Champions hopes of retaining Allianz Premiership 15’s title ended by semi-final loss at Saracens

Reigning champions Harlequins defence of their Allianz Premier 15’s title was ended at the semi-final stage by former champions Saracens who proved to strong at home for Quins.

The visitors were under pressure straight from the off by conceding five penalties in a row. Pressure paid off for Saracens when they opened the scoring in the 15th minute following a trademark Sarries driving maul. England forward Poppy Cleall crashed over.

Four minutes later the hosts went into a 12-0 lead when Marlie Packer spun around and touched down. The home side increased their lead through a Alev Kelter penalty kick.

It took Harlequins a while to get some sort of foothold into the game, but gradually they started to force pressure on Sarries which resulted in the home side penalised for a succession of penalties which resulted in Kelter being sent to the bin.

The one-woman advantage saw Quins get their first points on the board when winger Jess Breach crossed in the corner.

The visitors thought they had scored their second try of the afternoon, but it was ruled out for a forward pass.

Despite the momentum swinging back to the Londoners, Saracens scored right on the stroke of half-time when Cleall went over in the corner for her second try of the game following a line out driving maul to give Saracens a 22-5 lead at the interval.

Withing five minutes of the restart Saracens added their fourth try of the afternoon following yet another powerful driving maul when May Campbell crossed.

Three more points from the boot of Kelter put the game out of Harlequins. However, the visitors did have the last word when a Harlequins driving maul was successful when Amy Cokayne went over two minutes from time.

Saracens Women  30  Harlequins Women  10

Allianz Premier 15’s semi-final Sunday 22^nd May 2022

By Peter Moore

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