PWR Round 17 talking points: What does Gloucester Hartpury's stumble mean?

After a two month slumber Premiership Women’s Rugby returned for Round 17. Good things often come to those who wait. We definitely got treated to some good things.

The weekend started with a shock as Gloucester Hartpury lost a first game for the first time in a year and a half as Trailfinders Women eked out a 41-39 win in West London. It was a result that also secured Barney Maddison’s team with the final play-off spot.

A day later Exeter Chiefs were in a formidable mood and subjected Bristol Bears to a 57-5 loss at home, while Harlequins bagged a 50-29 victory over Leicester Tigers.

At Sunday lunchtime, Saracens went to the East Midlands and racked up a 62-24 bonus point win over Loughborough Lightning, as Sydney Gregson scored five tries in the East Midlands.

Here are three talking points from Round 17…

Can Gloucester Hartpury still be considered favourites?

Pregnancies. Injuries. Impending departures. These three topics swirled around Gloucester Hartpury ahead of their away fixture at Trailfinders Women on Friday night.

A combination of all three, potentially, opened the door to their 41-39 loss to the London club. The first defeat that the club has experienced in almost 18 months.

The truth is, coming into the contest Dan Murphy’s Circus looked a far different team. With Natasha ‘Mo’ Hunt and Tatyana Heard both injured, Zoe Stratford away with pregnancy, along with the news that Stratford, Heard and Sarah Beckett are all bound for Sale Sharks in the Summer, the notion of a fourth PWR title in as many years stood on unsteady ground.

Combine that with coming up against an excellent Trailfinders outfit – who were out to claim the final semi-final spot – it was the perfect formula for an upset. We certainly got one.

It was not like Trailfinders had it all their own way. Gloucester Hartpury bossed large sections of the first half. It took a Haidee Head try on the stroke of half-time to hand the hosts the lead in West London and it was Rosie Inman’s 68th minute penalty that made the game insurmountable for the English champions. Even if Neve Jones and Abigail Pritchard’s late tries took things right to the buzzer.

Cue celebrations for Trailfinders and a little bit of soul-searching for Gloucester Hartpury.

One loss does not make Murphy’s team a soft touch. Hardly that. What it does is open the door a little bit. Saracens have been beaten twice this season by the reigning champions, although missing faces and the vast difference in international experience can give Alex Austerberry cause for optimism about what result a final could end with.

At the very least all this is food for thought. And, just how Gloucester Hartpury react this weekend at Kingsholm Stadium against Bristol Bears will be of great interest.

We are all set for the semi-finals

Trailfinders’ win locked up the fourth and final PWR spot for the play-offs. With Lionesses striker Chloe Kelly in the stands, Kate Zackary captained the side to knockout rugby for the very first time.

It means the Londoners will join Gloucester Hartpury, Saracens and Exeter Chiefs in the final four in two weekends’ time.

Steve Salvin’s Exeter tightened their grip on third with a 57-5 win over Bristol Bears at Shaftesbury Park. It was a comprehensive performance from Chiefs, who saw returning internationals Flo Robinson, Claudia Moloney-MacDonald and Francesca Granzotto get braces.

Maisy Allen, Hope Rogers and Sabrina Poulin also got over the whitewash in the fixture too. Now the side are five points ahead of Trailfinders and welcome a Sale Sharks team to Sandy Park this Sunday riding the high of their best-ever season.

Trailfinders, meanwhile, are off to Saracens. A tough afternoon, even at the end of the season. Should the West London club want to leap up to third, they would require a bonus point win with a 103 point winning margin and for Sale not let Exeter get anything from their home finale. A fairly unlikely occurrence.

Can a bonus point be Leicester’s catalyst to a brighter future?

For over a month there has been a renewed outlook about what future lies in store for Leicester Tigers.

Bottom of the league all season, the club has been buoyed by confirmation that there will be a “enhanced strategy for growth and additional commitment” from next season.

“We’re super excited but the pressure’s now on because we’ve got that funding,” Fraser Goatcher, Leicester’s Director of Rugby, told BBC Radio Leicester last week.

“We’ve got to go and make it work now. It’s put us in a place where we can be really excited for next season.

“I’m really pleased that we’ve retained most of the core squad and there are some exciting signing announcements to come pretty soon, so there are big things coming.”

Of course, none of this does much for Tigers immediately. They are consigned to ninth in the league. Nothing will change that. Nothing can. What we can be certain of is that the future will be brighter in the East Midlands.

Already one of those signings has been announced. Ahead of next season incumbent Wallaroos Player of the Year, Tabua Tuinakauvadra, will join the club. It is a piece of recruitment that displays the desire for improved performances.

In Round 17, against Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop, Tigers picked up just their second point of the season as a 50-29 loss yielded a try scoring bonus point. This included a try for 18-year-old scrum-half Zara Pickwick, two for Jemima McCalman and another for South Africa hooker Micke Gunter. There was even a Kristin Bitter penalty.

All of a sudden Leicester have a renewed confidence. A swagger that was absent for a good chunk of the season to date. Coupling that with a refreshed squad and greater breadth of quality provides a real optimism.