MATCH REACTION | Alex Austerberry (Allianz PWR Rd 18)

Director of Rugby Alex Austerberry praised his side’s second-half response, as they eventually secured a bonus-point victory away at Loughborough Lightning.

Sarries were second best for much of the first half but took both of their opportunities to go in ahead at the break.

Austerberry admitted that his side had started slowly, but was pleased with the response they showed.

“I thought that we were second best for the vast majority of the first half, but we scored both times we were in their 22 and defended pretty well. It was the bits in the middle that we needed to tidy up. Going in with the lead was probably against the run of play, but a testament to how we’d defended. We said at half-time that we wanted to enjoy it and get back to playing like the team that we are. We got back to doing that in the second-half and had a great 15-minute spell where we looked very good. It keeps the momentum building going into the semi-finals.”

Saracens head into the semi-finals on the back of four straight wins and Austerberry belives that they have created some real momentum for themselves.

“Confidence breeds more confidence and going into knockout rugby, you want to feel confident in what you’re doing. We got taught some lessons today that we’ll learn from and there were some pictures we presented which we know Bristol will be looking at, but we’ve built some momentum, and we want to keep that going.”

One of the standout performances was that of replacement scrum-half Tori Sellors, who scored a brace in an impressive showing. Austerberry praised the impact of the youngster, explaining that she is a real talent to keep an eye on.

“Tori came on and gave us a lot of energy. Her support lines were excellent, but I can’t say that I’m surprised. She’s an outstanding young talent and with Leanne and Ella here as well, the competition and learning we have in the group is outstanding. I’m really pleased with how Tori performed today and across the board, we’re going to have some tough conversations about selection heading into next week.”

The semi-finals now lie in wait for Saracens and the DoR admitted that he and his coaching staff would have a fair few selection headaches ahead of next Sunday’s game. They are ones though that he is pleased to have.

“Ultimately, you get to knockout rugby because of the efforts of your whole squad in training, the league and the cup. It’s a real squad effort. We want everyone to be fit and firing to give us those selection headaches and it’s a testament to the group that we’ve got a few of those coming up this week. Come the business end of the season, it’s going to be very difficult to select the squad as so many have put their hands up. That will ultimately make us better though, with everyone pushing each other onwards.”

It will be Bristol Bears who make the trip to StoneX Stadium next Sunday and Austerberry is wary of the physical test they will pose, with a spot in the final on the line for both sides.

“Bristol are a very good team who play an exciting brand of rugby that’s based on their physicality. We know it’s going to be physical, tough and niggly. We’ve played them twice in the last few months and they taught us a lesson in the league. But the last four games have given us the best preparation we could have had. We’ve had some real physical tests and learnt a lot about ourselves as a group.”