using the space on the wings; in defence, being careful around the rucks. The game against Melk was a succession of great collective and individual actions. The first two tries from the MRFC girls came really quickly. In defence, the lionesses were fierce, following the example of Chioato and her aggressive tackles. Just before halftime, one of the Melk players decided to try out a new tackling technique against Chioato and tried to tackle her with her forehead. Both players started bleeding heavily and had to leave the pitch on injury (don’t worry, nothing too serious for Stitches: 3 hours spent at the hospital and 6 stiches). The referee blew the halftime whistle. The score was 0:12 for MRFC. At halftime, the coach asked the team to stay focused and to not get disturbed by the injury of their teammate. The girls in blue showed her that they had a lot of character because they had an AMAZING performance in the second half. Goldmann scored a winger try, beating her defender with her speed on the outside. The two younger players of the team Carlotta “Carlchen” Ludwig and Alicia Liebe played incredibly well and after a brilliant offload from Liebe, Ludwig scored. The last try of the game came from Liebe, who first tried to score on the 5-Meters line, and realizing her mistake picked-up the ball again and scored behind the try-line.
Tries: Elisa Semedo, Zoë Vallinga (x2), Lisa Goldmann, Carlotta Ludwig, Alicia Liebe
Conversions: Zoé Chioato, Victoria Flint
RC Donau Wien A : München RFC
0 : 22
Finishing first of their pool, the MRFC Ladies were going to play against both winners of the other pools: the two teams from Vienna-Donau. The next game was against the first Donau-team, winner of the previous two Austrian tournaments. The Viennese played really well and the girls in blue were not able to take the control of the game. They were defending most of the game. The defence-line was not being held properly and the tackles were not efficient enough allowing the Donau-players to make a lot of passes after contact and to create over-numbers. Even with the obvious domination of the girls from Vienna, and thanks to great defensive efforts from (among others) Vallinga, Semedo and Ludwig, our opponent was not able to score so many tries. Score at halftime: 10-0. In the second half, we could notice that the girls in blue had lost a lot of confidence. They made more knock-ons and forward passes as in their other games and were struggling to hold their defence-line. But even with these mistakes, the first team from Donau had to fight hard to score tries.
München RFC : RC Donau Wien B
24 : 12
The last game of the day was against the second team of Donau for the 2nd place of the tournament. The lionesses were uncertain what to expect against this team. But as the captain Semedo reminded her teammates, the state of mind is really important in close games, and the MRFC Ladies should not loose the game in their heads. The girls in blue were applying their game plan properly this time, passing the ball a lot from one wing to the other. The players were still a little insecure and were not attacking the line. But Vallinga decided to show her team the way. She broke many tackles and quickly scored two tries. Halftime score: 10-7.
In the second half, the Munich girls played with more confidence. They were passing the ball around, making good breaks and defending hard. After another try from Vallinga, the team was rewarded by a superb collective try. The ball was passed from one side to the other of the pitch using the width quickly with players gaining meters by attacking the defence-line and the support being there quickly to keep the ball alive. The action was concluded by a try from Liebe after an after-contact-pass from Ludwig. Definitely the best try of the day for the MRFC-Ladies!
Tries: Zoë Vallinga (x3), Alicia Liebe
Conversions: Victoria Flint (x2)
In conclusion, it was a really good rugby-day for the MRFC Women’s team. The tournaments in Austria are a great opportunity to play against new teams and to gain some experience. The Munich girls played really well and can be proud of themselves.
Mannschaftsaufstellung MRFC:
Audrey Collin, Zoé Chioato, Lisa Goldmann, Victoria Flint, Lisa Steyer, Zoë Vallinga, Elisa Semedo (Capt.), Carlotta Ludwig, Alicia Liebe
Player of the Day: Zoë Vallinga for her outstanding performance in attack and in defence throughout the tournament.
Hammer of the Day: Carlotta Ludwig for making try-saving tackles against the first team of Vienna.
Special thanks to Dorothee Mues, who drove for 10 hours, even though she doesn’t like driving and stayed with Zoé at the hospital, missing by the same occasion half of the tournament.