Press Notes | Alex Austerberry (PWR Rd 13)
Director of Rugby Alex Austerberry feels that having all four matches available to watch this weekend is a big step forward for domestic women’s rugby.
As part of the SuperPWR weekend, two matches will be live on TNT Sports, with the other two, including Saracens’ match, streamed on YouTube.
Austerberry feels that accessibility and close fixtures will be key to continuing to grow the game.
“Looking from a wider perspective, this weekend is brilliant. You can turn the TV on and there’s four games there. I hope that commercially it adds some real value, but to have the ability to tune in and pick the games you want to watch is brilliant. Two games being on each day means you can make time to watch all the matches and I’m hoping the games provide some real quality action. You want close games as a neutral because it’s exciting. I don’t always want that as a coach as it adds to the stress, but for the fans watching, it makes it far more entertaining.”
Ahead of Sunday’s clash with Leicester Tigers, Austerberry will be without several players, including Sophie de Goede, who is away with Canada 7s. The DoR explained that she had an incredible opportunity to potentially play in the Olympics, as well as offering a further update on the injury status of his squad.
“Sophie is playing for Canada 7s at the moment. It’s part of the discussion we had with her and Canada in that we want to be able to give her the best shot at becoming an Olympian. She’ll be playing in Los Angeles this weekend, but in terms of the rest of the squad there are still a few niggles.”
“Ella Wyrwas won’t be available against Leicester, and it’s touch and go with McKinley Hunt as to whether we’ll have her for the games before the Six Nations. Rosie Galligan is touch and go again, but hopefully we’ll see her back soon. Other than that, it’s a fit and healthy squad. For this time of the year, we’re in pretty good health.”
Leicester will offer a potent attacking threat on Sunday and Austerberry admitted that his side are wary of the weapons they possess.
“We need to be more accurate and get back to managing the right areas of the field. Hopefully we’ll see a positive bounce against Tigers. They gave us a bit of a lesson in the first 20 minutes up there. They move the ball well and have players that can create something out of nothing. When they get quick ball, they’re clinical in attack. They are a team that can score from anywhere. We’ve got to be aware of how we win the collisions and close down space because they are a dangerous side.”
One of Saracens’ standout performers this season has been centre Sydney Gregson. Her form saw her earn a recall to the most recent England training squad and Austerberry believes that her partnership with Sophie Bridger is only going to go from strength-to-strength.
“Sydney is having a fantastic year. Her influence at key moments is there for all to see. Since she’s come back from injury, she’s been brilliant. Her ability to understand how she can create space for others is growing and she’s becoming really influential. You look inside her at Sophie Bridger too and it’s a great pair. Sophie is more of a distributor, but she has good feet as well. You’re seeing those partnerships and links grow and it’s giving the players more confidence as a unit.”
With 18 months to go until a home world cup, Austerberry feels that this weekend will b a crucial one as more eyes begin to focus on women’s rugby.
“We need to use this weekend to harness the interest in our game. We’ve got a great chance to put ourselves on the map and hopefully weekends like this can be the first stage of making women’s rugby omnipresent. If we can utilise and harness the data and the interest from this weekend, it's a great chance to build towards women’s rugby being easily accessible to watch both on TV and live. With the world cup coming up next year, weekends like this are brilliant.”
