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The self-proclaimed “big bad wolves” Saracens will take on the dark horses Trailfinders in the Premiership Women’s Rugby final at the Stoop on Sunday to bring the most competitive edition of the English top flight to a close.
Part of Saracens’ persona this season has been their wolfpack nickname and Alex Austerberry’s side will be hoping to blow Trailfinders’ house down. They will be big favourites to do so as they have never lost to Trailfinders in PWR. On top of that, this will be their sixth final since the new women’s club rugby era began in 2017, since when they have won three titles.
But if anyone can cause an upset, it’s Trailfinders. The PWR final debutants knocked out the three-time defending champions Gloucester-Hartpury in their own back yard in the semi-final, only a few weeks after they beat the West Country side in their penultimate regular season game to secure their first playoff spot. That first victory against Gloucester also ended a winning streak in the league that stretched back to November 2024.
The club have recorded impressive feats over the past month but the odds are stacked against them – no team who have finished fourth in the PWR table have gone on to win the title. However, the task ahead is not a daunting one for the Trailfinders back-row Abi Burton, who admitted that training in the heatwave had been “rough”.
“We aren’t scared,” said Burton, who won the World Cup with England last year. “We have played them twice [this season], the scoreline has not gone our way but there is not one ounce of fear in this room. The team that is going to play on Sunday, we truly believe that we can win. What do you play rugby for if you don’t believe that? You take in mind what has happened in the past but ultimately it is no fear going into it.
“We have taken so much confidence out of the last couple of weeks. When you look at the two Gloucester outfits we have gone up against, they are near enough full strength and we have gone out there and we have been able to do a job. At the start of the season we were in some tight games that we weren’t able to finish. I don’t think that was down to lack of talent but more of a lack of game understanding. Whereas now we understand how to finish out those tough games which I do believe it will come down to on the weekend. Moving forward, there is no fear. Full handbrake off and we are just going to go for it.”
The Saracens camp have a similar fire within them and, in addition to the wolfpack nickname, the players have been referring to a “dog” mentality.
The Saracens centre Sophie Bridger explained: “It’s showing up on and off the pitch but on the big days. Having a bit about you, putting in an extra 5% into your shot, being the person going into the breakdown, being first everywhere. For me being an energetic presence around the pitch and being able to lift the team in those outside channels and when we go get, we go and shut them down. That is the bit of dog we talk about, the fact we have something extra.”
Both clubs will also be bidding farewell to some big players on Sunday. Trailfinders’ club captain, Kate Zackary, will depart, while the Saracens duo Rosie Galligan and Marlie Packer are leaving to join Harlequins. Packer has been at the club for nine years and the Sarries head coach, Austerberry, praised his departing captain.
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“Icon and legendary,” Austerberry said. “Those terms can be used in sport for people who have done mediocre things but I don’t think you can use the word mediocre around anything Marlie has done in a Saracens shirt. She has been an incredible ambassador off the field and her performances are full of passion, heart and quality.”
The final will be played at the Stoop for the first time in a decade and that game 10 years ago was the first women’s club rugby game to be televised in the UK. That day Holly Wood was playing for Richmond and on Sunday she will be refereeing the match, 86 days after giving birth to her daughter Adaline. Wood first returned at the end of May, just seven weeks after having her daughter.
The PWR chair, Genevieve Shore, said of Wood: “She came off of the pitch in [her first game back] and immediately went to feed her newborn child. She is such an inspiration. I am so delighted for her that she is going to referee this final.”
