Emma Sing: Gloucester have only just hit their best

Emma Sing insists Gloucester-Hartpury have only just hit their best ahead of a hotly anticipated clash with Exeter Chiefs on SuperPWR weekend**, writes Elise Hamersley.**

In an historic first for Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby, all four games will be broadcast live on March 2-3 with the defending champions taking on Chiefs in front of TNT cameras for a tense rematch of last year’s final.

“It will be massive,” the 22-year-old said. “Being able to see all the games will be amazing for fans and this game has been a big focus for us.

“We know it is a repeat of the final and (Exeter) are going to be upset about how it ended.

“It is going to be a big game and we’ve got to give a big performance like we did against Saracens and Bristol.”

Despite their unbeaten status in this year’s campaign, Sing believes the Cherry & Whites have only just started displaying the kind of rugby they want to be playing.

It took until their seismic round nine clash with Saracens, which saw them topple the Londoners’ own undefeated streak, for the full-back to be content with her side’s performance.

“This season has been a bit of a rollercoaster, there have definitely been up and downs,” the Devon native explained. “We played well against Saracens – that’s probably the first time all year we’ve put in a good performance even being down with 14 players.

“I think a lot of things fired on all cylinders.

“I’ve never really felt a lot nerves before a Gloucester game, but with Sarries it was a game where I didn’t know which way it would go and I’ve never felt like that before.

“After I scored my try, I’ve never been so pumped up.

“We still had things to work on after Sarries but that’s the most complete performance we’ve put out all year.”

The one we've been waiting for 🦸‍♀️#SuperPWR weekend is here!

All four games broadcast LIVE across @tntsports, @discoveryplusUK, our YouTube and TikTok 📺 #PWR | @allianzuknews pic.twitter.com/4nTRfFXJq6

— Premiership Women's Rugby (@ThePWR) February 26, 2024

With all SuperPWR games being played in main stadiums, Sean Lynn’s side will return to Kingsholm this weekend looking to show off in front of an increasingly strong home crowd.

“The Gloucester fans are actually unreal,” Sing said. “(During last year’s final) a big memory was listening to The Shed, our fans were shouting all day long, every little mistake they had.

“A lot of the girls are injured at the moment and when we played Saracens all of them were in The Shed and they didn’t actually realise how noisy it was so it’s really exciting to be able to get supporters down again.”

With multiple injuries in their ranks, Gloucester have shown the depth of their squad in recent weeks by successfully drawing on their young blood and elite development pathway with Hartpury University and College.

Sing herself arrived at the club after progressing through Hartpury University Women’s Academy and insists the talent coming through bolsters the quality of the club.

“The BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) girls being able to jump between the two sides has been massive,” Sing said. “Against Bristol we had Millie Hyett and Pip Hendy starting in the centres for the first time this season.

“To have them start there against a team that like to play the ball, it’s a very important role and they got that big game experience.

“Come the end of the season they’ll be able to jump in and out and push people for places.

“I’ve been where they’ve been stood, I made my debut when I was still in college. I know what they’re going through so sometimes the younger girls will get down a bit.

“They’ll think they’ve played badly but I’ll always tell them ‘It’s fine, I’ve been there’, let’s put an arm around them and say focus on next week. Let’s go.”

It is not just the young talent at Gloucester-Hartpury that fuels their unrivalled performances.

As the league approaches SuperPWR weekend, the players have been reflecting on their own superpowers.

“My counter-attacking is my superpower, my style of running,” Sing said. “I’d say I glide rather than run at times.

“Sam Monaghan – we call her Sonny Bill Sam because she’s very good at offloading and Sarah Beckett, hers would be ball carrying, just running over people and destroying them.”