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What to watch in women’s rugby: PWR pace-setters Saracens host champions
Fresh from their first home Premiership Women’s Rugby defeat since June 2023, champions Gloucester-Hartpury face a daunting test in round four as they head to Saracens, the only team to beat them last season.
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Saracens sit top of the nascent standings having made it three wins from three with an impressive 41-24 defeat of Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate last Saturday.
May Campbell and Sydney Gregson each crossed the whitewash twice, while full-back Jemma-Jo Linkins finished the match with 12 points as Saracens ran in six tries in total.
By contrast, the Circus fell to a narrow 21-15 defeat at Kingsholm as Mikiela Nelson’s second-half try for Exeter Chiefs ultimately proved the difference between the teams.
It was the first time that Gloucester-Hartpury had lost a league match on home soil since the Chiefs triumphed 58-19 at Hartpury University Stadium on the final day of the 2022/23 regular season.
The champions will be determined to bounce back but chasing a first top-flight title since 2022, the Londoners could be an even more intimidating proposition on Sunday if they are bolstered by their England contingent.
Red Roses captain Marlie Packer, lock Rosie Galligan and fly-half Zoe Harrison could all return for the visit of Gloucester-Hartpury, although winger Jess Breach has been ruled out through injury.
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The Circus, though, could also welcome back their WXV 1 winners. Zoe Aldcroft, Alex Matthews, Maud Muir, Mackenzie Carson, Georgia Brock, Natasha Hunt and Tatyana Heard were all part of the triumphant squad in Canada and sat out the defeat to the Chiefs.
Should we see those players in opposition at StoneX Stadium it will only add to what already feels like a pivotal early season encounter.
You can watch the action unfold live and for free via RugbyPass TV, except in the UK, Ireland, Canada and the USA.
Sunday, October 27th
12:45 GMT – Saracens v Gloucester-Hartpury, StoneX Stadium – WATCH LIVE HERE
Culling’s rise from amateur to professional
British marathon runner Anya Culling joins Ashleigh Wilmot and Jodie Ounsley in the studio for the latest episode of Stronger Than You Think.
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Culling first ran the London Marathon in 2019, as a running novice, completing the course in four hours and 34 minutes.
Three years later, she knocked two hours off that time and became an elite runner, going on to represent England at the Copenhagen Marathon.
In conversation with Wilmot and Ounsley, Culling outlines the role the pandemic played in her remarkable transformation and discusses how her life has changed since dedicating herself to running.