Maddison wants Trailfinders to use final defeat as fuel

Barney Maddison and his Trailfinders Women’s side have been left with a bittersweet feeling, but it is one he knows they can use. 

This PWR season’s surprise package reached their first-ever final before losing to Saracens 52-14 at Twickenham Stoop. 

Maddison did not want his side to be content with just beating defending champions Gloucester Hartpury in the final, and knows they can use the result as motivation. 

“We didn’t want to just be seen as happy to be here, that is not the kind of attitude we want within this group,” the PWR Director of Rugby of the Season said.  

“It is finals footy, anything can happen. But we got a massive focus on ourselves this week and how we prepare for the game, and I’ll back these girls to the hilt.  

“You want to have that bittersweet feeling. We have got into the final, but at the same time, the feeling of losing the final is not nice.

“We need to use it to drive ourselves for next year, so if this situation happens again next year, where we are in a final, we can use that emotion, use that energy to potentially get us over the line.” 

Trailfinders had the better chances early on but were unable to convert them into points on the board, and instead Saracens took the lead through Player of the Final Julia Omokhuale. 

Sarries then streaked ahead to a 26-0 half-time lead, adding two more tries to their total early in the second half before Trailfinders could hit back. 

They scored first through Maya Montiel and then Abi Burton, but were never able to reel in Saracens as they won their first title in the PWR era. 

The defeat also marked Kate Zackary’s final game with Trailfinders as she heads off to pastures new. 

The skipper has been part of defining the brand of rugby that has got the West London side to the showpiece, and that was what she wanted her side to come back to as they emerged for the second half. 

She said: “Between the Gloucester semi-final and this one, you let the event take care of itself, that has been the message.

“We can’t worry about it, the fans make it what it is, we just worry about the rugby, it is 80 minutes, you come for a show, that is the focus for us. 

“In that first half, we probably worried too much about them, in every huddle, we talked about what they did well, what was frustrating.  

“So, walking off that pitch, I thought, I don’t want to talk about another Sarries player ever again, I don’t ever want to go to the referee and talk to anyone, that was the emotion.  

“That is when we play best, when we focus on ourselves, we talk about the good things we are doing, the actions we are going to do.  

“That was our reset at half-time, to come out in the second half and as we scored and as we got more confident, we celebrated more, we connected more, and that is the team we want to see.”