Worcester Valkyries vs Harlequins Women

13 TRIES – INCLUDING FIVE FROM HEATHER COWELL – HELPED HARLEQUINS LADIES TO A 0-71 WIN OVER WORCESTER VALKYRIES AT SIXWAYS STADIUM.

Harlequins had scored eight tries by half-time and added five more in the second half to retain their spot at the top of the Tyrrells Premier 15s.

Heather Cowell secured a hat-trick within half an hour and secured her fourth just before the half-time whistle. A Fiona Pocock brace and tries apiece to Natasha Bradshaw and Shaunagh Brown helped the Londoners to a dominant score at the break.

Davinia Catlin crashed over early on in the second period, before Brown and Bradshaw got their resepctive seconds, Cowell got her fifth and Abbie Scott also scored for the visitors.

The scoring started in the fourth minute when Shaunagh Brown bundled over following an attacking line out in Worcester’s 22.

That was followed up by Cowell’s first of the day, when on nine minutes captain Rachael Burford played a beautiful looping pass to the winger to get herself over the line with numbers over on the right hand side.

Pocock got herself on the score sheet four minutes later when the outside centre hit the line at pace in a well-worked backs move to get herself over the line at ease. Within 20 minutes the visitors had their sixth try bonus point of the season when Harlequins worked excellently off turnover ball to play in Pocock for her second.

Harlequins would grab three more in the next ten minutes when Pocock played provider for Bradshaw to get over in the corner, before Cowell got her second and third of the match. Her second came – again – from turnover ball before wrapping up her hat-trick in style with a mazy run following Quins’ scrum on halfway.

Pocock went in search of a hat-trick of her own but she was hauled down following a dangerous-looking break.

The away side’s eighth of the match came on the stroke of half-time when Cowell did well to get over under the tackle of the Worcester defender. An unassailable 0-44 lead had been established on the sound of the referee’s whistle.

With Harlequins out of sight, they could have been forgiven for taking their foot off the proverbial accelerator but the Londoners came out of the traps in the second half with an intensity that matched the first.

Davinia Catlin opened Quins’ second half account when she got down from a rolling maul from an attacking Harlequins line out.

The away side moved into double figures of tries scored shortly after when Brown got her second, bundling over from close range; position secured by the good work of Sam Voyle.

In an extraordinary afternoon for the winger, Cowell got her fifth of the match when she danced her way out of a tight spot to dot down in the right corner.

Following in the footsteps of Brown, Pocock and Cowell, Natasha Bradshaw became the fourth Quins player to score two tries in the match when she nonchalantly gathered possession from broken play and stepped through the Worcester defence with ease to race off.

The day’s scoring was complete when Abbie Scott scored the thirteenth try of the match after bundling over under the sticks from close range.

Harlequins have taken a maximum 30 points from the opening six matches and next week host Gloucester-Hartpury at Surrey Sports Park as they go in search of their seventh consecutive bonus point win. Please see here for more information.