The road to Twickenham ended for Cumbria Women at Horsham on a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon.
After two big wins in the Gill Burns County Championship, Cumbria lost 37-5 to a very good Sussex side in their semi-final tie.
Cumbria just couldn’t get their hands on the ball at the start as Sussex controlled possession well and Cumbria had to defend continuously for phase after phase.
It did take them seven minutes to break the deadlock as Cumbria conceded a number of penalties defending their line.
Sussex moved the ball wide to their winger who scored the opener which went unconverted.
Following this, with their backs to the wall, Cumbria couldn’t get their hands on the ball.
A significant injury to open side flanker Vanessa Hagen and a change of personnel didn’t change the shift of control in the game.
After14 minutes Sussex crossed again after further sustained pressure in the Cumbria 22 and went over from the edge of the ruck.
It was clear Cumbria were doing what they could to compete but needed some territory and possession to be able to get into the game.
Conceding this second try kick-started the Cumbrian response and they began the next phase of the game from the kick off with some play in the Sussex half.
They continued to build promisingly, pushing Sussex back, but a handling error gave the possession back to the home side.
It was then that Sussex upped the ante and threw a set piece move at Cumbria. The resulting phases created a mismatch in the Cumbrian defensive line and the Sussex fly half identified and went through to cross again on the half hour mark.
Immediately following the try tables turned again as a yellow card was shown to a Cumbrian prop for a high tackle after a team warning within the previous phases of play so this intensified the onslaught on Cumbria.
Sussex threw everything they had at Cumbria but the defence and discipline held firm and in fact started to get a foothold in the game with some more sustained possession.
Cumbria saw out the last 10 minutes of the half with 14 players and started to play some decent rugby on the gain line.
Met by a well organised and robust defence they made some ground but couldn’t capitalise or turn the possession created into points.
So they turned around 15-0 behind and with just one minute left before their sin-binned forward was due to return.
Having closed out the first half positively there was a definite belief in the camp that a comeback was still a distinct possibility.
However a knock on from the kick off and a scrum move which resulted in Sussex getting the ball out wide and linking well to score in the corner put paid to this.
A fourth conversion was missed but at 20-0 Cumbria knew they would have to dig deep to maintain their competitive edge in the second half.
It could’ve been a huge uphill battle and Cumbria could have at this point fell apart but they did not.
They continued to play with a spirit and commitment to make sure Sussex were not given any easy phase in the game.
The fifth Sussex try came on 47 minutes, finished by a scything run from midfield which saw them score directly under the posts for the first conversion to be landed.
A further two tries from Sussex in the 58th and 74th minutes took the score to 37-0 and well outside the reaches of any Cumbrian comeback.
But the visitors dug deep and never gave up. They started to play with an intensity, heart and passion not seen since the last ten minutes of the first half.
They started to build some phases and working into the Sussex 22, a clearance kick which wasn’t struck very well, landed in the hands of the Cumbria outside centre Sophie Weir.
As she made headway into the Sussex 22 she was tackled from behind by a Sussex player who had come from a very obviously offside position.
Cumbria continued to play but were brought back from a penalty as the Sussex player was shown the yellow card for her actions.
Cumbria then started to use their extra player to their advantage finally getting some time on the ball in the Sussex half.
A number of further penalties awarded meant Cumbria advanced into the Sussex 22.
A further penalty kicked to touch saw Cumbria get exactly what they deserved. A well-executed line-out and resulting driving maul saw co-captain Anna King ground the ball for the first Cumbrian points of the day after 77 minutes.
The conversion attempt was missed by Sarah Smyth by the smallest of margins.
Cumbria can come away heartened after such a long journey as they didn’t lie down and continued to play for each other for the entirety of the game.
A small county with a very big heart and a journey the squad, coaching and management should be very proud of.
The whole squad would like to extend their thanks to everyone who has supported their journey this season either on the sideline or by donating to the go fund me page.
The entire trip had to be self- funded and it was only down to the support and generosity shown by sponsors and donors that made this chance to play possible.
Cumbria players will return to their roots for pre-season after a few weeks break ready to go again for their clubs in September as the new season gets underway.
The county coaches will watch on in anticipation of next season’s chance to do it all again and go one step further and make a return to Twickenham for a shot at becoming the Gill Burns county champions.
