PWR Round 12 talking points: Has mud bath loss dented Harlequins hope?

All of a sudden it feels like things in Premiership Women’s Rugby are really taking shape after Round 12.

There were surprise wins over two days of action. Some top four hopes may have been dashed. Above all else there were four phenomenal clashes.

The league will take another break this weekend, before Round 13 resumes with Exeter Chiefs’ trip to Kingsholm Stadium to take on Gloucester Hartpury on Friday 6 March.

Here are three talking points from Round 12…

Sale dent Harlequins hopes in mud bath

Since PWR returned after Christmas all the intrigue has been about the clubs that have maintained form or lost it.

In the case of Sale Sharks, they have seen an upturn in performance and picked up their second win in a row last weekend.

Last week Trailfinders Women lost to Tom Hudson’s team and this time around it was Harlequins who fell short to the North West club 15-12 on Saturday.

It was another horrid, muddy, attritional clash at Morson Stadium, and the results will provide launderette owners in Cheshire and West London with the means to enjoy an extra week off this summer.

Sale did all their scoring in the first half with tries for Rhona Lloyd, Amy Cokayne and a Lizzie Duffy penalty.

Claudia Pena had got on the scoresheet for Harlequins in the opening 40 minutes and Jade Konkel’s 56th minute effort was a brief moment of joy for the Londoners in a second half dripped in Sharks defensive assuredness.

Since coming back from the winter break Ross Chisholm’s team have hardly set the world alight. A last-gasp win over Trailfinders has been followed by a draw with Exeter Chiefs and now losses to Gloucester Hartpury and Sharks.

As a result the Londoners are one point from dropping out of the top four, with Trailfinders buoyed by their 40-19 win over Leicester Tigers on Saturday.

Of course it is not panic stations for Harlequins just yet. But, even then, the desire to get back to winning ways and keep fate in their own hands is high.

Their next clash? Against Saracens at the Twickenham Stoop. After that? Loughborough Lightning. Then Trailfinders. Then a resurgent Bristol Bears to finish March. The next win cannot come soon enough.

Poppy Cleall rolls back the clock in dominant Saracens win

There is only one person to talk about when it comes to Saracens. Because, yes, they picked up a 45-7 win over Exeter Chiefs at the weekend, but Poppy Cleall was nothing short of immense.

 

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During her 69 minutes on the pitch, the 33-year-old scored two tries at StoneX Stadium. She made a whopping 19 carries. She even made nine tackles.

But it is the England back-row’s chip-and-chasethat set the foundations for Tori Sellors’ score that will live longest in the memory. It was just an awesome display from a player that has seen it all.

In so many ways Cleall’s performance was just one of many excellent efforts from Alex Austerberry’s team. Because yet again Alysha Corrigan was brilliant. So was Gabby Senft. Sophie Bridger was an absolute rock in the midfield.

The North London club even retook top spot in the league with the win. Albeit three-time champions, Gloucester Hartpury, were on a week off.

At this stage of the season, we really are waiting to see how much this Saracens team have grown since their Round 1 hammering by Gloucester Hartpury in the West Country.

Well, we only have to wait until Sunday 15 March for that replay and see just how strong Saracens credentials are to be PWR champions.

Are Loughborough’s top four hopes over?

Right now Loughborough Lightning are 10 points away from the top four. They are only that close because of a losing bonus point in their 24-21 defeat to Bristol Bears on Sunday.

At full-time Loughborough head coach Nathan Smith was buoyed by his team’s efforts and said he “could live with losing it like that”, especially when taking into account their 26-5 loss to Exeter Chiefs a week earlier.

It is difficult to disagree with the Lightning boss. Tries for the hosts’ Rachel Ehrecke, Sadia Kabeya and Daisy Hibbert-Jones were cancelled out by a brace for Bristol’s Millie David, as well as efforts from Evie Gallagher and Emma Orr.

But there was plenty African Violet heart. Plenty of fight. Plenty of determination.

You do wonder exactly where the next Loughborough win is coming from. Especially with games against Sale, Harlequins, Gloucester Hartpury and Trailfinders coming in March.

Bears, meanwhile, have only lost once in their past four games as the post-Christmas upturn in form has continued.

While the top four may be out of reach, just what this Bears team can put together on the pitch between now and the end of the season is of immense interest.