Wasps get their season off the ground with win in London derby

(Richmond's Emma Croker was on the scoresheet against Lichfield.Picture thanks to Rugby Matters.)

Wasps 14 Saracens 13

Having lost their opening two Premiership fixtures, Wasps came out firing in this game, playing the first quarter with incredibly high intensity. Well marshalled at 10 by Shelley Rae, Wasps scored with just a few minutes on the clock with winger Lyndsey Douglas scorching over in the corner. Rae kicked the difficult conversion for an early lead.

Saracens responded well with April Brown booting a penalty for her sides first score but Wasps kept the pressure on as they continued to dominate field position. Some lack lustre tackling from Saracens then helped powerful centre Sarah Mitchelson over from 22 metres out and another good conversion from Rae extended the score to 14-3 with just a quarter of the match gone.

Saracens kept their heads and displayed a strong offloading game but a strong Wasps defence, particularly by number 8 Deena Aiken and prop Claire Purdy, kept them at bay. Saracens built on this confidence into the second half and were immediately on the score sheet with a powerful pick and drive from standout centre Mandy Marchak allowing Leslie Cripps the space to barge her way over. The conversion just went wide and the score remained 14-8.

In a relentless tussle of two marauding packs the game remained a stalemate. The Wasps pack were powerful, however they could not finish a series of 5m scrums from in front of the Saracens goaline with the Saracens defence remained strong.

Saracens never gave up and through effective lineouts and charges from Amy Garnett and Sian Williams, they retained good territory and some fine offloading saw pacey winger Ama Akafdar break free and provide a perfect pass to Garnett who touched down.

The difficult conversion was agonisingly just short and the score was 14-13 with just under 10 minutes to play. In a nail biting final five minutes, both teams continued to play fast flowing rugby and Wasps just held out to win the game 14-13.

Scorers Wasps: Sarah Mitchelson (try), Lyndsey Douglas (try), Shelley Rae (2 cons)Scorers Saracens: Amy Garnett (try); Ama Akafdar (try), April Brown (pen)

Darlington Mowden Park Sharks 26 Bristol 14

With Bristol and DMP Sharks lying third and fourth in the table prior to the game, this was always going to be a tough contest - and it didn't disappoint!

The Sharks started the game confidently in front of a vocal home crowd, getting over the line twice in the first 15 minutes through Katy McLean and Jennifer Edwards for an early 10-0 lead.

However once Bristol had run the long journey from their legs, they began to put the pressure on.

The Sharks extended their lead to 13-0 with a penalty from McLean, but Bristol were quick to respond resulting in a try for second row Rachel Cork, converted by Sarah Graham.

Going in to half time, the sides were looking fairly evenly matched, and it was to get no easier in the second half.

McLean once again slotted a penalty early on in the half to extend the lead to 16-7, however some excellent Bristol pressure on the Sharks line, inspired by strong forward play from Izzy Noel-Smith, led to a penalty try being awarded to the travelling side. Graham added the conversion, and Bristol were within two points of the home side.

However as the game wore on, the Sharks began to pick more holes in the Bristol defence, and McLean managed to break through and score an excellent individual try shortly before another touchdown from Suzi Newton which confirmed the victory.

Scorers DMP:McLean (2 tries 2 pens), Jennifer Edwards (1 try), Suzi Newton (1 try).Bristol:Sarah Graham (2 cons), penalty try, Rachel Cork (1 try)

Worcester Ladies 42 Old Albanians Saints 0

Worcester continued their promising start to the season with a third successive victory, scoring 7 tries without reply to maintain their second place in the league.

Worcester started well with a try after five minutes, some great vision and hands from Sarah Guest giving Karen Jones the space to touch down. Ceri Large converted.

With skipper Karen Jones and Sarah Guest running making some great inroads, Saints, despite working hard, had no answer to Worcester's pressure.

Given this dominance it was no surprise when Sarah Guest scored from close range following an excellent run from Nollie Waterman. This was followed by typical Kat Merchant try, outpacing the defence on the left and Lydia Thompson repeating the pattern on the right. Sam Dale ran in the fifth try, securing the winning bonus point before half time, finishing off another fine run from Guest and Ceri Large closed the half with a penalty.

The second half, understandably, saw the game even out somewhat, and Saints put great pressure on the Worcester scrum, and almost pushed over the line only for a last minute error, but further Worcester scores came from a magnificent individual run by Nollie Waterman, converted by Large and Sam Bree scored a late try with a great surge of pace taking her past three lunging tackles to score in the corner.

An impressive score, but credit to Saints who toiled and kept their head ups throughout. They are still looking for their first win in this league.

(To read a blog from Kat Merchant on this year's Premiership seeHERE.)

Scorers Worcester :Karen Jones (1 try), Sarah Guest (1 try), Kat Merchant (1 try), Lydia Thompson (1 try), Same Dale (1 try), Nollie Waterman (try), Sam Bree (1 try), Ceri Large (1 pen, 2 cons)

Richmond 34 Lichfield 6

Richmond are still the team to beat in this league as their five-try haul kept them top of the table with three wins in a row.

The league leaders faced a dogged Lichfield side who made them work hard for every score however. In the opening quarter, both sides cancelled each other out with play taking place mostly between the 22 metre lines. Lichfield had a chance to go ahead but a penatly kick went astray before Richmond's Emma Croker finally managed to break the deadlock with a try after 20 minutes following a nice break and strong build-up play.

Croker scored again to push the lead out while Kay Wilson, the winger who has also been scoring tries at will this season, touched down again for the visitors who were asserting their dominance up front well.

Lichfield's Sarah Hunter put in some hard yards from the base as both sides looked to play a wide game and her side were rewarded with a couple of penalties from Emily Scarratt getting them on the scoreboard.

Richmond however showed their class with further tries from Fiona Davidson, Rachael Burford and Gemma Sharples along with some kicks from Abi Chamberlain and the result was never in doubt.

Richmond now lead the table ahead of Worcester and their battle in late November is shaping up to be a classic.

Scorers Richmond: Emma Croker (2 tries), Kay Wilson (1 try), Fiona Davidson (1 try), Rachael Burford (1 try), Gemma Sharples (1 try), Abi Chamberlain (2 cons)Scorers Lichfield:Emily Scarratt (2 cons)

For the league table seeHERE.