MATCH REPORT | Gloucester-Hartpury 34-19 Saracens Women (PWR Final)

Saracens Women were beaten 34-19 by a ruthless Gloucester-Hartpury side who secured their third consecutive PWR title at StoneX Stadium.

The Women in Black had an early 19-5 lead after an impressive first half at a raucous StoneX, but were ultimately undone by their clinical opponents who took their chances and scored 29 unanswered points when it mattered most in the showpiece event.

Gloucester showed intent early on and flung the ball wide almost straight away to Mia Venner who had some space on the right, but she was brilliantly dragged in to touch by Zoe Harrison who stopped the danger.

The next chance arrived for the Cherry and Whites with just four minutes gone, and this time they took it with both hands. A neat inside ball sent Venner through a gap in to the 22, and then she offloaded to Kate Williams who had the power to stride over from 10 metres out. The conversion came back off the post, but Sarries trailed 5-0 in the early stages.

Sarries came roaring back though, and opened their account for the day with a brilliant try from Jess Breach. Poppy Cleall’s dominant carry saw her head past half way, and then an inside pass released Breach who showed her incredible pace to run clear and send the home fans wild. Harrison’s conversion put her side 7-5 ahead with eight minutes gone.

The Kingsholm outfit had plenty of possession and Lleucu George’s cross-field kick almost found Venner on the wing but Harrison did brilliantly to gather it under pressure and mark the ball.

A topsy-turvy opening then took another turn with 15 minutes on the clock as a penalty try gave Sarries control of the final. A penalty was kicked to the corner and a thunderous maul was heading towards the line before it was collapsed, and gave the referee no option but to go under the posts. Mo Hunt was also sent to the sin-bin as the Londoners looked to turn the screw.

That screw was turning significantly, as try number three arrived just three minutes later to give them real breathing space. Possession went from side to side and then a wide pass to Lotte Sharp allowed her to finish confidently in the corner as the lead grew to 19-5 with 18 minutes gone.

Emma Sing got Gloucester rugby back in to the game with 25 minutes gone though, sustained pressure around the 22 had them on the front foot and then an overlap materialised to give Emma Sing a one-on-one in the corner which she capitalised on to score and cut the deficit to nine points.

All of a sudden the Cherry and Whites were in the ascendancy and scored just before the break to bring themselves right back in contention. Once again they went from coast to coast, and then with an overlap on the right, Venner found her way to the line and made it 19-15 as we approached half time.

Sarries managed to withstand any further pressure in the final few moments of a relentless opening 40, and headed down the tunnel with a four point lead at the break.

The West Country side thought they had made the perfect start to the second half when Alex Matthews powered over in the corner, but after a check with the Television Match Official the ball had gone out of play from the original kick and Sarries breathed a huge sigh of relief.

They came again just two minutes later though, and took the lead as Maud Muir crashed over under the posts to put them in front. The conversion from Emma Sing made it 22-19 with 45 minutes gone.

The Kingsholm outfit were dominating possession and territory, and Hunt was starting to boss proceedings with a number of kicks in behind which were pinning the Women in Black in their own 22.

They struck again with 49 minutes gone, another penalty was kicked to the corner and then Neve Jones broke away from the maul to give them clear daylight as the lead grew to 27-19.

Sarries were then given a lifeline when Matthews was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Poppy Cleall, but they struggled to find any territory to mount any further pressure.

Cleall broke away from a breakdown and audaciously popped the ball up to Gabrielle Senft, but just as it looked like the back-rower could race away she was hauled down on half way.

With just over 10 minutes to go the result was put beyond doubt as Hunt sniped her way over from just one metre out, and the conversion made it 34-19 as we headed in to the closing stages.

To their credit Sarries refused to go down without a fight, but they were forced to settle for a silver medal as the curtain came down on the 2024/25 season.