MATCH REACTION | Alex Austerberry (PWR R7)

Director of Rugby Alex Austerberry, was left frustrated as Saracens ended up on the wrong side of The Duel falling short to Harlequins at the StoneX.

Despite a valiant last-minute comeback, Saracens Women were held to back-to-back defeats in testing conditions. Austerberry was frustrated at the outcome given the first half performance his side put up.

“The bounce of a ball against the corner flag was the only difference in that first half, and with the wind with 40 minutes to go and one score down I think it would’ve put us in a good place.

Our second half performance and execution was ultimately not good enough and that’s what costs us the game, but it’s frustrating as the bounce of a ball one way or a decision going another certainly could’ve changed the outcome.”

During the first 40 minutes, Austerberry lost his star second row Rosie Galligan after a head-on-head collision in the midfield with Beth Wilcox. The Saracens Director of Rugby was able to provide an immediate report on Galligan’s wellbeing.

“She’s being assessed. It was a difficult moment in the game as you never want to lose a pivotal player like Rosie with the majority of the match left to play. It’s a disappointing time for her personally and we’ll of course help her getting back to full fitness.”

Saracens had managed to score two tries within five minutes from May Campbell and Zoe Harrison to bring the deficit to just one point heading into the closing stages, however Austerberry praised the diligence of the Harlequins defence which didn’t let up when it counted.

“I thought we started the half quite slowly, but we clicked into gear in the final quarter and managed to get back on script. Credit must go to the visitors who managed to keep us out in those final few minutes, there were moments where I think we could’ve made some different decisions on the pitch but the replacements in particular Quins brought had a real impact.”

Sarries have no time to dwell on this result however as they host Loughborough Lightning at the StoneX on Saturday. Austerberry said that his team will be fully prepared for the proposition Lightning bring.

“It’s pretty easy to bounce back otherwise our season starts going in a very different direction. We’ve now lost against a top four team in Exeter and a top four team in Harlequins. If you keep losing to top four teams then there’s no chance, you’ll be one yourself. Loughborough will certainly be pushing for that so we need to up our execution levels and physicality in order to regain our form heading into the New Year.”