On a beautiful day on the shores of Lake Konstanz, a scenic body of water spanning Switzerland and Germany, the two countries' national women's sides met in their annual summer fixture for the third time in as many years.
Both teams started off tentatively and struggled to keep hold of possession for any length of time. But, with 24 minutes gone, Germany broke the deadlock with centre Steffi Gruber touching down for the first try of the match. Encouraged by the score, Germany pressed on and managed to get over the line two more times in the opening half to lead 17-0 at the break.
In the second half, adjustments to their defensive structure enabled Switzerland to keep Germany at bay until the hour-mark when number eight Eilisa Trick scored her side’s fourth try to make it 22-0.
Switzerland dominated possession in the final quarter and strung together some attacks of their own but they were not able to convert the pressure into points.
Finally, it was Germany again who had the last word, with captain Friedericke Kempter dashing in from the 22 for a try, converted by winger Julia Brau, for a final score of 29-0.
For Switzerland, this was the start of a new era under new head coach Emanuel Revert, with many new young players joining the squad for the first time as part of the build-up to the Rugby Europe Women's Trophy, to be played in October 2018.
The result did not affect the World Rugby Women’s Rankings due to the points differential between the teams. Germany are ranked 20th in the world, some 17 places and more than 17 points higher than the Swiss.