The Second game of the Shanghai rugby for all 7s tournament pitted the She Devils against a big, burly Seoul side who had looked powerful but slightly lethargic in earlier games.
It became clear from the first whistle that Seoul had a powerful scrum and that their main attacking weapon came in the form of their athletic, experienced fly half, who needed to be well contained were the Devils to stay in the game. However, it was also clear that the Devils had learnt a lot from their first bruising encounter of the day and they went into the game with a new physical determination, epitomised by Corrie Taylor, Megan Degenfelder and Jeannie Ivanov, who put in hit after hit on their larger Seoul counterparts.
The Devil’s work in the scrum was also exemplary, with newcomers Rocio Del Mar, Louise Beamont and Kate Sliney giving as good as they got in every drive, protecting the ball well for Degenfelder.
The Devils’ discipline and work rate paid off towards the end of the first half when Seoul lost discipline, and then organisation, giving away a penalty which Degenfelder quickly tapped and ran in from the half way line, virtually uncontested. Ivanov duly converted to give the Devils a deserved 7-0 half time lead.
The second half was a story of solid (and on occasions desperate) defence, as Seoul piled the pressure on but couldn’t penetrate a determined Devils line: Jane Cheung and Corrie Taylor put in some particularly hard tackling and running, but with seconds left on the clock Seoul finally breached the line and drove over a late try which would potentially break Devils hearts.
However, with the final kick of the game the Seoul captain went well wide of the posts and the Devils clinched a hard fought win, 7-5.