Last weekend was an epic weekend of rugby with four semi-finals, each more entertaining than the last. Here are some headlines from an unforgettable few days.
The two defending Champions ran out of gas
Bath and Gloucester-Hartpury were the champions of English domestic rugby in June last year, and both looked set to successfully defend their titles for most of this season. However, both sides saw dips in form which carried into the playoffs. Gloucester-Hartpury were unbeaten going into the Six Nations break but then lost twice in a row to end the season. Bath's decline was worse with losses in Europe and in England. Despite this, both hosted playoff semi-finals and were favourites going into their games. Gloucester-Hartpury lost a tight heart-breaker to Trailfinders women whilst Bath were just centimetres away from beating Exeter.
Bath were missing Finn Russell, and still look strong for next season, so this is just one loss. Gloucester-Hartpury, meanwhile, are facing the end of an era. Several big stars a moving on and teams around the league are strengthening. The PWR is in a good place but the felled Champions will suffer as a result.
A changing of the guard in PWR
As I mentioned above, PWR is becoming a much stronger league. Gloucester-Hartpury will still be strong next season but the loss of several stars will undoubtedly bring them back to the pack. Leicester Tigers have already committed to investing more in their squad, and have already made 2 big signings, and they are far from the only team doing so. Sale Sharks have attracted some big stars from last season's champions whilst Ealing and Loughborough are continuing to build on their success.
This was one of the best ever playoff weekends in English rugby's history
We can look positively to the future of women's rugby in England, but let's focus on the past weekend of rugby as well. It kicked off on Friday night with an East Midlands derby that was played at test-match intensity. Northampton emerged victorious from that thriller. That was followed by an unbelievably tense encounter between Bath and Exeter. The hosts were winning 26-10 at half-time but fell to a 26-27 defeat when the final whistle was blown. Bath racked up over 40 phases inside Exeter's 22 before being held up over the line to end the game. Bath fans were left infuriated by the team's refusal to take what looked like an easy drop goal. Bath fans will have plenty of time to fume over those missed opportunities whilst the Chiefs are heading to the Allianz Stadium to take on Northampton.
On Sunday, it was the turn of PWR and the league delivered 2 epic games of rugby. In the first, Trailfinders defeated Gloucester-Hartpury 29-26 at Kingsholm (temporarily re-named as Queensholm) in their first ever PWR playoff game. Meg Jones' team will now head to the Twickenham Stoop to claim the ultimate domestic title against their London Neighbours, Saracens. The Wolf Pack just about saw off Exeter at the StoneX Stadium on Sunday afternoon despite an ailing scrum and an uncharacteristically poor performance from Zoe Harrison. Jess Breach stepped up with a couple of superb tries whilst Olivia Apps dominated at scrum-half in attack and moonlighted as a flanker in defence. She has more than earned her player of the season title. Saracens are now the major favourites to win the title and will have to handle a new level of pressure.
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