Rugby / Women's Rugby World Cup
Tries, tears, sunshine and showers as Rugby World Cup comes to Bristol
The eyes of the global rugby community were on Bristol as Ashton Gate hosted two quarter-finals in the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
BS3 has never seen as many maple leaves, kangaroos, tartan and cowboy hats as Canada took on Australia and England played Scotland.
“We’re not here to support one team or the other, we’re here to support rugby,” shouted the stadium announcer on Sunday, getting almost as big a cheer as when former Bristol Bears player and USA star Ilona Maher was spotted on the big screen during both matches.
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On Saturday, 16,571 fans watched Canada beat Australia by 46 points to 5 and the following day a crowd of 25,295 cheered on home favourites England to a 40-8 victory against Scotland.
There were rainbows over Brandon Hill and towards Dundry on Saturday, but on Sunday there were just grey clouds.
Living up to the tagline of this tournament, ‘the energy never stops’, the atmosphere inside Ashton Gate was not dampened by a few showers, however, and a DJ inside the stadium helped lift the spirits of the fans ahead of kick-off.
Among the other ways to keep that energy going, t-shirts were fired by cannons into the crowd at half-time, a pair of drummers kept up an almost constant beat during England’s win and there was the occasional attempt at a Mexican wave.
The posts at either end of the pitch could also light up in all of the colours of the rainbow and displayed the colours of the team who scored whenever there was a try, conversion or penalty.
And the energy will be returning to Ashton Gate in less than a week. Canada will be back in BS3 on Friday night to play defending champions New Zealand in the first semi-final, while France versus England takes place the following afternoon.
Asia Hogan-Rochester scored Canada’s first try after just two minutes in the sunshine and showers of Saturday afternoon at Ashton Gate in front of the Dolman Stand which had been accessorised in the yellow, purple and black branding of this World Cup.
Canada’s free-flowing rugby was reminiscent of Bristol Bears at times and the second best team in the world could well be what stands between England and lifting the World Cup trophy in Twickenham.
Scotland made the better start against England and led thanks to a penalty from Helen Nelson but after that it was a dominant performance from England, with two tries from Kelsey Clifford and one each from Morwenna Talling, Abby Dow, Amy Cokayne and Holly Aitchison; until Scotland’s Rhona Lloyd scored with the last play of the match.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup Fan Zone was held at the Lloyds Amphitheatre – photo: Rob Browne
Away from Ashton Gate, the Lloyds Amphitheatre was the venue for the World Cup fan zone.
The sun was shining at 3.30pm on Saturday and a few people were milling around ahead of the Canada versus Australia quarter-final.
It was mostly parents and young children, either playing games with the Bristol Bears Community Foundation, watching Melo Murals spray paint or sitting down to take a break after visiting one of the nearby museums.
The crowds started to come at kick-off and soon there were dozens sat on bean bags and benches, with the keenest sitting at the deckchairs right in front of the big screen.
As the rain started to fall, a group of three women huddled underneath an umbrella: Natasha, Nicole and Fiona.
The girls, each in their early 20s, have come to Bristol a day early: they had travelled all the way from Scotland for the England versus Scotland match on Sunday.
“We thought we’d come out and watch the Canada versus Australia game in the sunshine,” Fiona laughed while the rain only got heavier.
Why didn’t they run away with many of the others when the heavens opened?
“We love rugby,” Nicole exclaimed. “Support women’s rugby always!”
Lots of eager spectators ended up running away from the Fan Zone when the rain started – photo: Seun Matiluko
Emma from Bristol, who sadly did not have an umbrella and was sitting on top of her canvas bag to stop it from getting soaked, said that “it’s just lovely to see women at the top of their game and playing so hard and so well”.
“Getting the recognition of the BBC… prime time viewing…and, you know, people are still out here even if they’re hiding from the rain.
“The fact it’s being publicised this much is brilliant and I just wanted to come and support all the teams.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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