Now that the final is done and dusted, we can take a look at the remaining four clubs I omitted from Part One
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but there can have been few doubts about the likely play-off clubs.
Bristol Bears, Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester-Hartpury and Saracens had such depths of talent that the whole business looked like a foregone conclusion.
Yet of the quartet only Sarries could claim a constant place at or very near the top of the tree, going back to the start of the old Premier 15s league in 2017.
That added the vital ingredient of novelty to the campaign. Chiefs were the one club to arrive late on the scene, replacing one of the failed clubs in 2020. G-H had the advantage of being the leading nursery of talented young players, but had lacked an abundance of top players till they linked more closely to Gloucester RFC. Bears, not yet given that nickname, had known hard times in the pre-PWR world.
A gallop through the season
None of them met till the second round, when Chiefs beat Bears 29-14 at home. When Bears lost again the next week, this time at home to G-H, (0-12), it needed optimism from the fans to imagine an upturn. They had gathered a fine collection of players, but the results weren’t coming.
At the same time, other hopefuls were being given a taste of disappointments to come. Quins, till now always near the top, were thumped 31-0 by Sarries at home. At once, clubs seen as possible outside bets reduced in number.
Before Christmas G-H claimed a close victory over Chiefs 31-27 away in the lion’s den of Sandy Park. That’s when we started to sit up and take notice. How much longer could the Cherry-and-Whites go on squeezing out important wins?
Bears’ prospects failed to advance when they were seen off by Sarries at the StoneX 32-10.
The next Big-Four contest came in the new year: Sarries got the better of Chiefs 39-26. The result may not have been a surprise, but that figure of 26 told its own story; Sarries’ defences weren’t as cast-iron as they had been.
Then came a most significant result: G-H saw off Sarries at home 24-15. It was a quality game, the margin was tightish, but G-H kept marching on. Playing more games than ever before at Kingsholm made a huge difference to their confidence. Hartpury lies in a very rural setting; the city of Gloucester is one of the heartbeats of English rugby.
By February the sands were shifting. Bears beat Chiefs at home 22-12. On the same day G-H had a nasty shock when they squeezed home at Welford Road 26-33 against newcomers Leicester Tigers, who were destined to finish bottom. In retrospect that might be seen as the most surprising result of the lot.
It helped strengthen the authority’s claims that everybody had a chance, that the gaps were narrowing. We know full well that is not the case.
Bears were improving, but they went down by five points away to G-H.
Into March, and the next big encounter saw G-H ensure a tight victory 31-24 over Chiefs at home. If you work on the principle that only the big W counts, all was well with a side led by two distinguished Red Roses, Mo Hunt and Zoe Aldcroft.
The other club that had tasted success in the past, Loughborough Lightning lost 43-7 to Chiefs at Sandy Park, to remove any lingering hopes of renewed success. It was a four-horse race.
Now came another big shock: Bears beat Sarries at home 35-10. For the London club this was seismic; they simply hadn’t experienced losses on that scale. It marked a growth in Bears’ self-belief, and not before time. They had so many gifted players on board that a result of that order was overdue.
Sarries reacted sharply to that buffeting. They blew Chiefs out of the water by a colossal 57-7, and that was in the erstwhile ‘fortress’ of Sandy Park.
We now leap across the gap caused by the Six Nations and come to another momentous match. G-H lost for the first time since the start of the previous season. I described their game against Sarries as an international in all but name; there were 37 test players on the ground. Sarries crept home by two points 33-31.
G-H were quick to characterise that result as an important kick where it hurts. But there was no doubt about the identity of the four clubs to qualify for the play-offs. That is an ongoing concern I have about the future of the new PWR. The drive to making it more professional means the absolute need for money, and plenty of it.
The Play-offs
There is an established history of home teams winning semi-finals, hence the four clubs’ desperation for wins in the games that mattered. The top two would play at home; 3 and 4 away.
For the first time since the start of the Prem 15s, that pattern was broken. Bristol achieved their second win over Sarries of the season, only this time in front of a dazed audience at the StoneX. They claimed a place in a first final 29-21. For the long-term well-being of the league, this was a result devoutly to be wished. Nothing worse that knowing the ultimate winners of a championship before the first round.
The final took place at Sandy Park. I won’t repeat my concerns about the favouritism the RFU offers to south-west England.
The odds were strongly on Glaws repating their success of 2023, and so it turned out. A great game finished 36-24.
The make-up of the top four clubs
This is my attempt at building a complicated list of past and present Red Roses (15s only); club allegiances can be short-lived. It includes players who now play for a different nation and those who have retired officially or unofficially from international rugby. My apologies for any unintended omissions.
Bears
Aitchison, Atkin-Davies, Bern, Botterman, Burns, Marston-Mulhearn R., Reed, Ward (8)
Exeter
Allen, Feaunati, Hanlon, Leitch, Macdonald, Millar-Mills (transferring to Quins) (6)
G-H
Aldcroft, Beckett, Blackburn, Carson, Heard, Hunt, Lund, Matthews, Mattinson, Muir, Sing, Taylor (née Smith), Venner (13)
Saracens
Breach, Bridger, Campbell, Clapp, Cleall B., Cleall P., Gregson, Galligan, Harrison, Infante, McKenna, Packer, Wyrwas (13)
My simple point is that every player who moves to one of these top four weakens the club she is leaving. At one extreme, G-H has three players, Aldcroft, Matthews and Beckett, who have all played No 8 for England with distinction. At another, Sale Sharks have one current Red Rose, Morwenna Talling. Jo Brown and Tysh Harper have gained caps in the past.
That increases the inequalities built into the league. My fear is that in future years more suffering clubs will be forced out, and there will be no ready replacements for them.
We still await news of the PWR board’s thinking on these matters. The outstanding performances those four top clubs have offered us can’t disguise the problems that underlie the pre-eminent league in the world.
As an indicator of what might be possible, here’s a statement from the IRFU, posted by the BBC this month:
“David Humphreys [ ] has a wide remit in his new position, including player transfers and contract negotiations.” Humphreys is Ireland’s new high performance director.
That essentially concerns the men’s game, but could the women’s version be subject to a similar rethink?
This how the top end of the table finished:
Pts
Gloucester-Hartpury 76
Saracens 70
Bristol Bears 58
Exeter Chiefs 57
Even at this elevated level of success the margins are considerable. A whole 12 points separate the top two from their chasers. It helps to underline Bears’ achievement in securing a place in the final.
Below them the gap yawns even wider. In fifth place Loughborough Lightning finished a colossal 19 points behind Chiefs. Their recent signings show their determination to regain their previous prominence, but it won’t be easy.
It’s a tricky balancing act the board has to achieve.
