The women’s Blues travelled to Gloucester buoyed by their victory over Bristol the week before and came away with a second successive win in BUCS Premier South by 46 points to nil. Oxford were quick to put pressure on the home side after the kick-off with the first ten minutes of play taking place in the Gloucester 22. The strength of the Oxford scrum and a series of forward carries paid off with the Blues winning the penalty and scrum-half Pat Metcalfe-Jones grounding the ball for the first of four tries. Fly-half Abby D’Cruz converting. Strong Oxford defence followed by a quick turnover resulted in a second try for Metcalfe-Jones after fending off a series of Gloucester players. Gloucester hit back with strong carries and quick offloads, whilst the Oxford defence held strong, continually halting their attacking momentum. Making the most of their opportunities, Oxford controlled play for the remainder of the first half. A wide pass from a set piece, aided by quick hands resulted with centre Johanna Dombrowski going over for Oxford’s third try. D’Cruz adding the extras.

Oxford started the second half strongly, with a series of box kicks putting pressure on the Gloucester side, giving the Blues a good attacking platform. Metcalfe-Jones went over to complete her hat-trick just to the left of the posts. An Oxford scrum and strong set piece resulted in a try for Laura Simpson. A box kick followed by a quick chase was well-finished by prop Hester Odgers to increase the Oxford lead. Gloucester tire from the constant attack and after a series of breaks and offloads, Metcalfe-Jones goes over for her fourth try, taking the score to 39-0. Strong attacking play was maintained with Dombrowski scoring her second try of the game directly between the posts, easily converted by D’Cruz. A final push from Gloucester and solid Oxford defence concluded the match with a convincing and well deserved win for OURFC Women at the Prince of Wales Stadium.

15. Sophie Trott* 14. Alice Mingay 13. Affi Bunting* 12. Jo Dombrowski 11. Violet Smart 10. Abby D’Cruz 9. Pat Metcalfe Jones* 1. Gwen Cartwright  2. Viv Leong 3. Hester Odgers* 4. Katie Collis 5. Jo Male 6. Phoebe Haste 7. Caitlin McArdle* 8. Sophie Behan*

Replacements:

16. Hazel Ellender 17. Carolina Matte Gregory 18. Fran Roxburgh 19. Xanthe Gwen Palmer 20. Laura Simpson 21. Lucy Fenwick 22. Shekinah Opara

*Denotes Blue

Scores
Pat Metcalfe-Jones (4T), Jo Dombrowski (2T), Hester Odgers (1T), Laura Simpson (1T), Abyy D’Cruz (3C)