Kenilworth Women kicked their season off in style with an impressive 64-0 win against Championship 2 side Crewe and Nantwich in a charity match in memory of the late Jess Pardo.
The opening ten minutes were a close affair, with Kenilworth’s progress hampered by ill-discipline at the breakdown. However, smart play allowed centre Sophie Henry to break through the middle to run past four defenders and score under the posts. After this, Kenilworth found their rhythm with the forward pack producing quick, clean ball which their backs capitalised on. It was the epitome of how beautiful simple rugby could be, as slick handling and support play saw a try from winger Felicity Baldwin and a hat-trick from centre Kiri Bennett. Ascendency in the scrum also saw number eight Philippa Rawbone feed captain Becky Hill to score in the corner in a smart first-phase move.
The second half showed fatigue on both sides and Crewe fought hard throughout, enjoying slightly more territory in the last forty. However, Kenilworth will be happy to have kept the scoresheet at zero with Crewe’s closest chance coming from their captain breaking through and being held up over the line. Rawbone impressed on her Kenilworth debut, scoring one herself and smartly offloading to Henry to score her second, with a brace from fly half Katie Pittaway topping off the scoring. The match also saw Kenilworth debuts for second row Charlie Stephens and winger Joanne Groves.
The day was about so much more than the match itself, with £575 being raised for Shine A Light Support Services, in memory of Jess Pardo – an U18’s Warwickshire player who lost her battle with cancer not long after joining Kenilworth.
“It is fantastic to have live rugby back at Kenilworth again!” said president Dean Stephenson after the match. “It was a brilliant match to watch, and we extend our thanks to everyone who came down to support such a fantastic cause”.
Kenilworth play Sutton Coldfield at home in their next warm-up match on the 5th of September, before a match at home to Birmingham Moseley – a double-header with the men – on the 18th.
