The Devils joined forces with the Seoul Sisters of Korea to take on Gai Wu in a 15s game in Hong Kong. Despite many members of the Devils squad never having played 15s before they took to the game like ducks to water, bolstering an experienced but small Seoul squad and providing much needed pace against an extremely quick HK side.
Gai Wu elected to take the kick off and their deep kick was superbly collected by acting scrum half Bridget Madell, setting the tone for what would be a superb, commanding performance in an unfamiliar position. Before long, the Seoul Devils (as the agreed to be known) were exerting much pressure on the Gai Wu line and after 10 minutes a Seoul player drove over for the opening try, beautifully converted by Madell.
Despite the HK team’s inferior pack size, the scrum was not the walkover it that had been anticipated and Gai Wu came back with a period of sustained pressure thanks to some bulldozing runs by their (ironically) Koran centre. She was kept at bay by heroic tackling from the forwards, led by the outstanding Kate Sliney who did not put a foot wrong on her debut.
With Gai Wu putting pressure on the blue team needed a break, and they got it when Fiona Boyle turned over a loose ball and put her foot on the gas, running 70 yards to score a superb solo try reminiscent of Chris Ashton’s 2011 efforts.
At 14-0 down Gai Wu were on the back foot and the Seoul Devils took a commanding 4 try lead into half time following tries by two Seoul Sisters. The blues executed a full team change over at half time, and Gai Wu came back stronger, scoring an early try that was the result of a couple of missed tackles. The quickly added another and looked to be getting back into the game but once more Fiona Boyle did what she does best. She collected a sloppy kick 20 meters form the line and swatted two opposition players out of the way before powering across the line, restoring some breathing room for the away side.
Mentions must also go to Charlie Pemble, who was thrown in at 8 for the first time ever and was an absolute terror from the back of the scrum, and Shona Martin, who made an excellent debut for the Devils and was the only player to notice that we began the game with 14 on the park.
The final score reflected the effort, dedication and improvement that has epitomised the 2011 season for the She Devils.