Final Preview: Gloucester-Hartpury v Bristol Bears

It all comes down to this.

The destination of the Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby trophy will be decided at Sandy Park on Saturday as reigning champions Gloucester-Hartpury take on Bristol Bears in an all-Westcountry clash.

Gloucester overcame Exeter Chiefs to make the showpiece while Bristol earned a stunning away win at Saracens to book their place.

The #PWRFinal is LOCKED IN 🔒@GlosHartpury 🆚 @BristolBearsW

Don’t miss out – tickets on sale now from £10 at https://t.co/2bvP4fGnDK 🎟#PWR | #PoweredDifferently | @allianzuknews pic.twitter.com/hRRyfnDd6U

— Premiership Women's Rugby (@ThePWR) June 9, 2024

Tickets remain available from £10 - click here to buy yours.

• READ MORE: Sean Lynn - 'This group of girls are winners'
• READ MORE: Dave Ward - 'We want to be the ones lifting that trophy

TEAM NEWS

Gloucester Rugby make just one change to the matchday 23 which took part in the semi-final against Exeter Chiefs.

The starting XV is unchanged, with the only alteration coming among the replacements as Steph Else comes in for Carmen Castellucci.

Lleucu George, who scored two tries against Chiefs, forms the half-back partnership with Mo Hunt while Zoe Aldcroft lines up at No.8.

𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🎪

Your Gloucester-Hartpury 23 for the Allianz @ThePWR Final.

🤝 @CotswoldRAW @HCRlaw

🎟️👉 https://t.co/4ZnTI41hIs
🚌👉 https://t.co/bQxWYP7TnA #GlosHartpury #AllianzPWR pic.twitter.com/r9qfYokNXq

— Gloucester-Hartpury (@gloshartpury) June 21, 2024

Bristol Bears welcome back Sarah Bern, who makes a well-timed return from a long-term injury to join England teammates Hannah Botterman and Lark Atkin-Davies in an all-Red Roses front row.

That marks one of three changes from the side that beat Saracens at StoneX Stadium in the semi-final.

Courtney Keight replaces the injured Deborah Wills, who sustained a knee injury last time out, on the wing, while Scotland international Meryl Smith is named at full back with Ella Lovibond moving to the bench.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘! 💃#GLOvBRI | @huboofulfilment pic.twitter.com/cuPoBUpRSM

— Bristol Bears Women 🐻 (@BristolBearsW) June 21, 2024

Gloucester Rugby: 15 Emma Sing, 14 Mia Venner, 13 Hannah Jones, 12 Tatyana Heard, 11 Pip Hendy, 10 Lleucu George, 9 Natasha 'Mo' Hunt; 1 Mackenzie Carson, 2 Neve Jones, 3 Maud Muir, 4 Sarah Beckett, 5 Sam Monaghan, 6 Georgia Brock, 7 Bethan Lewis, 8 Zoe Aldcroft

Replacements: 16 Amy Dale, 17 El Perry, 18 Sisilia Tuipulotu, 19 Kate Williams, 20 Steph Else, 21 Bianca Blackburn, 22 Millie Hyett, 23 Rachel Lund

Bristol Bears: 15. Meryl Smith, 14. Reneeqa Bonner, 13. Phoebe Murray, 12. Holly Aitchison, 11. Courtney Keight, 10. Amber Reed (cc), 9. Keira Bevan; 1. Hannah Botterman, 2. Lark Atkin-Davies, 3. Sarah Bern, 4. Delaney Burns, 5. Abbie Ward (cc), 6. Alisha Joyce-Butchers, 7. Evie Gallagher, 8. Rownita Marston-Mulhearn.

Replacements: 16.⁠ ⁠Jess Sprague, 17.⁠ ⁠Simi Pam, 18.⁠ ⁠Elliann Clarke, 19.⁠ ⁠Hollie Cunningham, 20.⁠ ⁠Gabriella Nigrelli, 21.⁠ ⁠Lucy Burgess, 22.⁠ ⁠Ella Lovibond, 23.⁠ ⁠Jenny Hesketh.

WHERE TO WATCH

The Final will be shown live on TNT Sports and BBC iPlayer.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Sara Cox

Assistant Referees: Harry Walbaum and Holly Wood

TMO: Nikki O'Donnell

• READ MORE: Mo Hunt hails Aldcroft impact as pair prepare for title defence
• READ MORE: Abbie Ward: Title would be 'icing on the cake' after 'rollercoaster' year

MATCH STATS

Find out all you need to know ahead of the Final in the pre-match stat pack - click here.

The boffins at Opta have crunched the numbers to give you some conversation starters and quiz question answers for today’s Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby Final

● Gloucester- Hartpury have won 11 of their last 14 Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby matches against Bristol Bears (L3), including each of their last six, however, three of their last four wins against the Bears have come by margins of fewer than 10 points.

● Gloucester-Hartpury have won 16 of their 17 matches in this season’s Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby (L1), only failing to beat Saracens during their final match of the regular season (31-33) – they have scored more than 30 points in each of their last seven matches in the competition.

● Gloucester-Hartpury will be competing in their second consecutive Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby final after defeating Exeter Chiefs to claim last season’s title (34-19) after defeating Bristol Bears in the semi-finals (21-12).

● Bristol Bears have won six of their last seven Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby matches (L1), only failing to beat Sale Sharks during the final round of the regular season (24-27) –the Bears have scored 24+ points in each of their seven games during that period.

● Bristol Bears will be appearing in their first-ever Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby Final having previously featured in the 2016/17 final of the Women’s Premiership (lost 8-17 v Aylesford Bulls) –should they claim victory, they will become the fourth team to have won the competition, and the first new champions since Gloucester-Hartpury last season.

● Bristol Bears have made more carries (151), metres (1071), and line-breaks (10.6) per game than any other side in this season’s Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby –in fact, the Bears are responsible for four of the five highest carry metre totals recorded by a team in the league this term.

● Gloucester-Hartpury (51.1%) and Bristol Bears (50.2%) are the only two teams with dominant carry rates over 50% in this season’s Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby – Gloucester- Hartpury also have the highest gainline success rate of any team in the league this term (67.3%).

● Bristol Bears (88.0%) and Gloucester-Hartpury (87.3%) have the highest tackle success rates of any team in this season’s Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby – Gloucester-Hartpury have also evaded 25.6% of the tackles they’ve faced in the league this term, the second-highest such rate of any team (Saracens–25.7%).

● Gloucester-Hartpury’s Neve Jones has made at least eight more dominant tackles than any other player in this season’s Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby (30) overall, Jones has been successful from 206 of her 213 tackle attempts in the league this term, with her 96.7% success rate being the highest among all 100 players to have attempted 100+ tackles in the league this term (Emily Tuttosi–97.3%).

● Bristol Bears’ Lark Atkin-Davies is the joint-top try scorer (including the semi-finals in this season’s Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby (13, also Abby Dow) and has scored seven tries across her last four appearances in the competition, including a hat-trick against Saracens in the semi-finals.

Tickets are now on sale for the Allianz PWR Final. Don't miss out on an incredible celebration of women's sport on 22 June at 3pm at Sandy Park. To buy tickets click here