Aldcroft hails Gloucester-Hartpury's defence after semi-final success

Gloucester-Hartpury remain on track for a Premiership Women’s Rugby hat-trick thanks to their relentless defence according to co-captain Zoe Aldcroft.

The Circus came out on top 36-20 in a semi-final clash with Bristol Bears that was a repeat of a last year’s final.

Trailing 10-0 early on at Queensholm, the champions were able to turn the game on its head before half time, leading 19-10 at the break.

While Bears got back in it a couple of times in the second half, Hannah Jones’ try and the boot of Emma Sing finally swung the game Gloucester-Hartpury’s way for good, setting up a tantalising final against Saracens at the StoneX in a fortnight.

Aldcroft got one of five tries for the hosts, but was adamant that it was their work without the ball that made the difference, along with excellent efficiency when chances came their way.

She said: “We knew we would have to be in it for the full 80. They came out firing at the start and we knew we needed those next couple of tries to get the momentum back with us. We knew defence was going to win us the game and that is what we’ve really been working on.

“When we got into the 22, we came alive and we were unstoppable in that area. Maybe this season we haven’t been so accurate with it, but today when we got into there, we really lit it up.

“We love these Championship games, we really rise to the occasion. Hopefully we can train so hard these next couple of weeks and take on Saracens in the final.”

Zoe Aldcroft doing Zoe Aldcroft things 👌

Another big performance from the @gloshartpury co-captain who finishes from close range.#GLOvBRI | #PWR pic.twitter.com/wctLd5bLCx

— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) March 2, 2025

It was an emotional occasion for Gloucester-Hartpury, with coach Sean Lynn taking charge at home for the final time before he takes over as Wales coach.

And Aldcroft’s co-captain Mo Hunt explained how the team both used that emotion, while also telling Lynn that his charges were not done yet.

She added: “I texted Sean yesterday because he said he was going to be emotional driving through the gates. I told him we don’t need emotion because we’ve got two more weeks in us. He said he wasn’t going to speak in the pre-match and I said you have to, you galvanize us.

“The girls were nearly in tears, he was talking about how much we inspire those around us, his daughters to play rugby, his little boy to play rugby. Our defence coach Rhys (Oakley) said ‘and mine’. The girls were in tears about it because he really does inspire us and everyone adores him.”

Look at what it means 🙌@gloshartpury reach the #PWR final once again. pic.twitter.com/jzSMjhcXGQ

— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) March 2, 2025

For Bears, it means the wait for a first title goes on another year, although they pushed Gloucester-Hartpury all the way with four tries including an early double for Lark Atkin-Davies.

Coach Dave Ward was proud of his team, but is already looking ahead to next season to close the gap even further.

He added: "Gloucester did what Gloucester do. They are very efficient, I think they are the most efficient in the opposition 22. We let in some soft tries, we’ve done that all season, we need to address that for next season, and they punished us for it.

“I still think we’ve got an attack to take on anyone, we’ve got a maul to take on anyone and we’ve got a scrum to take on anyone. It’s the little bits in between.”