Burford confident new-look Aylesford will deliver

AYLESFORD are 80 minutes away from clinching a maiden Women’s Premiership title to go with their Cup triumph and captain Rachael Burford is adamant they deserve to be in that position.

The Bulls, who will take on Bristol at Sixways in the final today, became Harlequins in all but name at the start of the season, moving from their spiritual home in Kent to Guildford. They picked up a raft of players along the way while bringing in England World Cupwinning coach Gary Street, and former Richmond head coach Karen Findlay.

Aylesford had never finished higher than eighth in the league but they quickly became a force and they reached the play-offs as the third seed.

While the Premiership was taking a break during the Six Nations, they beat Wasps to lift the Cup and a 22-15 win over Lichfield two weeks ago helped them reach the final.

“You always want to win games and play well, and at the start of the season we had ambitions to get into the play-offs,” said England centre Burford.

“However we had a fairly new squad that was coming together and trying to click. Everyone has played their part in this run to the final. We have worked hard to get here and we deserve it.”

Bristol advanced to the final with a 43-10 win over Saracens and they too will play their first Premiership final.

Head coach Roy Davies said: “It’s an exciting time for us, we haven’t been in the final of this competition before so it’s a new experience for everyone.

“We have exceeded expectations. At the start of the season we didn’t come out and say we wanted to win the Premiership, we just wanted improvements.”

Lichfield will face Saracens in the third place play-off.