Pathway Stars shine for England U20s

Saturday evening saw four Saracens represent England U20s, as they romped to a huge victory over Army Women.

Joia Bennett, Chloe Flanagan, Amelia MacDougall and Tori Sellors are played their part in the fixture, with Bennett also scoring her first try in England colours.

With Bennett, Flanagan and MacDougall having come through the women's pathway at Saracens and all having played for the senior side this season, their success only serves to highlight the strength of the pathway programme at Saracens, as Pathway Performance Manager Lewis Sones explains.

"It’s a real showcase of our Women’s Pathway coming to fruition here at Saracens and that’s unbelievably exciting for the future of this club. It’s a great showcase of the importance of our full time U16-U18 programme at Oaklands College in St Albans to see players coming through and earning international honours. Ameila, Chloe and Joia’s rapid development has no doubt been through having access to a day to day performance environment at U18 level and it’s been key component for them being able to make an instant impact in their step up to senior rugby this season at the club.

We were obviously also delighted to welcome Tori to the club earlier in the year to add another really exciting talent to this cohort.

There has been a great balance and exposure for our younger players within the PWR and Allianz Cup and this has been further supported with championship rugby action too, through our link with OAs Saints, which has giving the group regular rugby all year. With Allianz Cup semi-final on the horizon, it’s just reward for the hard work our players have been putting in for them to be included in the first U20s squad of the season. It’s great that they can go through this journey together, which is an added bonus for us too!

Im personally really proud of how the group have taken it all in their stride, and that’s echoed by the other coaches and senior players at the club. They are a joy to coach every week and all just want to keep pushing to be the best players they can be.

It’s always a tough challenge that takes a lot of dedication and balance with studies, work and training, but we’ve got a great development programme here at Saracens with support on the pitch strengthened with a brilliant duel playing link with OAs Saints, who are pushing for the top of the women’s championship this year.

Our off the pitch support is crucial too and is helped through our partnership with Middlesex University, who share our site at StoneX, as well as the excellent College academy which also supports our off pitch education for players.

We have always been a club that have taken pride in focusing on developing players from within and the future is only getting brighter, which is real privilege to see."