Saracens Remain Top of the Table: Sophie de Goede and McKinley Hunt Score Tries
Canadians Sophie de Goede and McKinley Hunt scored tries in the Saracens win over Trailfinders to remain top of the table in the England Women’s Premiership. The round 10 video highlights, standings, scores and write up are included below.
ALLIANZ PREMIERSHIP WOMEN’S RUGBY: ROUND 10 REVIEW
Gloucester-Hartpury and Bristol Bears fight back for wins over Leicester Tigers and Exeter Chiefs
Premiership Women’s Rugby
Gloucester-Hartpury and Bristol Bears both mounted comebacks to defeat Leicester Tigers and Exeter Chiefs respectively in Round 10 of the Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby.
Defending champions Gloucester came back from 19 points down against newcomers Leicester Tigers, while Bears overturned a 12-point deficit.
Meanwhile, Saracens withstood a committed Trailfinders Women to get back to winning ways and Harlequins stormed to a nine try victory over Sale Sharks.
Leicester Tigers 26-33 Gloucester-Hartpury (Mattioli Woods Welford Road)
Gloucester-Hartpury came from 19 points down to defeat Leicester Tigers 33-26 at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
The hosts scored three tries in the first half with Roisin McBrien crossing before Megan Jones completed a move entirely of her own making for Tigers’ second.
Kerin Lake hit back but Francesca McGhie ensured the PWR newcomers held a 12-point lead at half time.
The gap stretched even further as Amelia Tutt crossed before Gloucester kicked into gear.
Alex Matthews dotted down under the posts before a Cath Richards double brought the defending champions level with 14 minutes to play.
Emma Sing completed the comeback in the 75th minute as a late defensive effort denied Tigers a draw at the death.
Leicester Tigers – 26
Tries: McBrien, M Jones, McGhie, Tutt. Conversions: N Jones (3)
Gloucester Hartpury – 33
Tries: Lake, Matthews, Richards (2), Sing Conversions: George (4)
Bristol Bears 22-12 Exeter Chiefs (Shaftesbury Park)
Bristol Bears scored 22 unanswered points to defeat Exeter Chiefs 22-12 in a pulsating game.
Rachel Johnson opened Exeter’s account in the fifth minute before Merryn Doidge moved them 12 points ahead.
Lark Atkin-Davies got a trademark driving maul try to get the hosts on the board just before half-time.
From there it was one-way traffice as Deborah Wills crossed twice in four minutes to move Bristol ahead for the first time.
Meg Varley made certain of Bristol Bears’ comeback win in the 67th minute for a third victory in a row.
Bristol Bears – 22
Tries: Atkin-Davies, Wills (2), Varley. Conversions: Aitchison
Exeter Chiefs – 12
Tries: Johnson, Doidge. Conversions: Cantorna
Saracens 48-17 Trailfinders Women (StoneX Stadium)
Saracens got back to winning ways with a 48-17 victory over local rivals Trailfinders Women.
Saracens made a lightning-fast start as Sydney Gregson broke free and ran in the opener from 20 metres out.
McKinley Hunt and Leanne Infante moved the hosts 17 points clear before Megan Barwick and Abby Dow brought Trailfinders within a try of drawing level in a breathless first 22 minutes.
Poppy Cleall secured Saracens the bonus point before the half-hour mark before strong defensive work from Dow saw Trailfinders turn the ball over five metres from their own tryline.
The second half saw Saracens deliver an attacking masterclass as Sophie de Goede, Marlie Packer and Gregson all crossed to move the game out of sight.
There was still time for Trailfinders to add a third through Rosie Inman before Packer got her second and Saracens’ eighth to close out the game.
Saracens – 48
Tries: Gregson (2), Hunt, Infante, Cleall, De Goede, Packer (2). Conversion: De Goede (4)
Trailfinders – 17
Tries: Barwick, Dow, Inman. Conversions: Schell
Harlequins 53-12 Sale Sharks (The Stoop)
Harlequins put in a statement performance on Sunday afternoon, scoring nine tries in their 53-12 win over Sale Sharks.
The visitors had the brighter start and took the lead when Beatrice Rigoni unleashed a miss-pass to send Eti Haungatau try-bound.
But the early setback did not phase Harlequins and they soon stormed ahead with a quick-fire Ellie Kildunne hat-trick, scored within the first 25 minutes of the game.
Her first score was the pick of the bunch as the full-back received the ball in space down the right wing and showed a turn of pace to finish in the corner.
Beth Wilcock then got in on the action, running a perfect line past tacklers to give the hosts a bonus point before the break.
A thundering run from Izzy Mayhew brought more points for Harlequins early in the second half, before Wilcock picked up a second, getting on the end of a well-placed cross-field kick.
Connie Powell crashed over from close range before Mhairi Grieve stepped past tacklers to get a try back for Sharks.
But the points kept coming for Harlequins, as Wilcock soon replicated Kildunne’s first half exploits by claiming her hat-trick off a rolling maul.
Though Kildunne had the final say, getting on the end of a deep kick to score her fourth of the game and cap off a brilliant afternoon for Harlequins.
Harlequins – 53
Tries – Ellie Kildunne (4), Beth Wilcock (3), Izzy Mayhew, Connie Powell. Conversions: Lagi Tuima (2), Ella Cromack (2).
Sale Sharks – 12
Tries – Eti Haungatau, Mhairi Grieve. Conversion: Vicky Irwin