SARACENS Women and Harlequins Ladies warmed up for their home Premier 15s semi-finals in emphatic style with dominant wins in the final round of regularseason fixtures.
Sarries were already guaranteed top spot even before a ball was passed on the last weekend but that mattered little as they downed Firwood Waterloo Ladies 64-0 thanks to a Lotte Clapp hat-trick.
It took 15 minutes for the first try to come, Nina Vistisen breaking the deadlock before captain and England international Clapp benefitted from a high ball to make it 10-0 – a position from which Saracens never looked back.
The tries kept coming as Sarah McKenna crossed next, while Clapp had a hat-trick before the break as Saracens went into halftime at 25-0.
A wonderful line saw Hannah Duffy score before Hannah Botterman and wing Georgie Lingham rounded off the evening – the latter scoring the try of the match with a wonderful sidestep.
Sarries hit 64 points and Quins almost matched them with a 62-0 win over Gloucester-Hartpury to perfectly set up their semi-final with Loughborough Lightning.
A record crowd of 4,837 turned up at The Stoop and were entertained with a nine-try showing from Quins.
Heather Cowell scored the first try after 14 minutes and Quins did not look back from there with Vickii Cornborough, Emily Scott and Leanne Riley all crossing before the break.
And the second half was much the same with Davinia Catlin crossing twice and tries from Jade Konkel, Chloe Butler and Deborah McCormack wrapping up the impressive bonus-point win. The rest of the season may focus on action at the top but once again the bottom of the table delivered a wonderful story, with Worcester Valkyries signing off in style.
Having waited so long for a win in the competition, it was fitting that two came along in quick succession, downing DMP Sharks 26-20.
Lark Davies and Lisa Campbell went over before the break as Worcester stamped their authority on the contest, 18-3 up at the break. But they had to withstand a Shark attack, the away side bagging two tries in quick succession, with Fiona Dewar grabbing the second.
Another Goddard penalty helped ensure that the Valkyries would get their just desserts, with Rosie Blount's going over late on for the Sharks.
Wasps will visit Saracens in the semi-finals next month and they warmed up for the contest with a win, battling past a spirited Bristol Bears side 25-17. After a frantic start Claudia Macdonald, capped four times by England, latched on to an overthrown line-out and ran 80 metres unchallenged to put Wasps in front.
Red Roses star Abigail Dow slipped out of a challenge to extend her side's advantage on the half-hour but Clara Nielson reduced arrears with a try to make it 15-5 at halftime. Lizzie Goulden edged Wasps further ahead with a penalty after the interval before Sarah Bern crashed through contact to dot down and give the visitors a sniff. Dow was at her clinical best to put the game out of sight with a close-range score on 72 minutes, although Florence Long dampened spirits with a try in the final stages. Fourteen wins and four defeats makes nice reading for Loughborough Lightning, ending their league campaign with a comprehensive 46-0 win against Richmond.
Carys Williams crossed twice, the first thanks to excellent work by Emily Scarratt, who soon bagged a try of her own. World Cup-winning captain Katy Daley- Mclean added a score of her own, while captain Sarah Hunter got in on the act on a tough afternoon for Richmond.
