By Charlie Elliott
Watch Gloucester-Hartpury v Saracens in the PWR Final, live on TNT Sports 1 and discovery+ from 2pm on Sunday 16th March
The Premiership Women’s rugby ends this weekend, with Saracens and Gloucester battling it out to win a memorable title at the StoneX Stadium.
A win for the Cherry and Whites would make it three in a row, a first in the PWR. It would also put them level on titles with Saracens since the restructuring of the league in 2017.
With it being the same year as the World Cup in England, it is a great time to put on a spectacle and encourage fans to support the Red Roses in the Summer.
Former Red Roses star Katy Daly-McLean previewed Sunday’s clash while also looking at the wider picture of where the league is at the moment.
Classic Final
“I think it’s going to be a classic final. I think both Gloucester and Sarries are going to go after this game for different reasons. We’re going to see a bit of a battle of the packs.
“I think we’re going to see a real physical, niggly game. And then what I’m really hoping for is we get that, and we get a bit of the physical stuff, and the opportunity for people like Jess Breach and Emma Sing to really unleash and if we get a little bit of all of that, I think we’re going to have an awesome game.”
With the former fly-half now retired from playing and in a technical role at Sale Sharks, she has overseen a lot of change for the women’s game since she started out as a player.
Speaking on the importance of women’s rugby being visible for people to see, she said:
“The visibility is born because we obviously want to inspire young girls to be able to participate in rugby at whatever level, whether it’s grassroots or whether they aspire to play internationally, rugby is such a great game to get kids and young people playing.
“And then, it also just the quality of where the PWR is now an elite level league. For me, the change in the game, the physicality, the tactical decision making.
“The game has really, really moved on so that the visibility point is so important, because we want people to appreciate that and to give them a choice.
“Because the product is so good if you watch it, I feel like you’ll want to stay and watch more.”
Difference since retirement
A lot has changed in the short time since she retired, talking about a key difference that she has seen since her playing days, Daly-McLean said:
“On the field, I think the product is so entertaining. I think the skill level of the girls is unbelievable, coupled with their physicality, their pace, their power. The athletic development of the group has been huge.
“You look at the talent of the younger players coming through your Millie David’s, and how comfortable they are just fitting in there. Just the capability of it at such a young age. Like, that’s what she’s been doing all her life.
“That’s amazing. And then off field is just the level of investment, the professionalism at the league we only used to see at international level, and realistically, it was probably only really with England who were really ahead of the times at that point, whereas now, the base level of what you expect at international has gone down into the PWR.”
Giving her score prediction for the final, she said:
“I think Gloucester by seven points.”
READ MORE: PWR – Gloucester-Hartpury set sights on making it three in a row
