Saracens
Omokhuale living the Saracens life seamlessly
Saracens head coach Alex Austerberry called Julia Omokhuale a star in the making, and she certainly shone at the PWR Final.
The lock was named Player of the Match as Sarries beat Trailfinders Women 52-14 in the showpiece at Twickenham Stoop.
Omokhuale opened the scoring for Saracens after they had weathered heavy pressure, as the North London side went on to dominate their West London rivals.
“I am thankful, shocked, not expecting it, but I am happy we won,” Omokhuale said of her Player of the Match award. “Happy to be here.”
“The first 10 minutes were a little shaky, but once we found our footing, and everyone did their role and stuck to their job, we seamlessly put a good shift together overall.
“A few yellow cards, a few penalties we had to deal with but we handled it well, we adapted well, rode the wave, stayed calm and came out with the win in the end.
“There were feelings of relief, excitement, pain with the adrenaline wearing off, and then you can feel everything, but I am just super happy to have won with such a special group of girls.”
Omokhuale only joined Saracens this season from Leicester Tigers, although Austerberry admitted he had tried to sign her when she first came to England.
Finally getting to coach her, he has helped Omokhuale transform into an all-around talent, with her scoring exploits matched by some huge hits to dent the progress and confidence of Trailfinders.
She added: “The body is feeling sore, but it is all worth it for the win. Our big mindset was that we wanted to be the ones making the first hit.
“Part of rugby is all about the mindset. If you can bring that physicality and mentality, it makes it so hard for the opposition to get back up when they keep getting hit after hit and keep getting driven back.
“That was really our mindset to build a full 80-minute performance and go from there.
“Trailfinders never for once gave up, and they kept fighting the entire time, and it is very easy to be four tries up, and it is also very easy for that to change in a second.
“It took 80 minutes of work, we couldn’t stop.”
Omokhuale’s season ended with a starring role in the final, but it had begun very differently, after she was not selected in Canada’s Rugby World Cup squad.
However, an injury to Pamphinette Buisa saw her called in as a replacement, but she was not used during the Canucks’ run to the semi-finals.
Her deep links with her Canada teammates helped her settle into life at Sarries, with several of her compatriots at the club, who are now also her housemates, while head coach Kevin Rouet has joined Austerberry’s backroom staff.
As she reflects on what took Sarries from beaten finalists last year to champions this season, it is fitting she chose a Canadian word.
“As someone who has joined the team this year, I think the tempo and speed of play have improved,” the 24-year-old said.
“We say joue, it’s Canadian, we use it to mean play with freedom, fun. If a teammate makes a decision, just back them and be adaptable and play what you see.
“As a collective, as a team, Kevin has been a huge part of that, but the whole mindset shift throughout the team to play more, play fast and be unstoppable.”
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