Watch Saracens Women vs Harlequins Ladies live on Sky Sports Mix on Saturday; coverage starts at 5.45pm
Friday 26 April 2019 15:04, UK
Saracens reached the Heineken Champions Cup final last weekend, but the women's team are also in the hunt for silverware, looking to make it back-to-back Tyrrells Premier 15s titles.
They face Harlequins Ladies this Saturday at Franklin's Gardens, live on Sky Sports Mix, looking to underline their status as the best English team in the women's game.
But Quins will be confident of upsetting the odds after securing a 20-18 victory earlier in the regular season.
Speaking on the Will Greenwood Podcast, Saracens captain Lotte Clapp said: "It's going to be a huge final against Quins, and we know what a strong side they are. It's going to be a brilliant spectacle of rugby, so it's exciting.
"We have to look at how we can overcome their strengths. I don't think we'll talk about the defeat. It's about looking forward, and perhaps looking at the games Harlequins have recently played.
"We've already watched their Loughborough Lightning game in the semi-final, so it's not about looking too far back. So much has happened since then."
Having topped the regular-season table, Saracens went on to win the 2018 Premier 15s final at Ealing Trailfinders RFC last April.
Sam Martinez Gion, Clapp and Garnet Mackinder scored first-half tries for Saracens, but Holly Myers, Jess Breach and Deborah McCormack replied.
Hannah Botterman's try ensured a devastating 24-20 defeat for Quins, and their captain Rachel Burford hopes her players can convert that disappointment into positive energy this weekend.
Burford said: "The immediate memories of that day is a bit of heartbreak, thinking of the opportunities we had during that game to win it and we didn't take them so it was really disappointing to come away with the loss.
"We're a year on, and aside from a couple of us, the squad is still very young. The semi-final [against Loughborough] was huge pressure for us, and so to perform the way we did bodes extremely well going into the final.
"We feel like we've had a really good season so far. We've had some ups and downs, and perhaps at times we've not put our best foot forward. This weekend, we have the chance to rise to that challenge and do it."
Fifteen of the 28 Red Roses professional players come from these two clubs while only three points have separated them in the two previous fixtures.
Saracens and Harlequins, like last season, are the two outstanding sides in the Tyrrells Premier 15s, blazing a trail at the top of women's rugby.
Clapp, who became the first captain to lift the Tyrrells Premier 15s trophy in its inaugural season last year, added: "Every week you're seeing more and more people coming to watch, and that's not so much just friends and family now.
"It's Saracens supporters, which is brilliant to see. I remember last year when we won in the final, we did a trophy walk at the men's game, and we had a standing ovation around the stands.
"At first, I thought they were standing and applauding something on the pitch that had happened. I didn't realise that they were standing to applaud Saracens Women for walking the trophy around. To have that support is just amazing and it just keep improving.
"More young girls are coming to watch the game and they're aspiring to become Saracens and England Women players.
"It's really special and to be part of it is brilliant, knowing you're paving the way."
A crowd of 10,545 spectators witnessed England's 55-0 thrashing of Italy in March at Exeter's Sandy Park - a record-breaking attendance for a Women's Six Nations fixture.
It was a figure that was higher than half the attendances of the six fixtures in the Gallagher Premiership that same weekend - a reality that seemed a pipe dream only a couple of years ago.
With women's rugby union starting to attract more supporters than their male counterparts, this weekend's battle for supremacy demonstrates how investment has led to huge strides being made.
"The game's had a massive curve in terms of where it's going," added Burford. "When I first became involved, we played on a smaller pitch, inflatable posts at my first ever Sevens international. To see where the game is now is just phenomenal.
"It's leaps and bounds ahead and is nowhere near where it was. With professional contracts coming in, it's taken the game to the next level.
"To have a title sponsor like Tyrrells investing in this league is phenomenal because you can see the talent and development of individuals and teams across the country.
"That's naturally going to feed into the international side. You look at the results for the Red Rose in the Six Nations, and Tyrrells played a massive part in that. It's only going to keep continuing on an upward curve."
Listen to the Will Greenwood Podcast to hear the full interviews with Lotte Clapp and Rachel Burford as well as the panel's analysis of where the game at Franklin's Gardens will be won and lost.
