JAECOO Next Gen Cup: Saracens and Trailfinders progress as Pool winners

Saracens and Trailfinders Women progressed to the knockout stages of the JAECOO Next Gen Cup as Pool winners after the final round of Pool fixtures.

Sarries saw off Exeter Chiefs on home soil while Trailfinders found their groove away to Gloucester Hartpury on Sunday.

Loughborough Lightning took East Midlands bragging rights over Leicester Tigers while Bristol Bears got the better of Harlequins.

Saracens maintain perfect record in Pool A

Saracens’ defence of their JAECOO Next Gen Cup crown is very much on track as they finished top of Pool A with maximum points after beating Exeter Chiefs 46-19 at StoneX Stadium.

Tori Sellors opened the scoring for the home side, but Exeter built a two-point lead on 10 minutes when Lola Whitley scored on the break and Liv McGoverne added the extras.

Sarries hit back with a pair of converted tries of their own through Morgan Freeman and Jodie Verghese, with Amelia MacDougall proving clinical on both occasions from the tee.

Emily Robinson’s try just before the break kept Exeter in the hunt, but it was one-way traffic after the break in favour of the hosts.

Poppy Cleall crossed on 48 minutes to make it 24-14 before Exeter got one back through Deborah Wills out wide.

Charlotte Wright-Haley bumped Sarries’ advantage up to 10 points and the home side then went through the gears as Akina Gondwe’s brace and Lucy Moss’ effort put the icing on the cake.

Trailfinders produce strong performance to top Pool B

Trailfinders Women produced an excellent display in the southwest as they beat Gloucester Hartpury 65-7 to top Pool B.

The win ensured they remained unbeaten throughout the pool stage, and they started fast on their travels as Scarlett Down dashed over after just five minutes.

She scored again 22 minutes later, as Trailfinders amassed five first half tries to lead 31-0 at the break.

The flow of the game continued into the second half as Ruby Tui was able to score on 44 minutes, with Amanda McQuade and Grace White also joining her on the scoreboard following Erin Bradley’s yellow card.

Tui scored again on the hour, with two further Trailfinders tries coming 13 minutes afterwards.

But Molly Bunker's late finish and Ellie Green’s conversion ensured Gloucester registered points on the board before time was called.

Atkin-Davies delights for Bristol in win

World Cup winner Lark Atkin-Davies scored twice on her return to competitive rugby after giving birth to her first child as Bristol Bears beat Harlequins 58-24.

The 31-year-old bagged the game’s first two tries to give the visitors a 10-0 lead, but Quins hit back through Grace Keel and Katie Shillaker.

Bristol responded with tries from Holly Phillips and Rownita Marston-Mulhearn, giving the visitors a 22-12 lead at the break.

Phillips then took control of the game as she completed her hat-trick with two more tries inside four minutes of the second half to push the scoreline to 41-12.

Phoebe Murray then dotted down to extend the lead further and despite two further Quins tries, Bristol, who progress in second place, never lost control as Phillips bagged a fourth before Millie David rounded off the scoring late on.

Lightning down Tigers in East Midlands clash

Both Loughborough Lightning and Leicester Tigers were playing for pride in this clash, and the first half was an attritional affair as Ellie Tromans’ try was the only thing separating the two sides at the break.

Loughborough pulled away during the second half as Grace Clifford and Tamsin Baynes both crossed the whitewash to put the home side 17-0 up.

Ellie Roberts’ yellow card presented Leicester with a chance, and Izzy McGuire Evans duly got her side on the scoreboard.

But Hermione Farmer’s yellow card gave the advantage back to Loughborough, who scored minutes later through Aoibhe Kelly, with Carmela Morrall’s conversion making it 24-5.

Jemima McCalman’s late try reduced the deficit for Leicester, but Loughborough held on to win 24-10.