THE LOWDOWN ON ALLIANZ PWR ROUND 17

Saracens secured a home semi-final thanks to their narrow 33-31 win over Gloucester Hartpury in Round 17.

A packed Saturday of fixtures also brought wins for Loughborough Lightning, Bristol Bears and Sale Sharks.

Saracens 33-31 Gloucester-Hartpury - StoneX Stadium

Saracens came out on top in a 10-try thriller in North London to secure themselves a home semi-final and inflict Gloucester-Hartpury’s first loss of the season.

The Cherry & Whites got the scoring underway in the capital when Georgia Brock burrowed across the whitewash with scarcely two minutes played.

Saracens battled back with scores for Kelsey Clifford, Sydney Gregson and May Campbell to take the lead into the break.

Having not trailed much this season, Gloucester-Hartpury stoked the fires in the second half with tries from El Perry and Neve Jones, with Emma Sing’s conversions levelling matters.

Both teams exchanged a score each in the minutes that followed, with Poppy Cleall dotting down for the hosts and Sarah Beckett sent across by Zoe Aldcroft.

Campbell rumbled across for a decisive Saracens score, with Zoe Harrison’s conversion ultimately proving to be the difference between the teams as Sing failed to convert Jones’ second try of the afternoon late on.

Saracens - 33

Tries - Clifford, Gregson, Campbell (2), Cleall

Gloucester-Hartpury - 31

Tries - Brock, Perry, Jones (2), Beckett

Trailfinders Women 18-19 Loughborough Lightning - Trailfinders Sports Club

Loughborough Lightning’s hopes of finishing fifth this season were boosted by a 19-18 win over Trailfinders Women in West London.

It took three minutes for the East Midlands outfit to take the lead, with Rugby World Cup winner Laura Keates finding the whitewash from close range.

In response Abby Dow finished a flowing Trailfinders move down the left wing, and a pair of penalties for Ellie Green helped Giselle Mather’s team take control of the fixture.

Green was instrumental in Trailfinders’ next stroke of genius, the fly-half sending a pinpoint cross-field kick to Vicky Laflin to race home.

Lightning maintained a foothold in the fixture with a Kathryn Treder score at the back of the maul.

Treder then helped provide the winning touch in the 56th minute, as the maul again provided a platform to strike from.

Loughborough held on to set up their final game of the season against Saracens in the best possible way.

Trailfinders Women - 18

Tries - Dow, Laflin

Loughborough Lightning - 19

Tries - Keates, Treder (2)

Harlequins 25-47 Bristol Bears - Twickenham Stoop

Bristol Bears continued their superb form with a 47-25 win over Harlequins at The Stoop. 

Lisa Neumann intercepted a loose pass to give Harlequins the early lead but that advantage last only four minutes as Rownita Marston-Mulhearn broke past two tacklers to put Bristol on the board. 

Try machine Deborah Wills then stepped in to score one of her own, but Ella Cromack expertly slotted two penalties to keep Quins within a point. 

Soon after Wills dotted down to score her second, yet once again Harlequins responded with Neumann scoring a second of her own.

A brilliantly worked Bristol backs move, finished off by Reneeqa Bonner, ensured the visitors entered the break 26-18 to the good. 

Wills sauntered past defenders to complete hat-trick in the second half before Jade Mullen got another try back for the hosts, finishing smartly in the corner.

But Bears had the final say as Bonner latched on to a Holly Aitchison cross-field kick before Delaney Burns grabbed another try to make the final score 25-47 in favour of the visitors. 

Harlequins - 25

Tries - Neumann (2), Mullen. Penalties - Cromack (2)

Bristol Bears - 47

Tries - Marston-Mulhearn, Wills (3), Bonner (2), Burns

Leicester Tigers 21-36 Sale Sharks - Mattioli Woods Welford Road

Sale Sharks left the East Midlands with five points thanks to their 36-21 win over Leicester Tigers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

Laura Perrin broke the deadlock with just seven minutes played after Leicester tried to clear from their own 22m.

Just 10 minutes later Tigers responded, with Lisa Cockburn latching on at the back of the driving maul.

Sharks struck twice before the break, with Beatrice Rigoni one of the visitors to cross the whitewash, while Amy Cokayne dotted down for the home team on the stroke of half-time.

Sale continued to dominate after the restart, Holly Thorpe's try and a Sarah Law penalty coming either side of another Cokayne try.

Sharks settled the outcome by dotting down through Lauren Delany in the corner, with the north west club in full flight ahead of Bristol Bears’ visit in Round 18.

Leicester - 21 

Tries - Cockburn, Cokayne (2)

Sale Sharks - 36

Tries - Perrin, Ribbon, Thorpe, Delany