Lancashire celebrated a dominant victory over rivals Yorkshire in the first Women’s Origin instalment of 2025 at Sewell Group Craven Park this Saturday (2 August).
It was Yorkshire who got things off to an explosive start when a kick from reigning Woman of Steel Georgie Dagger was captured by Phoebe Hook who ran onto the ball to cross for the first try of the game in the opening minutes.
There was an immediate response from Lancashire through Eva Hunter whose angle change sent Amelia Brown the wrong way to give her space to run into the corner of the tryline and level the scores.
From here Lancashire began to take control – Brown struggled with a high kick from Isabel Rowe and the Red Rose had a scrum from 10 metres out. It was executed perfectly with Katie Mottershead spotting Anna Davies in the corner to put the winger through and Rowe converting to make it to make it 8-4.
19-year-old Grace Banks was next on the scoresheet following a ferocious counterattack from Eboni Partington down the left-hand side with the Wigan youngster scoring right under the sticks.
York Valkyrie winger Partington continued to be a strong influence throughout the rest of the half and scored her first of the game on 35 minutes before setting Molly Jones up with just sixty seconds of the first half to play to make it 26-4 at the break.
After a fairly even opening 10 minutes it was Lancashire who were now under pressure when Davies couldn’t control a kick from Caitlin Casey to give Yorkshire a scrum 15 metres out. Much like Lancashire in the first half, they capitalised, and Ebony Stead powered through to score in the corner to make it 26-8.
It didn’t take their rivals long to respond however with Woosey, Rowe, Banks and Hunter all crossing the whitewash in the final quarter to give Lancashire a convincing 50-8 victory.
Speaking after the game Player of the Match, Grace Banks, said:
“I think there's only one word to describe that game and that’s unbelievable. If you look at the scoreline it just shows how hard we worked because Yorkshire aren’t an easy team to play against.
[On playing alongside Eboni Partington] Eboni is an amazing player, and I’ve had the privilege to play with her today, and I also have the privilege to play against her in Super League. We linked up so naturally and obviously we worked really well together and that showed today.
I’m really proud of both my tries, but the one off of the kick off was pretty special.
It feels amazing to be named Player of the Match. Obviously, I'm playing against the best in Super League alongside some amazing players and to receive Player of the Match it's a big achievement.
Hopefully I am selected to face Wales but there are some amazing fullbacks in the league at the moment, like Amelia Brown, Ebony Stead and Beri Salihi. So, it'll be really hard competition and I'm sure Stuart Barrow has some difficult decisions to make.”
Today’s Women’s Origin match was the last chance for players to press their claims for inclusion in the England squad to play Wales in Neath on Saturday week (August 9) – with England Women head coach Stuart Barrow to finalise his squad following the fixture.
Squads and Scorers
Lancashire: Banks, Partington, Wilson, Jones, Davies, Foubister, Rowe, Whitfield, Mottershead, Stott, Melvin, Hunter, Rudge
Interchanges: Atherton, Woosey, Gregory-Haselden, McColm, Salihi
Tries: Hunter (2), Davies, Banks (2), Partington, Jones, Woosey, Rowe
Goals: Rowe 4/6 Salihi 3/3
Yorkshire: Brown, Kershaw, Cousins, Renouf, Hook, Dagger, Walker, Northrop, Casey, Hoyle, Murray, Andrade, Sykes
Interchanges: Brennan, Wood, Stead, Bruce, Iceton
Tries: Hook, Stead
Goals: Casey 1/2
