Exciting start for future Sarries stars

On Friday, the Saracens Women's Centre of Excellence squad travelled to Malvern to compete in the RFU CoE National festival.

With matches throughout the day, the side where placed in a pool with Sale Sharks, Bristol Bears and North East and Cumbria.

Following an intense start to pre-season, the players were raring to go, with several of them making their debut for Saracens and pulling on the shirt for the first time.

The squad was made up of a total of 28 players making up the squad, comprising of those from Hertfordshire, Essex and Eastern Counties, as well as those from the Saracens Academy based at Oaklands College.

The first game against Sale Sharks was an exciting opening game, with tries tries scored in the first half. Going into the second half with a narrow lead, a try from Olivia Thomas secured a 15-5 victory for the side.

The second match against Bristol proved to be an even tighter affair.  Saracens were quick out of the blocks with an early score after Sophie Edwards cut a superb line to race over in the opening minute of the game. That would prove to be the only score though, as Sarries showed impressive defensive nouse to secure the win.

The final game against North East and Cumbria was much more of a free-flowing affair. If the Bristol match had shown the defensive qualities of the side, the first half of this one showed the group's attacking prowess. Four tries were scored in an electric first period, before a steely second half helped secure a 20-5 victory and an impressive 100% record.

Following the success of the squad in their first outing of the 23/24 season, Pathway Lead, Niamh McHugh was full of praise:

“It was fantastic to see this new group of players come together and pull on the Saracens shirt. They are an exciting group and we are looking forward to seeing how they develop and push on over the upcoming months”

This was a hugely promising start to the season for the Centre of Excellence group, with plenty more to come throughout the campaign.