'It's made me feel loved': Marlie Packer's perfect Saracens sendoff

Marlie Packer felt the love ahead of her last-ever match for Saracens in their Premiership Women’s Rugby Final victory against Trailfinders Women.

In June it was announced that the 36-year-old England international was leaving StoneX Stadium for pastures new with their capital city rivals, Harlequins, after nine years donning black and red.

As sendoffs go, Packer’s was perfect. As Saracens claimed their fourth English league title of the PWR [previously Premier15s] era the two-time Women’s Rugby World Cup winner crossed the whitewash twice and even received a yellow card at the Twickenham Stoop as the North London side racked up a record 52-14 win.

“It’s been amazing,” Packer told TNT Sports on Sunday. “The whole week’s been amazing. Until you leave somewhere, you don’t know how much you’re loved. Not just the players, the background staff, it’s everything. It’s made me feel loved.

“It’s not been about me this week, but quietly, subtly, the whisper in the ear, ‘we’re going to miss you, you mean so much to us’. I haven’t really thought about it too much, I am really excited about my next chapter. It has been a whirlwind week.”

When it came time for the trophy presentation, Saracens captain Zoe Harrison was sure to get Packer front-and-centre and shared lifting duties with her long-term club and international teammate.

But even though one of the fixture’s undeniable narratives was Packer leaving a club she has been synonymous with for almost a decade, the 36-year-old was keen to stress that the build-up to the game had been on the fixture itself.

Packer said: “It’s like you’ve got a job to do, everything for us was about winning today. We’ve made training about coming here and getting the job done.

“At the end of the game I had a moment to myself and all the girls came round me and that was just, to bottle up the moment, that was it. Nine years with Saracens, four times champions, brilliant.

“They’re all really special in their own right. They’re all ranked to the best because you do it with different people, you make different connections.

“We didn’t underestimate what Trailfinders were going to come here and do. At the end of the day, finals don’t come round often. I think every Saracens player has been in a final over the season, whether it’s been a World Cup final, a cup final, or this final. We know how to win them. We just needed to back ourselves to win it.”