Poppy Cleall - In Her Words
Poppy Cleall woke up on the day of Showdown VI with no real sense of what was coming.
No idea that, in a matter of hours, she would be recreating a Cole Palmer celebration at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in front of a record crowd for Saracens Women.
What she did know was far more grounded. She had just spent three hours sleeping in the stadium’s media room, following two back-to-back night shifts working as an instant responder.
“I finished training on Thursday and went straight into a night shift, working 10pm to 7am. I slept during the day, went back in for another shift, then came straight to Tottenham after work.”
“I got to the stadium just before 8am and slept in the media room for a few hours before the game. It was a bit surreal, but it worked.”
It was not a typical lead-in to one of the biggest days in the club’s history, but then nothing about the build-up felt typical. Her work outside rugby sits in an environment where you do not get to choose the moment.
“I work in an instant response role, so if you call 999, I am there. Every shift is different; it could be anything from a lost dog to something much more serious.”
That sense of readiness runs through both parts of her life, even if they ask for different things.
“There is a physical side to it, and you are aware of that with rugby. I am thinking do not get injured at training and then at work I am thinking do not hurt yourself here either. You are constantly aware of it. It is different to most jobs; there is a risk when I go to work. That is something you do think about.”
But the balance between the two does not feel forced. It has become part of how she operates.
“I had never done a night shift before, so I did not really know what to expect. In a way, that probably helped because my body was not used to it yet. I planned to sleep until midday but woke up at 11 and actually felt good, so I just got up and went with it.”
“I do not overthink games too much. I was more excited than anything.”
And on a day like this, at a stadium like this, that mindset matters. Showdown VI was not just another fixture. It was a moment for the club to stand on a bigger stage, in front of a crowd that reflected how far the women’s game has come. From the outside, it could have felt overwhelming. But inside the group, there was a sense that everything had been built towards this.
“When I got there, I was met by Team Manager Mel, and Santi from the Operations team who had arranged everything. They showed me to a room to sleep. It was pitch black, they put a sign on the door, so no one came in, and I had about five blankets. They really looked after me.”
That attention to detail was not isolated. It ran through the whole club.
“Everyone went above and beyond. It did not feel like we were in a borrowed stadium, it felt like a proper rugby club environment.”
That feeling mattered. Because for a game of that scale to land, everything around it had to feel right.
“It did feel a bit out of body at times. We have never played in front of a crowd that big before, so to do that at club level was special. You do not really get experiences like that unless you are playing international rugby, so to do it with your club is really special.”
And when the conditions lined up, it showed.
“The conditions were perfect, the pitch, the weather, everything just came together.”
Moments like that are rare. Not just because of the occasion, but because of how everything aligns in a single afternoon.
“It was just one of those days where everything clicks.”
For Saracens, it was more than just a big win or a big crowd. It was a sign of what can happen when everything comes together, players, staff, environment, preparation. On the duality of her new life, Cleall isn’t shying away from balance.
“It is my choice to do both, and I am enjoying it. It is exciting, it is the next chapter for me.”
That choice is what ties everything together. Not perfection. But the ability to step between two demanding worlds and still feel like she belongs in both.
“Days like that are why you put the time and effort in. It is not a chore; it is something I want to do.”
On a day like Showdown VI, with a record crowd, a landmark setting and a performance to match, things seemed to fall into place.
Where many would have had to pick one path over the other, Cleall has kept both in play.
