Sarah Beaney Cup | Finalists confirmed

In the cup semi-finals, Watsonians came away with a confident 70-5 win against Heriots. The home team had an early advantage but with a half-time score of 22-5 they weren’t ready to celebrate yet.

Head coach Dave Flynn said, “The game yesterday was much closer than the score line would suggest. Heriots have some really talented players and they will undoubtedly improve as a team as they play more together.

“The mood in our group was spot on in the build-up to the game and it showed throughout. Once the ladies got on top, they made sure to hammer home their advantage. Heriots gave us a hard-physical game for the full 80 and that will stand us in good stead for the final.”

Rhona Hume, Director of Women and Girl’s Rugby at Heriots said, “We really enjoyed our game on Sunday, it’s given us the standard we need to aim for, and we wish Watsonians the best of luck for the final.

“What was most pleasing was the size of the crowd who came to watch the game. Women’s rugby is clearly on an upward trend and we must all do our best to maximise the energy that is there.”

In the west, Ayr RFC hosted reigning champions Hillhead Jordanhill. The visitors held possession for the majority of the game and used their experience in four previous finals and the strength of having their Scotland Women internationalists back in the team to confidently win 70-0.

Hillhead Jordanhill head coach said, “We are delighted to have reached the final and the fact that this is the 5th consecutive final for the girls shows the incredible efforts that they have put in to maintain such a high standard for so long.

“As a group we are really pleased with yesterday’s semi-final performance. Ayr’s defence stood its ground for a good spell in the first half, but our pressure of territory and possession proved too much as we started to run in some hard-worked tries.

“In the second half we really started opening up and the girls started expressing themselves with some great individual breaks but also some brilliant team play that was excellently finished.

“It was a great confidence boost to be going into the final with a good win like that behind us. We have trained hard all year, but we know the next two weeks of training we have to go up another gear. We have a really close and tight knit squad, that is ready to relish the challenge that is ahead! We are looking forward to being ready for the final.”

Three of the four finalists for the women’s bowl and plate competitions have also been decided. In the Plate semi-finals Stewartry RFC beat Inverness Craig Dunain 70-0.

David Thomson, head coach of Stewartry said “Firstly, I’d like to thank Inverness for travelling down to play us today. Great shift from them and really appreciate them making the effort.

“The score itself compliments us, however it was a great contest and lots of exciting rugby played from both teams. We want to wish Inverness all the best as they continue their journey in rugby and hope we get the chance to play them again soon.

“For us, it’s so exciting that at the end of this month we get to return to Murrayfield for the final, with another chance of lifting the plate. It’s been a few years since we won so we’re all buzzing to get back!”

It is now a waiting game to see who they will face in the final. Glasgow University will be travelling to Kelso this weekend for their semi-final match.

In the National Women’s Bowl final, Greenock Wanderers came away with a 54-23 win over West of Scotland RFC.

Greenock will come up against Livingston RFC in the Bowl final after their 28-5 win over Stornoway.

Lee Anne Steel, Livingston RFC player, President and Director of Women and Girls rugby at the club said on the win, “It was a fantastic match. It was a great day for rugby and both sides gave it their all. Stornoway had a solid defence and make it very difficult for us.

“We’re delighted to go through to the final especially since these are our first competitive games as a team. The girls, and Ben Shearer our coach, have been working extremely hard and it’s great to see where we are.

“The final is going to be tough as we know what Greenock are capable of and they’ve been playing regular league fixtures. However, we are going to give it our best and enjoy the day.”

All finals will be played as part of Silver Saturday on 27 April at BT Murrayfield.

Semi-final results

Sarah Beaney Cup

National Women’s Plate

National Women’s Bowl

Photo caption: Watsonians Isla Craigle scores a try