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Trailfinders beat defending champions Gloucester Hartpury to reach PWR final
Trailfinders Women put an end to the Gloucester Hartpury dynasty and booked their place in the Premiership Women's Rugby final with a nail-biting 29-26 win at 'Queensholm'.
A magic performance from Meg Jones, along with a brace from Isla Norman-Bell and tries from Maya Montiel and Emma Uren, earned Trailfinders the hard-fought win in their first taste of PWR knockout rugby.
The semi-final debutants will now face the winners of Saracens and Exeter Chiefs on 28 June in the final at Twickenham Stoop.
Trailfinders started strongly but the momentum quickly shifted and the Circus scored the first points ten minutes in, when Tatyana Heard powered through between the posts after a dominant scrum.
Fly half Lleucu George calmly converted, but that was as good as it got for the home side in the first half.
Trailfinders delivered the perfect response when Montiel scored her first PWR try of the season after a collective team effort and the tries kept coming for the visitors, as Jones collected a Claire Gallagher kick and sprinted down the left wing to score.
Niamh Gallagher placed her conversion perfectly to put Trailfinders five points ahead at the 20-minute mark.
The free-flowing rugby continued throughout the half and the away team’s next try came from another piece of Claire Gallagher magic.
The Canada international chased her own kick down a significant stretch of the pitch, before a well-executed offload to Norman-Bell.
The wing touched the ball down between the posts, leaving Niamh Gallagher in an optimal position to convert.
Another Trailfinders try followed just before half time, after Jones collected a cross-field kick from Claire Gallagher and offloaded to Uren, who touched it down just left of the posts.
Although Niamh Gallagher put the conversion slightly wide, Barney Maddison’s side were all smiles leaving the pitch with a 24-7 lead.
Gloucester Hartpury started the second half with newfound energy in response, and the reigning champions' hard work was rewarded when Rachel Lund scored in the corner after a brilliant offload from Nel Metcalfe.
George duly converted and, with the 'Queensholm' crowd only getting louder, the comeback continued.
The Circus’ next try came from a scrum once more, Georgia Brock going over and George converting again to narrow the gap to three points.
Just seconds later, however, the visitors responded with another Norman-Bell try to give them valuable breathing room with 25 minutes remaining.
Dan Murphy’s team were not going down without a fight, throwing carry after carry at the Trailfinders’ defence, which eventually led to Hannah Dallavalle scoring in the 67th minute.
With three points separating the two teams, Trailfinders produced a gritty defensive effort to hold on and secure their place in the PWR final for the first time, in just their third season.
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