A new-look Allianz Premier 15s
So the most dramatic and worrying season of the Allianz Premier 15s was completed. That is a major triumph.
The organisers deserve huge thanks for seeing this mammoth operation through to its final stages. In recent days it’s almost been possible to forget the dark troughs it passed through. Only the retention of the law amendments remained as a sharp reminder.
Competition in the second phase of the Premier 15s (2020-23) stepped up a gear or two. Every side was beatable, but Saracens retained the ability to rack up the points and keep defeats to a minimum. Quins had the meanest defence, Wasps the most productive back-line.
The season began much later than usual in October, with a new sponsor and two new clubs, both famed in the men’s Premiership. More dramatically, it introduced that set of law adjustments to mitigate the risk of infection from the rampaging virus. But mitigation does not mean prevention, and several leading figures in the campaign were extremely worried at the absence of testing.
The first person to take public action was Kristine Sommer, the USA international, who came over to rejoin Quins for the chance to play some rugby. She expressed her astonishment at the lack of testing and promptly packed her bags.
Her public statement had its effect. Suddenly the RFU announced that full-scale lateral flow testing would be introduced for the Prem 15s; somehow the willingness and the funding had been found. You have to wonder what made them possible in late January when half the season had already been completed and the men’s Premiership had been safeguarded much sooner.
The restart after the Christmas break was delayed, as a further worrying outbreak of the virus took hold. Once the Covid testing system was in place, players could feel much safer.
Gaps were left in the schedule in case games had to be called off, and they came in very useful. The only major mishap occurred when Quins suffered a positive test. They had failed to cover a training session with video – as required – so contact tracing was impossible. They were found culpable and punished with their abandoned game against Saracens designated a 0-0 draw, and 5 penalty points awarded to their great rivals. Their other meeting ended in the only draw of the season. Sarries’ final margin was six points.
There are rumours of the allowance made to the clubs being increased next season. But two questions remain: why was it reduced to £60,000 in the first place? And why are these amounts so minute when compared to the male clubs’ millions?
A competition that no-one dared to hope could take place was completed in the most glorious circumstances.
For the first time the club finishing top of the league failed to win the final. Quins won a palpitating game 25-17.
At last Sarries’ stranglehold on the league was broken. Sad as it may be for them, it was desperately needed for English rugby as a whole. The best thing that could happen next year would be another new championship winner.
The Ten
DMP Durham Sharks
At the wrong end of the table Sharks provided the biggest worries – beyond the playing field. Even with a new name and a new ground their team-building seemed non-existent pre-season; the link-up with Durham University providing optimism only for a distant future. They became the Aunt Sallys of the league, twice conceding a hundred points. Their one success right came near the end, after it had seemed they would finish with nul points. They travelled to fellow sufferers Bristol and beat them soundly. This was a deserved reward for the players who had kept their spirits up all season, despite inadequacies higher up the chain.
Sale
Like the other recruits Exeter, their strategy was long-term. Katy Daley-Mclean, taken on as player-coach in the most striking transfer of the season, explained her desire to make the club a centre of excellence for the north-west. They recruited locally – especially from the fall-guys Firwood Waterloo, and from Wales and Ireland. After a first victory over Worcester they felt they had earned their place, but found further wins tricky. They managed three more, by far the most pleasing a defeat of Exeter in April to give them a boost for next season.
Bristol
The Bears had a season they will want to forget. Long-term injuries to senior players Amber Reed and Sarah Bern hindered their progress, but the club didn’t possess enough players of quality to achieve consistent results. The large Welsh contingent must have felt a double pang, as their showing in the 6 Nations was similarly unproductive.
Their stand-out moment was the widely lauded try by Simi Pam. The prop ran almost the length of the field at a pace that defied belief. The fact that she had been spending her time at the battle-front against the pandemic rang loud bells. The women’s elite game is still profoundly amateur.
The club has engaged Dave Ward to take charge next season.
Worcester
The Warriors acquired a number of quality players from home and abroad like Alex Matthews, Caity Mattinson, Heather Fisher and Paige Farries, but still couldn’t achieve the sort of success they and their supporters expected. Their five wins all came against fellow sufferers near the basement. Of course the standards throughout the league go on rising, but many had assumed that the club, in the safe hands of Jo Yapp, would really make a bid for the upper echelons. In the first round they held Sarries to a 9-point margin, and there were other narrow defeats, but they lacked the strength to hold out in tight games. Theirs is a young squad; let’s hope they will soon taste better times.
Gloucester-Hartpury
As in the past the Cherry-and-whites were up and down. They could play excellent high-tempo rugby led by Mo Hunt, but not consistently enough to reach the play-offs. A third of their games had tight finishes; their unique triumph was to do the double over Exeter in the last round. That assured them of fifth place, a considerable achievement. Their backs were capable of magical interplay, but the defence too often came under pressure it couldn’t withstand. It’s a pity that their tie-up with Gloucester still seems so distant.
Exeter
The story has been widely told: Susie Appleby painstakingly gathered a squad together from around the world. The strategy was to ensure the first side to take the field was strong enough to hold its own, but then to build for the future, looking to local talent from Devon and Cornwall. After a string of early defeats they put together a remarkable run of victories that made opposing clubs sit up and take notice. They were unique in fielding a largely foreign Fifteen, but home-grown starlets, Flo Robinson and Merryn Doidge, did enough to be picked for England’s final bench in the game at Lille.
They were the only club without a dedicated twitter account.
The Top Four
That leaves the four qualifiers for the play-offs, the same as before: Loughborough Lightning, Wasps, Quins and Saracens.
Lightning
They replaced the irreplaceable Katy Daley-Mclean with the next best thing, Helena Rowland, who set the scene alight with her all-round skills in game-management, kicking, running, handling and defence. They had a fine season, losing only to other high-fliers and once to Exeter. In the long-term absence of Sarah Hunter, and the shorter absence of Morwenna Talling they were glad to acquire Canadian strength up front in Abby Duguid and Courtney Holtkamp. They lost only five games, but in such hot competition it left them eleven points behind Wasps.
Wasps
The law adjustments helped them most of all. They acquired an array of running talent in Meg Jones, Ellie Kildunne, Celia Quansah and Abi Burton. They joined Abby Dow, Amy Wilson Hardy, Katie Mason and their indomitable captain, Kate Alder to provide fireworks. Up front the younger element of Hannah West, Maud Muir and Sadia Kabeya dovetailed in well with the experience of Harriet Millar-Mills, Rowena Burnfield, Liz Crake and four Irish caps, Claire Molloy, Cliodhna Moloney, Sam Monaghan and Ciara Cooney. Together they produced some of the most glamorous open play of the season.
Quins
They achieved their great ambition of walking off with the trophy in an atmospheric final. All the same they finished a full six points behind their hugest rivals, Saracens. This was due in part to that error in following strict Covid instructions. They lost only two other games, fought a titanic draw with Sarries – in one sense the clubs had two draws in one season – and had other close shaves.
But when it came to the big one at Kingsholm, they proved worthy winners. Even with their captain off the field injured, and two Red Roses sent to the bin in quick succession, they at last had the beating of the top team in Premier 15s.
Like Saracens they had international stars fore and aft, but proved their worth through the progress made by other players, for example the two back-rowers called into the final, Lauren Brooks and Katy Mew.
Saracens
They showed the slightest vulnerability by losing twice (to Exeter and Wasps) and winning eight games with a margin of under ten points. Tough work as it may have been for them, it was what the league desperately needed, more rivalry for those top positions. Overall they weren’t quite the juggernaut they had been in previous campaigns. They had legions of internationals spread across the field, but seemed to depend too much on the exploits of a great back row which sometimes included Sophie de Goede, the outstanding young Canadian, who was an important acquisition. But it was strange that a set of backs containing a selection from Deborah Fleming, Hannah Casey, Holly Aitchison, Lotte Clapp, Sarah McKenna, Sydney Gregson and Zoe Harrison, provided so small a proportion of the scoring. This was shown in sharp relief in the final where their three tries were all scored by forwards (but then, so were Quins’!).
They will remain the side to beat in future years.
Summary
It is utterly astonishing that the much amended programme came to a conclusion. Against all the odds the organisers at the RFU came up trumps. There were justified fears in the early stages that unacceptable risks were being taken without the security of testing. Indeed a few players took matters into their own hands and went their way. Fortunately no-one suffered long-term effects from the virus, though some had to isolate for a period and several matches were postponed.
Only now can we say it was a risk worth taking.
The temporary law-changes meant that every game was played at a higher pace than ever before. That increased the viewers’ enjoyment (no spectators!), but left scrummaging skills on the margin.
Media coverage increased greatly, but only via live streaming. We still await news of a major broadcaster taking up the reins.
Final Order:
1 Saracens
2 Harlequins
3 Wasps
4 Loughborough Lightning
5 Gloucester-Hartpury
6 Exeter Chiefs
7 Worcester
8 Bristol
9 Sale Sharks
10 DMP Durham Sharks
Semi-finals:
Saracens 28 Lightning 24
Quins 25 Wasps 14
Final:
Quins 25 Sarries 17
