Despite the Bath Rugby result, Sunday was a day of celebration as Bath Rugby Ladies played their first competitive game at the Rec following a men’s match.

To start the day, the Blue, Black and Whites hosted a Saracens side who were in full flow. Unfortunately, the game went the way of the visitors in some style with tries from England contingent Maro Itoje, Max Malins (2), Jamie George (2) and Ben Earl helping them to a 45-0 half-time lead.

Bath came out firing at the beginning of the second half with Tom de Glanville, who was a standout home performer for his aerial ability and carrying, picking a brilliant line to dive over the try line.

But Saracens were at their clinical best thereafter, Fiji prop Eroni Mawi, Rotimi Segun and Dom Morris all crossed late on after Malins had completed his hat-trick.

The home crowd were fantastic throughout and cheered Stuart Hooper’s side on until the end, roaring them over for two tries in the final five minutes. Tom Ellis went over from the back of a maul and Will Muir finished superbly in the corner to finalise the 71-17 scoreline.

As many as 3,000 remained behind to watch Bath Rugby Ladies’ special occasion as they faced Supermarine Ladies in Championship 1 South to kick-start their blossoming relationship with Bath Rugby.

John Gould’s side opened the scoring with great hands to the wing, allowing Lucy Peters to pick her line and jink past the full-back to score.

Sarah Holloway – on her 253^rd club outing – kicked a penalty soon after to make it 10-3 following great combination play from Bath front rowers Hannah Stephens, Trish Brown and Megan Wynne.

Just shy of half-time Bath’s expansive rugby led to a strong hand off and break from Hannah Meek and after a try-saving tackle, Brown made no mistake by crashing over from close range to raise the crowd once more. The hosts went into the break leading 15-6.

Bath continued their fine play in the second half as Nina Edwards drove in from her wing to tough down for her first of the afternoon,,, more from her later!

There was a moment to remember for Bethan Wakefield, who similarly made a successful dart to the line before receiving a rousing rendition of ‘happy birthday!’ from the strong Rec crowd.

Edwards then dotted down again and soon after ran in for hat-trick and described the achievement as ‘what every rugby girl dreams of’ in her post-match interview.

Additional tries from Wynne and replacement, Holly Edmonds put Bath out of sight in what was a great advert for the women’s game. The match finished Bath Rugby Ladies 44-13.

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Junior Match Report: Bath Rugby Ladies triumph on special occasion

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