The Hunter Wildfires succumbed 24-5 to Sydney Uni at No.2 Sportsground on Saturday but coach Joey de Dassel felt they were not far off the pace of the Jack Scott Cup heavyweights.
Sydney Uni are the benchmark in Sydney women's premier rugby union and beat Hunter 17-5 when they met in round two.
The round-six clash on Saturday marked the start of the season's second half and de Dassel remained encouraged by his team's showing despite the scoreline.
"They had some Wallaroos back in their side and they were probably the difference, just one or two world-class players," de Dassel said. "One of them, Emily Chancellor, scored three tries. She's a world-class back-rower and was a stand-out on the day.
"But we took a lot out of the game. We were obviously disappointed to lose but really felt that we competed with them in a lot of areas, especially considering the fact that they did have some quality players back from the Wallaroos.
"It took our girls a little while to realise that they could compete with them but when they clicked into gear they certainly showed themselves that they can get there, so we don't feel like we're too far off."
Sydney Uni led 12-0 before the hosts struck back with a try through talented young tighthead prop Aiishya Tipa-Leota in her starting debut.
The visitors took a 17-5 lead into the sheds at half-time but the second half was much more of an even contest.
"In the first half we were defending for a lot of it," de Dassel said. "We had some really good attacking raids in the second half and we just couldn't quite finish them off, but they were very good at the breakdown again.
"The effort from everyone on the field was massive and I was really proud of the girls. We were certainly well and truly in the hunt the whole game."
The Wildfires are at home again next Saturday, when they host Gordon. Gordon are the only other team who have beaten Hunter. They won 24-19 in a tightly fought, round-five encounter.
"We'll hopefully have a couple of players back and we look forward to playing them again," de Dassel said.
"It's one we felt we probably let slip away a little bit. It's pretty rare that you get a crack at them again so soon but that's just the way the draw is this year so we're excited."
