Gloucester-Hartpury 34-19 Exeter Chiefs: Hosts secure first Premier 15s title at renamed Queensholm in front of record crowd
Kelsey Jones, Rachel Lund, Sarah Beckett, Lisa Neumann scored tries for victorious Gloucester-Hartpury in Premier 15s final vs Exeter Chiefs; Glos also awarded a penalty try in contest; Title is first for hosts, with final held at 'Queensholm' in front of record crowd of nearly 10,000
By Michael Cantillon at Queensholm
Last Updated: 24/06/23 11:50pm
Gloucester-Hartpury secured their first Premier 15s title as they proved too strong for Westcountry rivals Exeter Chiefs in a 34-19 victory at a renamed Queensholm.
Played at the home of Gloucester Rugby, Kingsholm, the stadium changed its name for a week for the showpiece club game in women's rugby, with nearly 10,000 fervent fans marking a record attendance.
Hooker Kelsey Jones, outside-centre Rachel Lund, No 8 Sarah Beckett and replacement back Lisa Neumann scored tries for the hosts, who were also awarded a penalty try when Exeter wing Claudia MacDonald intentionally batted the ball out of in-goal.
Beckett was also sin-binned for a high tackle in the first half, and perhaps lucky to avoid red, while accomplished full-back Emma Sing added seven points with the boot.
Hooker Emily Tuttosi, fly-half Liv McGoverne and back-row Ebony Jeffries scored tries in defeat for Exeter, but their inability to take chances and wrestle enough territory in the contest left them a long way short in the end, as MacDonald and centre Kate Zakary were both sin-binned on the day.
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Exeter may have displayed an ability to offload from the kick off, but it was the hosts who created the first threatening spell of the final, as nine waves of attack in the Chiefs 22 gave way to a penalty under the sticks when the visitors stole the ball illegally.
Gloucester-Hartpury chose to kick to the corner, rather than take the simple points on offer, and a well-formed maul, which never moved at any great pace but continually crept forward as Exeter gave everything to try and halt it, eventually led to Wales international Jones leaping over for the first try of the game on five minutes.
Home co-captain Natasha Hunt appeared to be in for a second try within moments after a crucial error from Exeter full-back Merryn Doidge - who kicked to touch from deep, but only after the ball had been spilled back into the Chiefs 22, and so carried back. It awarded Glos another close-range line-out, from where Hunt and wing Ellie Rugman traded passes in a one-two to get over.
On further inspection with the TMO, however, the try was ruled out as replays showed Exeter centre Gabby Cantorna had done remarkably to get her thigh and arm under the ball in-goal.
On 20 minutes, Exeter finally strung some notes together in attack within the Gloucester half, as a superbly formed and orchestrated rolling maul ate up metres into the 22, from where the Chiefs attacked hard at the try-line, only for try-scorer Jones to conjure up a vital defensive breakdown penalty under her own posts, in a play as valuable as her earlier score.
Exeter's MacDonald next knocked on down the left wing when a gorgeous pass from Zackary had taken out two defenders, before 15 phases of attack within the Gloucester 22 saw the hosts stretched from side to side, and only a poor pass from scrum-half Flo Robinson saw a certain try passed up.
Play was stopped with Exeter still in possession when referee Dan Jones noticed a high tackle from Gloucester-Hartpury back-row Beckett on Chiefs prop Hope Rogers, and after a sustained TMO review, she was shown yellow for an upright hit, and fortunate to avoid red for head contact.
Exeter took advantage immediately, as after kicking to the corner, they put together a rolling maul which at one stage sprinted forward, before Tuttosi grounded just over the line. The Chiefs then had the lead when McGoverne converted via a heavy deflection off the post.
A huge mistake from the visitors at the restart handed 14-player Gloucester-Hartpury a five-metre scrum to attack from, though, as MacDonald knocked on a Nichola Fryday spillage, and within moments, the hosts regained the lead at 10-7 when centre Lund showed her power to take contact and race over in the corner - Sing just striking wide with the difficult conversion.
Beckett returned from her sin-binning with Exeter having been unable to score again, and in the final play of the half, things got worse for the Chiefs when Beckett herself sprung over for a third Gloucester-Hartpury score from a yard or two out. Sing converted assuredly, too, for a 17-7 half-time lead.
Gloucester-Hartpury started on top in the second half, when lineout and breakdown turnovers in quick succession saw midfielder Lund attack hard at pace down the left, and tackled high.
On penalty advantage, George produced a clever kick to the corner, which seemed to just allude Rugman, but a TMO review proved MacDonald had intentionally knocked the ball put of play, and so a penalty try was awarded, with MacDonald also sin-binned.
It left Exeter staring at a daunting 24-7 deficit, and their attempts to reply with a try straightaway were just stopped when a Rogers pick-and-go carry was held up in-goal after a phenomenal piece of defence from George.
Numbers were levelled to 14 vs 14 on 48 minutes when Lund leapt into an upright tackle which appeared to do more harm to herself than her opponent, and was duly sin-binned, but Exeter's profligacy appeared its ugly head again soon after, as a five-metre line-out was botched.
Five minutes later, Exeter were finally in for their second try, as quick ball facilitated an attack which saw McGoverne dive over out wide, but then wildly miss the conversion, leaving the score 24-12.
On 57 minutes, Gloucester-Hartpury's Sing showed off her prowess as arguably the best place-kicker in women's rugby, drilling over from 43 metres out with a wonderful strike off the tee to put the hosts' lead beyond two scores.
The remainder of the contest saw Gloucester-Hartpury in the ascendency, with Exeter seemingly unable to execute the exit opportunities that came their way, and when centre Zackary was sin-binned for a cynical offside, it paved the way for a fifth home try late on as replacement Neumann sprinted, with the Exeter defence cramped narrow due to the pressure they were under.
Exeter would have the final say as far as the scoreboard was concerned, as Jeffries touched down with a consolation try, but it was Gloucester-Hartpury's players and fans celebrating joyously at the final whistle.
