By Tom Pritchard and Joseph Mansfield
Scrum-half Niamh Tinman scored a hat-trick of tries on her debut to send University of South Wales on their way to a hard-fought win against University of Bath.
The half-back scored her first try four minutes into the first half. She showed good feet to stand up the opposition winger and sprinted down the touchline, dotting down in the corner.
The visitors hit back five minutes later. After being awarded a penalty on the 22-metre line they went quickly, and the outside-centre found a nice angle to sprint through and touch down under the posts.
The Somerset side went ahead at the end of the first quarter. The 13 once again found a gap in midfield, and showed quick feet to sprint past would-be tacklers and score her second try of the game.
Mark Hutton’s side were level three minutes later. Tinman picked the ball up from the back of the scrum and made a sniping run on the blindside, as she ran under the posts for a try which was converted to level the scores.
The scrum-half completed her hat-trick seven minutes before the interval. Opting once more to make a solo run straight off a scrum, she beat the tackle of the Bath outside half and ran through to put her side ahead.
After a quiet opening 10 minutes to the second half, USW should have extended their lead when full back Harriet Brathwraite gathered a loose Bath box kick and set off on a fine jinking run to split the broken Bath defence.
Brathwraite crossed the line for what would have been an excellent individual try, but lost the ball forward as the last-ditch tackle came in from the Bath defence.
USW kept the momentum going with lots of possession in the opposition half. Sixteen minutes into the half scrum half Tinman looked to extend her try scoring tally with yet another pick and go, but with the Bath defence holding strong the half-back looked to offload when it wasn’t on and lost possession.
Tighthead prop Ruby Cox’s strong carry through the middle sucked in the defence 18 minutes after the break. Quick distribution and handling allowed winger Leah Butler to exploit the overlap and extend the USW lead.
Loosehead prop Amy Evans carried strongly but was shipped into touch just five metres out. Her good work was not wasted though, as USW turned over the ball from the resulting lineout and No.8 Jordan Hopkins converted the pressure into points with a pick and go under the posts from the third phase. The try was then converted by Tinman to extend the score.
Another fleet-footed break by Brathwraite set inside centre Emily Pratt free down the touchline, but a fine covering tackle from her opposing number shut down the move as the centre was bundled into touch.
In the final act of the game, the Bath outside centre completed her hat-trick after cutting a fine angle from a set piece 30 metres out. She couldn’t be caught by the covering defence.
Star Player – Niamh Tinman
The scrum-half put in a scintillating performance, scoring a hat-trick of tries on her first appearance for USW. Her service from the ruck, considering the wet conditions, was impressive. She showed how dangerous she can be in open play, evading numerous tackles and displaying quick feet to score her tries.