HUGE PWR upset means favourites are out of top four

Bristol Bears defeated local rivals Gloucester-Hartpury in the Premiership Women’s Rugby to push the defending champions to fifth.

The match was a repeat of last season’s final, which Gloucester won 36-24. The reigning champions were favourites to defeat Bristol Bears but came up against a strong side.

Courtney Keight and Holly Aitchison scored to give Bristol Bears a 12-0 lead at half-time.

Gloucester’s Ellie Rugman hit back early in the second half and Millie Hyett was over to put Gloucester into a 14-12 lead. However, Phoebe Murray latched onto a grubber kick to seal Bristol’s win.

Bristol’s head coach Dave Ward said: “To come to Kingsholm against the reigning champions was always going to be a really tough ask.

“I thought the girls fronted up really well. There was a defensive set in the back end of that second half which kind of defined our resilience for the season. I am so proud of how we performed.”

The top four progress to the semi-final stage after the regular season concludes. Gloucester are two points outside the top four and seven outside the top two. The clubs who finish in the top two have home advantage in the semis.

There are 10 rounds of the regular season to go.

Gloucester’s head coach Sean Lynn said: “That first half, full credit to Bristol. They kept the ball very well. When we did have the ball we just weren’t keeping the ball, capitalising. To go in 12-0 at half-time, we did very well to go in just at 12-0.

“The next thing is we got ourselves back into the game in the second half. They took their try at the end to get that win but we had opportunities there where we could have won that game.”

Elsewhere, Saracens edged out Loughborough Lightning 32-21.

While the result did not go their way, Loughborough did have some positive news as Sadia Kabeya returned to the matchday squad following an ankle injury.

Harlequins, meanwhile, are now just three point off of table leaders Exeter Chiefs after an impressive win over Trailfinders.

11 different try scorers produced a 47-26 win for Quins.

Finally, Leicester Tigers won their first game of the season with a 34-17 victory over Sale Sharks.