'It would mean everything': Packer eyes perfect Saracens exit

Marlie Packer wants Saracens to end Trailfinders Women’s party at the Premiership Women’s Rugby Final in two weeks’ time.

The 36-year-old England international, who will join Harlequins at seasons end, helped her team reach a sixth PWR Final on Sunday afternoon as the North London side dug deep to beat Exeter Chiefs 40-38 at StoneX Stadium.

It was Jess Breach’s second try of the game in the 74th minute that ultimately sent Packer and her teammates to the finale, where they will face a Trailfinders team that beat back-to-back-to-back English champions Gloucester Hartpury 29-26 earlier in the day.

The final at the Twickenham Stoop will be Packer’s in a Saracens shirt and could be the Londoners’ fourth title of the PWR era. A win against Trailfinders would end a four-year wait to be the champions of England again.

“It would mean everything,” Packer told TNT Sports at full-time. “We have been the bridesmaids at the last Final and the last two semi-finals. We’re three-time champions. That is what Saracens is all about. That is what the Wolfpack is all about. We’re there to upset Ealing’s [Trailfinders Women] party.”

Saracens had to dig deep in order to secure their place at Packer’s new home in two weeks’ time. This included a spell at the end of the first half when, with Packer off the pitch with a yellow card, Exeter overturned Saracens 16-point lead and led 31-28 at half-time after tries from Amy Rule, Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald and Hope Rogers.

“The yellow card was a nail-biting moment,” Packer said. “Quite stressful actually. I don’t know how I managed to get back on in that first half.

“We just talked about momentum and we had lost momentum. As soon as I went off with the yellow card, and we couldn’t seem to get it back even in the second half at times. We always seem to be our own worst enemy. Jess getting that final try for us was just brilliant. That’s what she is about.”

Stood alongside her son, Oliver, Packer was quizzed about what the PWR Final could have in store for Saracens. They come up against a Trailfinders Women team full to the brim with confidence and with the world-class quality of Meg Jones in their midfield.

With the context of their three-point win against Exeter in mind, the 36-year-old believes that her team have had the perfect preparation for a clash with Barney Maddison’s team.

“I think it puts us in really good stead,” Packer said. “We have to be squeaky clean. There was a time at the end of the game there where we lost the ball at the breakdown. That’s because we weren’t looking after it.

“We have got to be ruthless in those areas because it could have been different with Claud [Moloney-MacDonald] down the edge there. We’re playing world-class players when we come to play Ealing and we need to make sure we’re at the top of our game.”