Gloucester-Hartpury vanquish Sale Sharks to secure the top spot in the Premier 15s

For the first time in history, Gloucester-Hartpury will finish top of the Premier 15s after beating Sale Sharks 48-14.

 In a fixture that was rearranged to allow fans and players to watch Sale’s men play in the Premiership final at Twickenham, the cherry and whites scored 43 unanswered points including a hat trick for Sarah Beckett.

 First-half tries for Sale captain Georgie Perris-Redding and Lauren Delany were all the Sharks could muster as additional tries came from Ellie Rugman, Sarah Bridger, Kelsey Jones, Lisa Neumann, and Connie Powell.

 Reflecting on his side’s win Gloucester-Harptury head coach Sean Lynn said: “It’s amazing.

 “We’re going to really enjoy this today being top of the table but that is just part of the job done. We’ve got that home semi-final and that is what we wanted.

 “At half time we said, ‘This is not us; this is not how Gloucester-Hartpury play.’ We take pride in our accuracy and in our defence. However, full credit to Sale, they came at us and forced our errors but it shows good leadership from these players that they were able to turn that around.”

 With the sun beating down in southwest London, there was a swagger about the Goulcester-Hartpury warm-up. This was a side that knew they could win at any ground in the country.

 With less than three minutes played, the travelling circus stamped their authority on the match, silencing a rowdy northern crowd confident of at least one win on this historic day for Sale.

 Off the back of a successful scrum, Gloucester’s backs were ruthlessly efficient in their efforts to shift the ball through the backs. Their speed created a simple two-on-one down the wing and Ellie Rugman dived over the line for the opening score of the match.

 The Sale shiver dug in and showed some stubborn defending after their earlier lapse. A turnover in midfield was met with a roar from the fans which became thunderous applause as Georgie Perris-Redding stormed through Gloucester-Hartpury and pirouetted past Mia Venner.

 Less than four minutes after Gloucester-Hartpury’s score, Sale’s captain had catapulted her side back into contention and Lizzie Duffy’s conversion gave Sharks the lead.

 Gloucester-Hartpury’s backs continued to challenge Sale as they continued to make metres on just about every phase of play. That was until a loose pass from Sophie Bridger was intercepted and Sale edged back into Gloucester’s half.

 A pinpoint kick from Eti Haungatau was safely gathered by Lauren Delany whose blistering pace was unmatched as she crossed the whitewash in the corner for Sale’s second score in two minutes. 

 Sale caused all sorts of problems in defence for the cherry and whites who fell short on multiple occasions to cut their opponent’s lead. That was until Sale finally gave way to Sarah Beckett, foreshadowing the explosive game she was to have.

 After conceding a penalty, Sale could not repeat their lineout-stealing heroics and Gloucester-Hartpury marched from one side of the pitch to the other before the England forward carried Nicola Howat over the line for her side’s second try of the morning.

 While the cherry and whites were playing a surprisingly error-stricken game, their ability to wear down teams was evident.

 Minutes later Bridger was able to make amends for her earlier interception. In a try that once again displayed the expansive game that Gloucester-Hartpury love to play, Bridger danced her way down the touchline for their third score. 

Having shown off the dynamism of their backs previously in the half, their forwards were eager to get in on the action.

A line-out just inside Sale’s 22 saw the cherry and whites orchestrate an unstoppable maul that drove deep inside the five-metre line before splintering as Kelsey Jones broke off from the side and got the fourth try.

Beckett would get her brace after the break from a dominant scrum but after scoring 24 unanswered points, Gloucester-Hartpury still lacked a clinical edge. Mistakes and slip-ups were far more frequent than would be expected from the team that topped the league.

With the cherry and whites looking for inspiration, they turned to their ever-reliable pack. After a successful lineout 10 metres from the Sale line, the forwards were unstoppable and Connie Powell scored just down the road from the Stoop where she’ll be playing her rugby next season.

Gloucester-Hartpury finally found a groove and Lisa Neumann exploited an opening in the tiring  Sale line. The winger cantered in from halfway and suddenly the visitors had cleared 40 points.

 It did not take long for the visitors to walk back into Sale’s 22 and after Siwan Lillicrap had her efforts held up, Gloucester-Hartpury won a penalty off the subsequent scrum. A quick tap and go gave Sarah Beckett the last laugh of the match scoring her hat trick underneath the posts.

Speaking about Beckett’s Player of the Match performance Lynnn said: “Sarah has been brilliant, her momentum coming from the Six Nations has been brilliant.

 “She gives us go forward in attack everywhere. I didn’t realise she got the hat trick so that’s an amazing achievement!”

 Despite today’s win, the Red Rose was keen to stress that there was still a huge amount of work to be done.

 “As a team, we probably didn’t perform as well as we should have, especially in that first half but we got a rocket at halftime and hopefully righted a few wrongs,” said Beckett.

 “It’s great but it’s not winning the actual league and that’s what we want to do. It’s good momentum going into the playoffs and we are in control of our destiny but there’s a lot more water to go under the bridge.

 “The squad picked me up after that World Cup omission and put me into a good place to go into camp in a good way and hopefully I’m carrying that form over. I owe a lot to Gloucester and to the girls and they allow me to play how I want to play,” the number eight added.

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