Saracens overcome Bristol Bears in nail-biting encounter, to keep home semi-final dream alive

Saracens took another step towards a home semi-final after beating Bristol Bears 48-38 in a thriller for the ages.

 In a game that advertised the very best of the Premier 15s, the two top-four sides scored 12 tries between them including braces for Grace Moore and Lark Davies. Further tries came from; Phoebe Murray, May Campbell, Marlie Packer, Lottie Clapp, Deborah Wills, Poppy Cleall, Courtney Keight, and Coreen Grant completed the score sheet.

 Saracens Director of Rugby Alex Austerberry hailed his side’s resilience to triumph at the death and secure a vital five points in the playoff race.

 “It was certainly an exciting one,” he said. “End-to-end stuff with some really well-crafted scores from both teams. It’s exciting for the fans but not so much for the coaches.

 “I don’t think you can underestimate the importance of finding ways to win in tough games against teams that are in knock-out rugby with you.

 “It’s the cheap ones that we gave away that we’re going to have to go and have a look at because when it gets to the business end of the season, you can’t give freebies away.

 “A little bit disappointed with some of our elements but I thought our intent and our line speed was more about us. So it’s about how can we capture that and just get rid of some of those soft shoulders and how to manage a real attacking threat without clean line breaks because those at this level will kill you.”

No sooner than fans had found their seats after kick-off, Bristol roared into life. After an early scrum, the visitors executed a textbook set piece move and quick hands from scrum-half Lucy Burgess,  fly-half Elinor Snowsill, and then Murray gave Bears the first score after less than a minute.

For the next 10 minutes, the defending champions were a shell of themselves. Charged-down kicks and lineout miscommunication combined to create a nervous crowd, stunned by this early underperformance.

 Campbell generated the momentum swing that Saracens were desperate for. The hooker, who recently won her England debut, forced a turnover and secured the subsequent lineout as she latched herself onto the back of an unstoppable driving maul which thundered over the whitewash for the hosts to equalise the match.

 Saracens would kick on through their stalwart of a captain. Packer, who had recently signed a contract extension with the north London club overpowered Bristol just inches out from the try line. Meg Barwick and Lucy Skuse went high, Packer went low and there was only going to be one outcome at close range for the Red Roses flanker.

 Bristol set their forwards to work and throughout the match, their scrum had been a reliable source of momentum. A lineout just metres out from the Saracens line presented an opportunity to convert this into points.  

 In a similar fashion to their opponents, Bristol’s maul was lethal and Davies scored the first of her tries off the back of it.

 The scoreline continued to fluctuate between the two teams throughout the opening 40 minutes and the next score was never far away. Set pieces proved to be a vital catalyst for tries and a lightning pass from Holly Aitchison found Jess Breach from a scrum and the fullback cut through Bristol’s defence and thundered nearly halfway up the pitch before being brought down by Keight, five metres out from the Bristol line. Moore scored the inevitable try from close range.

 Bristol regained their composure in the final stages of the half and once again found hope in their forwards. Another driving maul with five minutes to go led to another Davies score and a penalty from Snowsill on the stroke of halftime gave her side a five-point lead at the break.

 While Saracens remerged with a rejuvenated desire to host a home semi-final, both sides brought an attacking flair that created serious contenders for try of the season.

 The hosts struck first as Moore escaped down the wing like a runaway train for her brace. This was followed 10 minutes later by a looping pass from Aitchison out wide to Lotte Clapp for the fifth score by the hosts.

 Bristol drew level once more as Deborah Wills broke free from over 30 metres out. The winger was untouched as she ran from right to left, keeping Bears firmly in contention with 20 minutes to go.

 The second half was quickly conjuring up scenes of a late-round slug-fest in the middle of a boxing ring. Blows continued to be traded in the form of spectacular tries and Cleall became the latest to get in on the action.

 The number eight linked up superbly with Sarah McKenna as quick hands back and forth between them gave the hosts the lead once more.

 Anything Saracens could do, Bristol would respond. Keight stepped up and played first receiver to replacement Keira Bevan and the winger was clear of any Saracens defenders before they could figure out what happened. Keight danced around a scrambling Sarries back three and the score was level again.

Grant kept her side’s hopes alive as she dived over the whitewash with just five minutes remaining.

 Aitchison sealed the unbelievable win with a penalty in the 80th minute. Her boot denied Bristol a losing bonus point which means that Bears are more than likely to finish fourth in the regular season.

 It was also a day of milestones for the hosts with Ella Wyrwas running out for her 50th appearance and a chance for the fans to thank Kat Evans and Vicky Fleetwood who have both announced their retirement from the sport.

 Austerberry said: “Ella has come through from the amateur side and made her senior debut here and then went to Loughborough University. She came back and she has grown and developed into a superb player. She works incredibly hard and to cap it off she’s an outstanding individual.

 “She’s fantastic to have around the place and a fantastic output on the field. I hope this is one milestone of many to come in her career.

 “I want to thank Kat Evans. She has over 200 games not out for the club, hopefully, a few more appearances in a Saracens shirt! I think she has been a great servant for rugby both for Saracens and with Wales so it’s fantastic to give her a goodbye here today. Hopefully, it’s not the last time we play here.

 “Vicky Fleetwood has had an unbelievable career for England across two formats and then with us so it was nice that we got to say thank you to those guys today in front of a home crowd today,” he added.

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