Quins on the trail of Tyrrells revenge over Saracens
WOMEN’S PREMIER 15
HARLEQUINS Ladies centre Rachael Burford has declared last season’s inaugural ten-team Tyrrells Premier 15s competition a resounding success as her side begin the task of chasing down Saracens to avenge last season’s heartbreaking cup final loss.
Saracens and Harlequins proved the dominant forces in the new-look league, which culminated in the former edging a thrilling finale 24-20 in front of a sell-out crowd at Ealing – fully justifying the RFU’s decision to invest in the women’s flagship tournament.
England veteran Burford said: “The league exceeded a lot of expectations with the amount of coverage it created and lots of people followed the teams.
“The great thing was selling out the final in front of the Sky cameras, with well over 3,000 there, and we certainly produced a fantastic advert for our game.
“Everybody was finding their feet last year but the sides are fully bedded in now and I expect the competition will be even harder. Wasps are likely to be stronger and I see Loughborough being one of the dark horses after some good recruitment.”
Burford added: “It was gutting for everyone at Harlequins to just fall short last season, but you can’t stay in that moment and we’ll try to make up for it.”
Defending champions Saracens have a new head coach at the helm in Alex Austerberry, and lock forward Marlie Packer believes the return of hooker Victoria Fleetwood after England 7s duty makes them an even stronger all-round package.
Packer said: “We didn’t have any full-time coaches or physios last year but now we have a full-time coach in Alex, which is fantastic for us, and Victoria coming in off the back of the 7s is a great addition to our squad ahead of the new campaign.
“I thought the standard was a lot better last season than previous years because the investment the RFU has pumped in to the clubs has allowed players to access the right S&C, nutrition and coaching they wouldn’t otherwise have been able to. “It’s about increasing the profile now and if we can do that we might be able to start attracting more companies and get bigger TV coverage.” Gloucester-Hartpury are looking to go one better after reaching last season’s play-offs. Centre Rachel Lund said: “We’ve got Harlequins first so that will be a benchmark. We’ve got stability in our squad and believe we can be a strong outfit.”