Richmond women take the sting out of Wasps tail A storming performance from Richmond women’s first team at the weekend left Wasps diminished as they went down 36-0 at Twford Avenue, writes Aoife Hogan.

In the opening game of their campaign, Richmond made their ambitions for the season clear by running in six tries.

The first try came after 10 minutes when prop Vickii Cornborough put through a superb kick which Becky Essex scooped up to score.

Captain and England scrum-half Amy Turner put more points on the board when she grounded after a fantastic forward drive from a lineout at 10m to lead her team in 10-0 at half time.

The second half opened with more fluency from Wasps who came out of the blocks with some lovely passages of play and grinding forward momentum, but Richmond defended well, particularly with their front row who were outstanding against a much bigger opposition pack.

They were rewarded for their persistence with an excellent team try from in-form England winger Fiona Pocock.

Pocock’s try was quickly followed by another from her international team mate Fran Matthews, both converted by Abi Chamberlain on her Richmond debut.

Esxperienced hooker Emma Layland, the player of the match, brought the tally to five when she collected a superb inside pass to open up the Wasps defence.

She stepped inside two players and shrugged off Wasps fullback and former England player Sue Day to go over on 70 minutes.

With just minutes to go, Richmond had plenty more gas in the tanks and closed out the day with a try from Vik Blakebrough who took a lovely pop from Chamberlain who then converted.

Last season, Wasps proved to be Richmond’s banana skin when they lost in a season decider at Twyford Avenue.

A break next weekend to allow for Super 4s will be followed by a long trip up north where a victory against Northumbria would really make Richmond’s intentions clear.

Scorers: Richmond: Tries: Essex, Turner, Pocock, Matthews, Layland, Blakebrough. Conversions: Chamberlain, 3.

Richmond: A Chamberlain, F Matthews (rep O Davies), J O’Sullivan, R Burford, F Pocock (rep V Blakebrough), A Richardson, A Turner (c), A Butler, E Layland, V Cornborough, S Anastasi (rep M Houle), R Burnfield, B Essex, L Jenkins, S Brown.

The seconds also played on Sunday and won 31-5 at Plymouth Albion 31-5.