Gloucester-Hartpury v Saracens
Gloucester-Hartpury (hereafter G-H) achieved the impossible, a third trophy win running. Sarries didn’t make it easy for them, putting up fierce resistance on their home patch.
But the writing was on the wall from the moment Emma Sing collected Ella Wyrwas’ high box-kick and returned it with profit. Lleucu George sent a long pass to Mia Venner, but too close to touch.
G-H made the first big move; a reverse pass to Venner opened a huge midfield gap, and Kate Williams was there to take a second switch pass. A well executed move. Sing’s kick hit wood and fell out. 5-0
Then – blow me down! – an almost identical move by Sarries. Jess Breach took an inside pass from Poppy Cleall and no-one could catch her. This was right through midfield, not on a remote edge. 5-7
It needed Zoe Harrison to claim a brilliant fair catch from a George cross-kick to relieve strong pressure.
An error by each side showed the tension: May Campbell entered a maul illegally, then Neve Jones threw over the top of a line-out into enemy hands. Another error on the quarter-hour: a hopeful George pass proved far more costly. A driving maul was so powerful that Joe James ran under the posts. 5-14
It was Mo Hunt who was alleged to have pulled down the maul; she’s that strong. Yellow.
G-H were as close to being rattled as we’ve seen them for a while. Sarries kept the ball moving, forcing them to defend madly. In the end it was Lotte Sharp who drew the embraces. 5-19
Still one short, G-H got the cogs turning again. Precise interchanges (including a brilliantly contrived over the top pass from George) led to a stroll-in for Sing on the wide left. That was a real confidence booster for them; the game had been slipping away since the first score; a second try proved their great ability. 10-19
Now we saw the echt Cherry-and-Whites. Multiple passes of every sort led to a strong position in front of the posts. Ultra quick hands gave Venner the ball; she had to double back inside, but got over the line. Don’t be surprised to see her wearing white in the next month or so. 15-19
As the gong sounded for tea and cakes, G-H won a ruck turnover. They were inside Sarries’ 22. Matthews drove from the scrum, they attacked the line like fury, but a last hopeful pass down the line ballooned into touch.
Half-time: 15-19
That knife-edge was painful.
Breach might have regretted brilliantly keeping a Sing kick in play. The result was possession regained by the champions, and, after several thrusts, a try to Matthews to restore the lead.
Ah, but this is a game with a TMO, so played under quite different conditions from most of its mates. Breach’s leap to regain the ball was in vain. It had crossed the plane of touch. So, no try, but a line-out to G-H – the kick was a 50:22! All quite straightforward really. Back to 15-19.
How many minutes had it taken the fourth official to reach that decision, how many phases? We needed a further break as Johnson called the captains together to explain the delayed course of action. Whoever wants a faster, simpler game?
Maud Muir speeded the game up. Beth Lewis won the line-out easily, Aldcroft delivered a deadly offload and the prop slipped through a gap to roar in under the posts. 22-19
George spotted the Sarries’ defensive line advancing hungrily, so popped a dink over the top. Sing couldn’t quite gather at the line. They had a penalty coming anyway, and it was Neve Jones on the end of a steamroller trample. 27-19
On 51 minutes the game took a violent turn. The TMO spotted a shoulder-on-head tackle by Matthews on Cleall, two highly experienced England No 8s. It was interesting to hear that Packer drew the referee’s attention to it. When Packer’s head clattered into Muir’s the TMO was unmoved.
After her ten minutes in the bin Matthews was allowed to re-enter. John Mitchell, looking like a nun in the stands, may have sighed with relief.
G-H were dominating territory now, and they heaved the Sarries pack back inside their own 22. And the home backs weren’t helping; the new centre partnership of Bridger and Gregson failed to connect with a simple pass. A second crumpling scrum brought Sarries’ eleventh penalty against.
More brilliant improvisation gained G-H a sixth try. At the back of a ruck just short of the line Hunt looked right, then left, then dummied her way over, much as she did against the Black Ferns.
Sing found her kicking boots again. 34-19
On 70 minutes Sarries built into the G-H half for the first time in ages, but then a knock-on brought a halt. By now the familiar male voice in the stand shouting “Sar-eees” was sounding very lonely. Where was the supporting chorus?
As time began to run out for the hosts, they threw the ball around all over the place, but the tackling remained implacable, wingers hitting as hard at the front five.
With 90 seconds left Sarries painfully reached 15 metres from the line, only to concede a penalty, thanks to Georgia Brock. On the supper gong the champions won yet another penalty, and Megan Davies beefed the ball into touch. Sarries had accumulated nul points in the second 40.
Result: Gloucester-Hartpury 34 Saracens 19
Player of the Match: Maud Muir
Attendance c. 8.000 (tbc)
The Teams:
Gloucester-Hartpury
1 Perry 2 N. Jones 3 Muir 4 Beckett 5 Aldcroft 6 K. Williams 7 Lewis 8 Matthews 9 N. Hunt 10 George 11 Hendy 12 Heard 13 H. Jones 14 Venner 15 Sing
16 Boag 17 Carson 18 Bugby 19 Else 20 Brock 21 M. Davies 22 Green 23 Lund
Saracens
1. Akina Gondwe 2. May Campbell 3. Kelsey Clifford 4. Rosie Galligan 5. Georgia Evans 6. Gabrielle Senft 7. Marlie Packer (Co-captain) 8. Poppy Cleall 9. Ella Wyrwas 10. Zoe Harrison 11. Lotte Sharp (Co-captain) 12. Sophie Bridger 13. Emma Hardy 14. Alysha Corrigan 15. Jess Breach
16. Bryony Field 17. McKinley Hunt 18. Carmen Tremelling 19. Bryony Cleall 20. Louise McMillan 21. Tori Sellors 22. Sarah McKenna 23. Sydney Gregson
The Officials:
Referee: Joe James
ARs: Alex Thomas and Calum Howard
TMO: Dan Jones
Afterthoughts
Two very fine sides, but Gloucester-Hartpury proved their superior quality. The two previous encounters had seen G-H win 47-31, then Sarries gained revenge in the return 49-38, so a 0-0 draw had never looked likely.
With the ending of the 2024-25 campaign we can peer through the mist to next season. There are lots of doubts, but the odd certainty: Sean Lynn won’t be in charge at Hartpury. Who will take over? Will G-H retain their playing strength and their success rate? Both Connie Powell (Quins) and Sophie Bridger were prepared to leave Gloucestershire for other clubs this season; will others be willing to tread the same path?
Why do referees allow penalty-takers to kick the ball from metres beyond the original mark? It’s a curious blind-spot and a wilful disregard of the laws.
