Dominant Saracens Hammer Trailfinders

Full-Time: Saracens 52 – 14 Trailfinders

Saracens have won the PWR final with a convincing victory over London rivals Trailfinders at the Twickenham Stoop. Just over 8,000 fans packed into the Stoop to watch some of the best players women’s rugby has to offer go head-to-head.
​Trailfinders started brightly and threatened inside the opening few minutes but couldn’t find their way through a tough Sarries defence. This was Trailfinders' ninth attempt at winning against today’s opponents, having lost the previous eight.
​The first points of the day instead went to Saracens and second-row Julia Omokhuale, who was able to crash over from close range. Zoe Harrison’s conversion attempt sailed through the uprights to add the extra two points.

Marlie Packer has spent nearly a decade at Saracens, and in her final appearance for the North Londoners, she bagged a quick pair of tries to put her side into a 19-0 lead with half an hour on the clock. Packer ought to get used to scoring at the Stoop; she will call it home next season after announcing a move to Harlequins.

Saracens weren’t done there! Alysha Corrigan made a sensational break, and eventually, the ball made its way to the opposite wing for Sydney Gregson to simply walk it in.

Sophie de Goede then made a perfect break, and fellow Canadian Olivia Apps followed with a great support line to go through for another Saracens try. However, this one was ruled out after a review deemed there had been a knock-on in the build-up.

Trailfinders were causing some issues for Saracens and finished the first half with a player advantage when Sarries flanker Gabrielle Senft was sent to the sin bin following a deliberate knock-on. This was probably the closest Barney Maddison’s side had come since the opening stages, but they still couldn’t manage to get any points on the board. 

Second-Half Surge

Down 26-0 at half-time, you’d have thought things couldn’t carry on that way for Trailfinders. To quote football manager Mick McCarthy: "It can."

Saracens needed less than a minute to score after the break. This time, speedster Jess Breach raced through from around the halfway line, with Harrison again adding the extras from in front of the uprights. Two of Saracens' back three had scored, and it very quickly became all three when Alysha Corrigan got a well-deserved try following good movement from her fellow backs.

Ealing knew something was needed if they were to find any way back into the game before it was too late, and it soon came. Prop Maya Montiel was able to go over from close range before Rosie Inman added the extra points to make the score 38-7.

Any chance of a Trailfinders comeback was soon ended when Zoe Harrison coolly made her way through to score and convert her own try, once again extending the lead to 38 points.

Marlie Packer was soon involved in another big moment of the game—this time, however, for the wrong reasons, as she was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes. Not that she looked too disheartened, standing on the sidelines with a towel draped around her neck to cool down.

Trailfinders made use of their extra player, this time with number 8 Abi Burton going over from close range and Niamh Gallagher kicking the conversion.

With the score at 45-12 in Sarries' favour and the clock ticking, both sides continued to look to their benches for fresh legs. This included Trailfinders taking off Kate Zackary to resounding applause from around the stadium, as the American back-row moves on following the conclusion of this game.

Jess Breach made the most of some more good handling from the Saracens backline, scoring her second try of the afternoon in the 75th minute to well and truly put the game to bed. Harrison’s conversion attempt was, once again, successful.