Written by Elena Cuadros
Match Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRfFwGScI1s
This past Saturday, the All Blues took on Portland's ORSU at home. The match was hosted by the wonderful San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Club on Treasure Island. Kickoff was at 12PM, and conditions were much more favorable over the previous weekend, with a high of 75F and a forecast of partly cloudy skies.
The game started a little slow for the All Blues, with ORSU scoring their first try within the first 5 minutes (no conversion). As the first quarter of the game continued, it was concentrated mostly on the home side of the field, leaving the All Blues on the defensive. A second try by ORSU was held up by the home team at the 10 minute mark, and the All Blues continued to try to fight back. Unfortunately, at 17 minutes, the All Blues succumbed to a second try by ORSU (still no conversion). Trailing behind 10 to 0, a great change of pace was made as number 6, Christina Ramos, took a 60-meter run for the first try of the afternoon for the All Blues. Shortly after, a second try for the All Blues was made by number 10, Bulou Mataitoga, ending the first half with a great deal of momentum for the home team.
As the second half began, the game was tied, 10 to 10, with no conversions made on either side. After the kickoff, it was clear that there had been a change in the direction of the game. Within minutes, Flyhalf Mataitoga ran in a third try for the All Blues (no conversion), her second of the day. This was followed immediately by two quick back-to-back tries for the All Blues. The first of these was touched down by number 8, Delaney Chapman, a former San Francisco Golden Gate player. It was converted by number 15, Sam Miller. A quick fifth try was run in after by the forward pack, including number 7, Cassandra "Tard" Tong, and touched down by number 3, Allie Byrne (no conversion). Ahead by 17, the All Blues continued to play hard against ORSU. A great run by Mataitoga with an offload to number 21, Emma Harbidge, scored the seventh and final try of the match for the All Blues.
The game ended with a final score of 32 to 10 for the All Blues. Particularly outstanding performances were made by number 8 (Delaney Chapman) and number 10 (Bulou Mataitoga).