The She Devils opened their tournament with what would turn out to be their toughest game by far, taking on an experienced and extremely physical Seoul side. The Devils took some crunching tackles from the opening whistle and had to fight for every scrap of possession and territory, but despite this they found a try after only two minutes: Jeannie Ivanov faked a pass and sidestepped between two flat footed defenders before shipping the ball off to Fiona Boyle, who did what she does best by shrugging off a challenge and going over in the corner.
From then on the She Devils found themselves under relentless pressure, particularly in the scrum, and it was only the Devils’ superb tackling, especially that of makeshift forward Jane Cheung, that kept Seoul out until half time. In the second half it seemed as though Seoul’s dangerously quick wing had found a way through, stepping around several players before Fiona Boyle went into hyperdrive and charged her down 10 metres from the line. Seoul went close again two minutes later when their big forwards drove the ball right towards the corner in a massive phase of rucking, but once again superb tackling, this time by Maja and Jasmine Thornburrow, caused the Sisters to commit a knock on and allowed the Devils to clear their lines as the final whistle blew.
A superb result brought about by fitness, hard defense and a moment of attacking quality.
Tries: Boyle
Player of the Match: Boyle