The 2s came into Sundays match fired up, with a few players returning after long breaks and Hannah Wicheard on debut against local rivals Kilburn, it was shaping up to be an exciting afternoon and did not disappoint.

It started well with Lou Clarke pouncing on a loose ball and sprinting away down the middle of the pitch for her first of 3 tries, looking like she’s never been anything but a rugby player. Elaine O'Rourke added the extras and what was to be a great game was underway. Strong running from the kick off saw metres gained easily and a pick and go from the back of the scrum by Victoria Bibby to drive within metres of the line with a cheeky off-load to Luisa Nienhaus saw her cross the line on her triumphant return and the first of many fantastic plays from the forward pack.

More strong running from the forwards saw Beth Hogan break the line, get the ball out to Bibby who put in a winger-esque run down the side-line (rumoured to be a solid 70 metres) to cross in the corner. Not wanting to miss out of the action, the backs put together a superb set play, with the ball moving smoothly through hands to Lou on the wing who out-paced them all from halfway to score under the posts where Elaine once again added the extras. Alice Davis didn’t miss a beat cleanly catching what seemed like every kick-off and always setting the team up with great metres allowing them to play freely. More set plays off the back of the scrum and clean ball from the break down saw Captain Alexia Troian Gautier cross, Lou get in for her hat-trick and Barbara Sike drive over with a cheeky pick and go off the back of a ruck. Elaine once again with the successful boot to take them into half time.

Kilburn took advantage of the kick-off with their speedy 15 catching the Hampstead defence off guard and running in a great try. Not happy with that, Hampstead quickly regained the next kick off through solid rucking and set up Chrissi Ranke who broke the line to sprint it in under the posts. The support play had been fantastic all game but reached its pinnacle when 12 successive offloads saw the ladies move swiftly down the length of the pitch and put Ciara McGowan across the line again with debutant Hannah supporting brilliantly. The Hampstead forwards were breaking the line after every ruck with Harriett Stickland, Jess Richardson and Elaine making huge metres with every run and allowing the backs the move the ball and play some impressive rugby. Hampstead had pushed the Cosmos back to their own line when quick thinking and great rucking allowed Alexia to steal the ball and dive over the line for her second try of the match and Elaine’s 5th conversion. Three times the ladies were across the line looking for more points when they were foiled by the last ditch defence of Kilburn who refused to give up. Looking to better their impressive last effort, Hampstead kept running hard and put first Chrissi then Barbara into gaps to give each of them their second tries off the match and Elaine topped it off with another 2 conversions (for a total of 7).