Saracens vs Trailfinders Women

Kickoff: 3pm, Sunday 28th June

Venue: The Twickenham Stoop

Watch on: TNT Sports 1

Key to the game: Can Trailfinders keep up with Saracens? Saracens play an electric brand of rugby which, so far, has been too much for opponents to handle. However, Trailfinders will be feeling quietly confident about this game. The semi-finals will have given the underdogs some confidence coming into this one. Beating Gloucester-Hartpury twice in 3 weeks was obviously a big deal but the way that Saracens were pushed by Exeter will have been very heartening. The Chiefs were able to use their pack to impose their own style onto Saracens and keep them in check. Exeter's scrum was dominant and gave them a platform that stopped Saracens from dominating. If not for a moment of brilliance from Jess Breach, Exeter would be in this final instead.

Saracens are definitely the favourites in this game but, through the likes of Meg Jones and Abi Burton, Trailfinders have enough quality to cause an upset. These teams met in the final round of the regular season and Saracens won 80-14 at StoneX Stadium. That was against a rotated team so there is little worry from that encounter. What might give them more cause for concern is their 57-5 defeat at the hands of Saracens in November. I think Saracens are still too strong for their opponents this weekend and are a bad match-up for Ealing. I'd be surprised if this is particularly close.

Team news

Saracens

Starting XV
1.Kelsey Clifford 2.Bryony Field 3.Donna Rose 4.Julia Omokhuale 5.Laetitia Royer

6.Gabrielle Senft 7.Marlie Packer(C) 8.Sophie de Goede 9.Olivia Apps 10.Zoe Harrison

11.Sydney Gregson 12.Sophie Bridger 13.Emma Hardy 14.Alysha Corrigan 15.Jess Breach

Bench

16.Carmen Tremelling 17.Liz Crake 18.Chloe Flanagan 19.Georgia Evans 

20.Poppy Cleall 21.Tori Sellors 22.Amelia MacDougall 23.Lotte Sharp

Trailfinders Women

Starting XV

1.Alivia Leatherman 2.Georgia Ponsonby 3.Maya Montiel 4.Emma Wassell 5.Alana Borland

6.Haidee Head 7.Kate Zackary(C) 8.Abi Burton 9.Isla Norman-Bell 10.Claire Gallagher

11.Grace White 12.Carys Cox 13.Meg Jones 14.Vicky Laflin 15.Rosie Inman

Bench

16.Cristina Blanco 17.Annabel Meta 18.Cassandra Tuffnail 19.Emma Taylor

20.Rachel Malcolm 21.Sally Williams 22.Brooke Bradley 23.Niamh Gallagher