Aldcroft imperious, Dow hits hot form, Leitch leads tackle charts, Saracens are making a fortress

ALLIANZ Premiership Women's Rugby returned with a bang at the weekend as both Bristol Bears and Exeter Chiefs clinched semi-final spots and the race for home advantage became more intense.

There were stunning performances across the country, all contained in the Opta Ratings but amongst the standout performances were:

• Gloucester-Hartpury’s Zoe Aldcroft was successful from 24/24 of her tackle attempts against Loughborough Lightning, only Emily Tuttosi (30/30 v Harlequins) and Georgie Perris-Redding (26/26 v Loughborough Lightning) have made more without missing any in an Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby match this season.
• Emma Sing's hugely impressive kicking performance against Lightning ensured she became the first player through 100 points this season while our Player of the Week, Abby Dow, closed the gap in the try-scoring charts on the leader Marlie Packer.
• Morwenna Talling topped the Opta Ratings for ball carries while no one went further with ball in hand than Emily Scott. Shannon Ikahihifo beat most defenders in the league while Dow made the most line breaks.
• Gloucester-Hartpury’s win against Loughborough Lightning was their 14th in a row since the start of the Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby season, extending what is the longest winning start by a team at the beginning of a new season – it was both the most points that the Circus have scored (61) and conceded (28) in a league game this season.
• After their win against the Trailfinders (40-10), Exeter Chiefs have now won each of their last two Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby matches by margins of 30 points or more, the first time they’ve won back-to-back games by margins of 20+ points in the league this term.
• Across the season Poppy Leitch is league's top tackler on 193, while May Campbell is queen of the breakdown steals with 13 to her name.
• Saracens have now won each of their last 13 Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby home matches, the longest active run of any side in the league and have scored exactly 54 points in each of their last two, their two highest home tallies in the league this term.
• Harlequins have now won each of their last two Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby home matches after losing their first four of the season, conceding just 24 points across those matches – previously, they hadn’t conceded fewer than 29 points in a home game this term.
• Loughborough Lightning made 170 carries and completed 249 passes against Gloucester-Hartpury, both the highest tallies of any team at the weekend and Loughborough’s two highest in an Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby match this season.
• Sale Sharks completed 20 offloads against Saracens. just the third time that a team has made 20+ offloads in an Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby game this season and the first time a team has done so since Bristol Bears against Exeter Chiefs on MD10 (also Harlequins, MD6).
• Harlequins missed just seven tackles against Leicester Tigers, the second fewest by any team in an Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby match this season (Bristol Bears, 3 v Trailfinders on MD5) – it was Harlequins’ fewest in the league overall since missing just six against DMP Sharks in January 2023.