By Ben Baker
Gloucester-Hartpury reach their second consecutive Premiership Women’s Final after a dominant display saw them beat Exeter Chiefs Women 50-19 at Kingsholm.
It was the perfect start for Gloucester-Hartpury as it only took two minutes for The Circus to open the scoring after Lleucu George was found out wide in plenty of space and was able to score her first try of the season. Emma Sing scored the conversion.
The seventh minute of the game saw the whole stadium give a round of applause in honour of Rugby League legend Rob Burrow who recently passed away from MND. Just at the end of the minute, Hannah Jones scored Gloucester-Hartpury’s second try of the game.
Despite the slow start, Exeter Chiefs were able to work their way into the game, putting together many phases in Gloucester-Hartpury’s ‘22. However, they failed to make the gain line on many occasions.
Chiefs’ dominance came to an end quickly as Gloucester-Hartpury regained possession and were able to travel the distance of the pitch rapidly, Lleucu George was able to finish off the move with her second try of the game.
Only a few minutes later Pip Hendy joined the scoring after a wonderful break from inside her own half, starting in the centre of the pitch she found space out wide and had too much pace for the Exeter defence to keep up with her.
HALF TIME: GLOUCESTER-HARTPURY 26-0 EXETER CHIEFS WOMEN
The Cherry and Whites were able to extend their lead early in the second half as they were able to get into the visitors’ ‘22 not long after kick off. After a few phases, Natasha Hunt got the ball out to Maud Muir who extended Gloucester-Hartpury’s lead to over 30 points.
Exeter Chiefs were able to hit back with their first try of the game. It took minimal phases as their forwards made significant yards in each phase before finding flanker Rachel Johnson who opened the scoring for the visitors.
A wonderful team try from Gloucester-Hartpury was the next action of the match as Bethan Lewis offloaded the ball to El Perry who offloaded the ball to her other prop Muir who found second row Sarah Beckett on the wing who was able to celebrate her new contract with a try.
Gloucester-Hatpury continued to run riot after a break from Mia Venner whose first real action of the game saw her break from inside her own half to inside Exeter’s ‘22 before getting tackled. A lovely bit of passing play ended up finding Sing on the left wing who scored the try.
The next try of the match was from substitute tighthead prop Sisilia Tuipulotu who made a powerful run, breaking through five different attempted tackles on her way to scoring. Sing’s conversion meant Gloucester-Hartpury hit the 50 point mark
The last ten minutes of the game saw two tries from Exeter Chiefs. One was a tap and go from Cliodhna Moloney on the ‘22, running straight over the try-line. The other was the last play of the game as a long pass from Alex Tessier found Kate Buchanan in space on the wing who scored what was only a consolation try at the death of the game.
The win from Gloucester-Hartpury means they will face Bristol Bears in the final at Sandy Park on Saturday 22nd June as The Circus will look to win back-to-back league titles.
FULL TIME: GLOUCESTER-HARTPURY 50-19 EXETER CHIEFS WOMEN
GLOUCESTER-HARTPURY: 50
TRIES: 8 (George 2’,27’, Jones 8’, Hendy 30’, Muir 44’, Beckett 52’, Sing 55’, Tuipulotu 66’)
CONVERSIONS: 5 (Sing 2’,27’,30’,44’,66’)
15 Emma Sing, 14 Mia Venner, 13 Hannah Jones, 12 Tatyana Heard,11 Pip Hendy, 10 Lleucu George, 9 Natasha Hunt, 1 Mackenzie Carson, 2 Neve Jones, 3 Maud Muir, 4 Sarah Beckett, 5 Sam Monaghan, 6 Georgia Brock, 7 Bethan Lewis, 8 Zoe Aldcroft
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Amy Dale, 17 El Perry, 18 Sisilia Tuipulotu, 19 Kate Williams, 20 Carmen Castellucci, 21 Bianca Blackburn, 22 Millie Hyett, 23 Rachel Lund
EXETER CHIEFS WOMEN: 19
TRIES: 3 (Johnson 48’, Moloney 70’, Buchanan 80’)
CONVERSIONS: (Williams 48’, Tessier 66’)
15 Alex Tessier, 14 Kate Buchanan, 13 Merryn Dodge, 12 Gabby Cantorna, 11 Eilidh Sinclair, 10 Robyn Williams, 9 Brooke Bradley, 1 Demi Swann, 2 Emily Tuttosi, 3 Daleaka Menin, 4 Linde Van Der Velden, 5 Poppy Leitch, 6 Ebony Jefferies, 7 Maisy Allen, 8 Rachel Johnson
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Cliodhna Moloney, 17 Hannah Sams, 18 Lizzie Hanlon, 19 Niam Orchard, 20 Maddie Feaunati, 21 Taz Bricknell, 22 Harriet Millar-Mills, 23 Naomi Brennan
Five talking points: Gloucester-Hartpury 50-19 Exeter Chiefs Women
- Gloucester-Hartpury didn’t let morale drop after first defeat of the season.
Many questioned whether Gloucester-Hartpury would be vulnerable after losing their first game of the season last time out against Saracens. However, this proved to not be the case as today The Circus showed up with one of their best performances of the season.
- Lleucu George scores her first two tries of the season
Welsh fly half Lleucu George has proven to be one of the most influential players on the pitch many times this season with her vision and playmaking abilities. Today she finally scored her first tries of the season, also picking up the Player of the match award.
- Exeter Chiefs fail to make it three consecutive final appearances
The last two seasons have seen Exeter Chiefs reach the final, both times coming up short. If they made the final this season, they would have had the home advantage at Sandy Park but they couldn’t beat the team they lost to in last years final.
- Emma Sing with another world class performance but still no England contract
Last week. The 32 players to receive a Red Roses contract for the 2024/25 season were announced. Emma Sing was once again left out. She also once again put in a brilliant performance for Gloucester-Hartpury, leaving many questioning why she didn’t get a contract.
- Exeter’s change of approach for the second half proved to be effective
The first half saw Exeter Chiefs struggle to make the most out of their possession. Whenever they got into Gloucester-Hartpury’s ‘22, they failed to make the gain line constantly, playing very flat rugby and not being able to find an opening. However, the second half saw the visitors play more running and open rugby, trying kicks to make space and receiving passes with more pace. This led to a closer second half where the scoreline was only Gloucester-Hartpury 24-19 Exeter Chiefs.