The Power Pod (00:06.072)
Welcome to the PowerPod Episode 3. We are so pleased to have you along for the ride. The PWR has fully roared into life.

these amazing women doing phenomenal things on the rugby field, proving once again these players really are powered differently. a weekend where three teams scored more than 50 points, the top two bagged all five points from away matches as Saracens moved top of the table with an eight-try victory at sail, while Gloucester Hartbury took until the 71st minute to score a fourth try at the stoop, while Bristol enjoyed that rest weekend. And round two had some valiant performances. Look, Queen's not rolling out the red carpet with some improved defense.

Loughborough Lightning at times showed their attacking prowess, but leading 10 tries was not what coaches Nathan Smith and Charlie Beckett wanted to see. And in the absence of some of the 15 stars, the GB7s girls were putting their hands up.

look ahead to round three. That's Philippa Tuttia, I'm Nick Heath and this is the Power Pod.

The Power Pod (01:29.774)
Hi Phil, how are you? Good morning. Yeah, very good, thank you. How was your weekend? It was good, thank you. Yes, nice to get the first TNT Sports commentary under the belt. So yes, was the first time that the cameras had gone to Valles Way, to Trailfinders. And yeah, it was a curious sort of game. I'm sure we'll come onto it later. Sort of a bit of a blowout, really. But yeah, nice to be there. We got offered...

by our production colleagues, you know, we can go and get you some food. I'd already seen the little stand. It was just like, can have chips, you can have chips with a sausage, you can have a, well, what else? They're a scotch egg. I was like, this is high nutrition value that we're getting here before we go on air. So, yeah, no, it was all good. There was plenty to take in. What about yourself? know what though, your game, that is for me, I always think a bit of a commentary nightmare because there were so many tries.

And then at some point, you know, you're going to get asked, so what do you think about that fourth try? you're like, the fourth? Which one was the fourth? Which one was the sixth? Like there was tries galore. Well, actually I'm, one of those commentators. I'm very transient in what I hold in my brain. after about two hours after the match, someone could turn around to me and say, you did that game or what was the final score? No idea. I have journalists and rugby writers colleagues who

can tell you who the second replacement was off the bench in the Lions Tour in 2001 and why they went, who they were playing. I just, I just do not, Caleb is smiling. I do not hold that encyclopedic information. But hey, I'm sure my brain is making more room for other things like the lyrics of all cheesy pop from the nineties. That's in there. Just not who scored the fourth try. let's just hope you remember a little bit for today's podcast. You do know we are talking about that game. Yeah.

I've made some notes and hey look, the round two action started on Saturday with Quinn's welcoming Gloucester Harperey to the stoop. Let's get cracking then. Quinn's led at half time, 8-7 with a free-all contrived Ella Cromack penalty against Amy Dale's converted try. Quinn's were decent for 65 minutes but they had a couple of errors again in their play, missing the touch off the kicks, lost them some territory.

The Power Pod (03:44.642)
Gloucester-Hartbury though, their fourth try came up in the 71st minute. So was credit for Quinn for holding them out till then. It was Charlie Woodman, the scorer. She redeemed herself after an earlier yellow card and player of the match was Jade Sheckles. We talk about those seven stars standing up. She certainly did. Yeah. And, you know, I'm sure we'll come onto them. I mean, I'd like to mention Nicole Wythe.

player who began her rugby journey at Ashford RFC moved on to senior rugby at Tunbridge Wells, made her Quinn's debut season before last. My goodness, has she grown enormously. Topped the carries for Quinn's last week in round one with 22, putting in 10 tackles. This week, 17 carries for 83 metres, which for a forward is huge. Spent last season behind Abbie Fleming, Emily Robinson, Shona Brown, of course, who's retired.

Fleming is now returning from Wales. WXV duty, Jade Conkle is back fit and coming back and Alex Callender to fit in. But Wythe has certainly given Ross Chisholm plenty to think about. And yeah, the GB7s players in the back three, particularly Grace Crompton, one of the two Graces that left Bristol over the summer and Heather Cowell, Tawley. She beat the most defenders with 10 and enjoyed Heather Cowell.

deputizing at Scrum Half a few times, but no league points again from the game for Harlequins. head coach Ross Chisholm basically summed it up with this. A lot of positives to take away. Again, it's gutting again. But if we weren't creating opportunities, I would be concerned. It's actually, can we be more clinical in that end zone?

Yeah, frustrating times again for harlequins. But look, I'm actually feeling quite positive. think this is small steps in the right direction. Yes, there's things to improve. like Ross says there, they're creating opportunities. Arguably, sometimes that's the hardest part. They're doing that. It's just now finishing off. But I think when they went down, they conceded within the first three minutes. And yet, like I said, they then held

The Power Pod (05:52.834)
Gloucester-Harbury out to the 71st minute for that fourth try. So, you know, that shows real heart, real conviction and, you know, a slight improvement on their defense, but they're kicking battle. They've got to improve their kicking game. It's great to see a development of it, but they gave Gloucester-Harbury too much time and space and that, you know, stats can sometimes be, you know, a bit misleading, but if you want to look at the kicking battle,

A good indication is if you look at the opposing fullback stats. So in this case, was Emma Singh at fullback for Gloucester Harbury. Now, if you're kicking well, she shouldn't be able to carry much because there will be no time and space. certainly shouldn't be able to run much. However, if you look at it, she carried for 19 carries and made 225 meters. Not what you want to do. So great day for Emma Singh, but improvements need to be made there with the.

with not only the positioning of the kick, but the kick chase as well. Yeah. And in terms of Gloucester-Harprey, I mean, yeah, they certainly have to puff their way to that fourth try bonus point. They will be pleased given the amount of people they've been missing that they were on the road and grabbed everything they needed to out of that game. Absolutely. Job done. Yeah. By the way, I also have to play this and I love Joe Burns. He's a fellow colleague, fellow commentator.

And look, broadcasting is a bit like playing, you you hope you're going to be selected. You have to sort of make sure you've done your homework during the week, you know, got yourself ready. It helps to be match fit. So actually by the time you're up and running and have done a few games and you know, if you pay close attention to my commentary on Sunday, you'll find I was a little ring rusty in points, but you know, we're getting there. The season's getting up and running, but sometimes you also get a little bit exuberant and overexcited.

and are convinced a score is going to go in when perhaps it might not. Have a listen to this. Goes backwards and still they're not there. Titanic from Gloucester-Harpry. Now the whip, now to Ema. Now! Just beyond the grass, the chromat. Can Cal finish? yes! No, she cannot!

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I absolutely love that. Joe going for it, believing the try was going to come and it didn't quite. So yes, sorry, Joe, I might have done you slightly dirty there in the commentators union, but I enjoyed that an awful lot. Right, should we move on then to the sale Saris game? Yellow card to Alejandro in the fifth minute. Saris going 7-0 up with Akina Gondwe's try.

May Campbell, Alejandro on the score sheet, Gemma Jo Lincolns getting a couple over the course of the game actually, but first half getting them up to 26-0 before half time. Bonus points secured in the 34th minute. Eight tries all in all from Saree's McDougall kicking six out of eight in terms of the conversions. And Sail Sharks only scored their first of two tries in the 54th minute. That was through Sophie Hopkins. So a tough afternoon.

sale sharks, Philippa, I think it's fair to certainly. And I think it definitely told in the penalty count as well, 19 penalties, one yellow card, they were feeling the pressure. Look, I spoke to Tales this week and she did say that they're having a bit of an injury run of things. So potentially that team might not have been the team that they would have liked to have started with and opened the campaign. And look, you're playing Saris. It's always going to be tough. And Saris who are off the back.

of a win, know, they won game in, because we know Sale had a buy in the round one. So it was always going to be a tough ask. It'll be really interesting now to see this weekend how many of their international players are going to be coming back in to help bolster that team. But look, for Sale Sharks, they, you know, they talk, they're on a journey. They really are, you know, they've got, you think of the task they've got there, the geographical region that they are responsible for.

and taking real pride in making sure that every player up in the North knows what their pathway is and the support they can get from sales sharks. It's a long-term project. But equally, I know we're going to do previews in a minute. I think actually having Loughborough Lightning is really exciting and a real opportunity for them in the next round. Saris, I mean, probably proving that they are one of the best outfits, even without their internationals, although I say without. May Campbell.

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Poppy Cleel, Leanne Infante at seven, eight, nine, Sarah McKenna at 12. I think we touched on her pulling the strings last week, actually still so valuable to that team. Sydney Gregson at 14. So they have, you know, they've managed to maintain plenty of firepower. And so that's certainly helped them to that result. I think an honorable mention, Trudy Cowan, 18 tackles from the back row for sale.

So yeah, was a tricky afternoon and yeah, sail sharks certainly enjoying their run out at the Corpac Stadium. Okay, so the next game that you had the pleasure of calling, this did look like a lot of fun to be fair. Trail Finders, women 64, Loughborough Lightning 33. 15 tries. That's a lot of tries.

Bit of a negative though, Abbie Burton's red card in the 38th minute for a croc roll. That was not nice to see. Obviously Abbie went straight up to the player, apologized, but that really is something we need to get out of the game. Loughborough Lightning were kind of twofold. They showed some attacking prowess, but lapses in defense. missed 31 tackles. It was 63 % possession to Trail Finders. That is impressive. That is dominance.

19 entries into the 22 with a conversion rate of 3.4. That is very good. That's what international teams aspire for. And Lefkara Lightning lost eight lineouts and multiple, multiple rucks. Basically, Trail Finders were all over them. An interesting sort of game, as I said earlier, a bit of a blowout. There were moments you could really home in on some of the...

some of the individual battles than other times where you're like, well, it's just opened. It's just opened up. There was a hilarious moment where it was just turnover, turnover, turnover, turnover, and then the trial scored. But yeah, I was on commentary alongside Meg Jones once we were off air. Well, I asked her what she made of the 15 tries scored with Trail Finders bagging 10 of them. I'm not sure, to be honest. I think I was expecting lots of tries, but I don't know from what part. So, yeah, it was good to see Trail Finders in the game. They really wanted to play. So did Loughborough Lightning. They came to play as well. So, yeah.

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Unfortunately, both teams went down to 14 players, but it evened out. But I think Trail Finders capitalised on that. That big scenario for them. Yeah, was a break of tries for Ellie Boatman, break of tries for Annabel Mehta. You gave neither of them player of match. You went with Grace White? Yeah, I just loved how she was just attacking the edge. think, course, as a winger, you want to score lots of tries, but as well, the fact that she was sucking players in, she was stepping back in, she was being dynamic, she was beating the first carry. And I really liked that about her.

Yeah, and awkward one. I know you're good mates with Abby Burton. She got the red card for that croc crawl. Wasn't too much to argue in it, I don't think. No, it was such a tough one. She obviously lost the head-hike battle, was trying to get herself around and just fell the wrong way. And unfortunately, it left Scantlebury injured and having to come off. So, yeah, I think it was the best decision. Yeah, and then Abby Degard, who just looked heartbroken having got into the tackle and the collision with Shia Pinak.

I wondered whether she was dipping in enough places for there to be bit of mitigation to a yellow. I wonder how that one will be reviewed. Yeah, was tough. You mentioned about driving up as well, didn't he? no, tough one then for Abbie to swallow, but it was a good reaction from Leighton, I thought. Yeah. And excited now for some of the internationals to return to PWI next week? Yeah, I think so. I'll be surprised. I want to see how the rest of the club players get on as well, because I always say it's hard to bridge the gap between club...

club players and international players because it's easy to focus on what's already good because we get multiple amount of resources but I really want to see how we can bridge that gap and close the gap between your club players and your international players so definitely. Well it was lots of fun working with you today, hope to you soon. Lots of fun and we were waving the flag real bright and high which I love. Weren't we, totally love that. By the way when are you back, how are getting on with it? should ask you that. Yeah injuries going good, back running, jumping about.

and I'm hoping to be back four or five weeks, something like that. So, yeah, not too long. I'll be back. We look forward to it. Thanks for your time. All right, thank you. Let's just get a bit more reaction from that lightning camp. Head coach Nathan Smith was speaking post-match to Ashley Wilmot. We've got a million excuses we could use, but we're not going to use them. We're too soft, 10 metres out. We weren't physical enough. Aniline played better than us. At the end of the day, it's premiership rugby. The girls don't understand.

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that and understand how hard you've to work, how physical you've to be, how tough you've got to be, then that's what happens. The internationals will be integrating themselves very shortly. Are we likely to see them in your game against Sale next week? Yes, everyone who's available will be playing against Sale. Yep. Well, our thanks to Buzz16 and to our friends at TNT Sports for that clip. We'll come on to their match next week, but Phil, Annabel Metter was right. She called it. She said they were going to have their number and they did. Yeah, look, that team...

They're confident and you think they've got some good players to come back in as well. know, if you could question anything with Trail Finders, yes, their defense at times it was a little bit leaky. when you think you've got Lisa Thompson, the Scottish center is going to be going back in there. Chloe Rowley, the international Scotland's international fullback. They're going to be shoring things up. So yeah, good day at the office for Trail Finders in regards to Loughborough Lightning.

got to give credit, they get the bonus point by scoring four tries. They do get something out of that game. But I did think it was interesting with Nathan Smith when he was very frank when asked, will the internationals be back in? Yes, they will. there was part of me, I guess, like younger player inside me thinking, that's, that's like a bit harsh. You know, these players have this opportunity to like have a crack at the jersey and then to hear your coach saying,

as soon as the internationals back, they're in, they're having that jersey back. But then again, maybe, you know, all players want honesty. And that is a very black and white coach right there. Yeah, I think he's certainly known for that. I also, I wonder how much of it was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction, you know, straight after the match. I think he was, he was a, you know, he didn't cut a happy figure. Let's just put it that way. I think there were aspects of that particularly defensively where I think he felt that, you know,

players weren't committing enough as we heard. So yeah, I think it will be interesting to see how hard he commits to that, but maybe that instinct was exactly where he's going to go and say, some of you haven't been at the races enough. you know, my big guns are going to come back. Let's then look at our last one of round two, Exeter Chiefs 52, Leicester Tigers 10 at Sandy Park. Eight tries scored by Chiefs as well as Saracens.

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as opposed to the two scored by Leicester Tigers. It was 40-0 halftime to Chiefs. Six tries. Emily and Flo Robinson, Maisie Allen, and Nancy McGillivray, Ebony Jeffries, and Liv McGovern bagging six out of eight. Quite insanely, Leicester Tigers had 62 % possession by the end of the game, 38 % to the Chiefs. So it's 12 entries to the Tigers 22 versus 19 by the Chiefs. But the scoreline,

is 50 to 10. Wow. Big reaction there. We talked about it, didn't we? Exeter Chiefs having a bit of a frustrating round one. Still got the win, but we could tell it wasn't the polished performance and we always know how much better they performed down in Sandy Park. And that was a full sort of reaction performance from them. Yeah. Leicester Tigers conceded within the first five minutes and then it was pretty much a steady flow attack.

in the first half, got to give credit to Tigers in the second half. know, they didn't roll over and just let the floodgates open. but in regards to that stats, you know, with, with Tigers having so much possession that to me shows, and, as you probably saw when you watched it, the transition between defense to attack, that's what the top teams can do. They can find their shape. can scan, they can pick out that gaps and go from a defensive mindset. We've got the ball, where's the space, let's exploit it.

And that is reaction or rugby, which we know head coach of Exeter Chief, Susie Appleby is all over. that was a very, you know, when you talk about what's a team's DNA, that is Exeter's DNA, that transitional reaction or attack and it worked for them. second half was mad for 32 minutes of the second half. was five nil to Tigers. Now,

Is that because extra chiefs had taken their foot off the gas having scored a gazillion tries possibly? But Tigers definitely looked more settled. Nice to see my pal Craig Maxwell-Keys in charge of this one. I always think it's good when those doing the referee appointments are also looking at simply who some of the best referees are to bring out onto Premiership Women's Rugby. I know it's something that Paul Hull, who's been in charge of the referees from the RFU side, looked at. Tiger Scrum, I thought, was pretty decent line out less so.

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And the no score was roared on more than Nancy McGliveray's Intercept, 17 months out. And we know she's been around those England fridges. That was fringes. I think it sounded like fringes, which is not what I meant. But hey, we'll run with it. gosh, too early for me with this. can't get my teeth in. But yeah, England fringes. And yeah, Liv McGovern's try.

It was just inside defenders napping and that was 10 meters off the Tigers line. That's just not good enough for me. So yeah, solid five points that you sort of expect Exeter Chiefs are likely to get at home through most of the season. yeah, bit of work for Tigers to do, I would say. Shall we look at round three preview?

Look, it promises to be a really exciting weekend. We have got two repeats of the semi-finals from last year. How awesome. With all the superstars back in it as well. literally cancel everything this weekend and get comfy on the sofa. So Saris are going to be traveling to Bristol for what will be a double header with the men's side Ashton Gate, which is just brilliant. We know how great these occasions can be. So fantastic to see that happening.

Exo Chiefs go to King's home to lock horns with the Gloucester Hartbury. Sale head down to Northampton to face a very hurting Loughborough Lightning. This, this, I'm really interested in this game. Really interested to see how that goes. And on Sunday, round three concludes with Leicester Tigers against Queen's at Matty Oly Woods, Welford Road.

and then Trail Finders can rest their legs. They've done enough running. They've got a bye week. Yeah, they certainly have. Yeah, well, let's have a look then at that match at Ashton Gate. is, as you say, Phil, the doubleheader, the women kicking off at 12. It's live on TNT Sports. And we're both going to be there, aren't we? That'll be nice. Yeah, Bristol had the bye week, played one, won one. And yeah, they won this fixture 35-10 in March.

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the semi-final at the Stone X also saw Bears victorious going into that final. So these are two teams who know each other very well. Before we get into it, let's just hear from the Bristol Bears camp first of all, and head coach Dave Ward. Hi Nick, hi Philippa, and hi to everyone at the Power Pod. Great to listen over the last couple of weeks. Some really great insight into the couple of games that's happened. Obviously we had a bye week last weekend. We were really happy with our result at Loughborough. I think for us, for our young squad to go up there.

and do what they did within the first 20 minutes was fantastic. But then obviously to finish off the game not allowing them to score a bonus point right, I think was quite important as well. And we're obviously going to this game against Saracens at Ashton Gate as part of our double header with the men. We're hugely excited about it. We know Saracens is going to be a really tough test for us. Obviously, we've seen a little bit of media already in terms of they're looking for revenge. We kind of pushed that season behind us now. We're looking to concentrate on this season and make sure this is a completely different game. And it will be with

with very different squads. we want to put our best foot forward. It's a really great early test for our squad. And we can't wait to get in front of our home faithful and do what we can. It's going to be a great game and a great occasion. And we can't encourage more people to come down to Ashton Gate and support both Bristol men's team and Bristol women's team against both Saracens teams. I think there are two ways to look at this, Philippa, with a bye week in round two. I Bristol have avoided basically having to play two games without their internationals. They've only had to play one.

Although much like Sarri's, didn't really affect them very much in that round one game they played because they were so dominant. Any coach is going to want their internationals back, but cohesion, familiarity, these are key things, right? New faces could disrupt the flow. I also, remember reading something sociologically about the fact that a lot of rows between couples happen when one person's coming back into the house or into the room or whatever.

and it can upset the flow and that's where tension happens. have to just come in and acquiesce to the flow of the room before you. So I just, yeah, I wonder, they're going to want these internationals back into all of these sides, but there are players that have been there for the last few weeks who might also, know, that continuity, that flow might not quite be there. Yeah, it's an interesting point, isn't it? And I think both coaches would probably argue that their run up is the best. That's all coaches have, you know, the talent to be able to twist things to their advantage.

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Because the argument for Bristol Bears is, yes, they haven't had that extra game where maybe they've had some of those new combinations that we might still see this weekend sort of bed in, but it was such a good performance. 46 points they put on Loughborough Lightning. mean, Dave Ward couldn't really have asked for much more. I tell you what I am looking forward to this weekend, the lineups. Are we going to see, because we talked about Emma Orr and the signing, are we going to see Holly Aitchison and Emma Orr in the centres?

Bristol Bears, which just could be terrifying. But then again, they are coming up against two players who have played both rounds for Saris, who've got that extra time together. Not that they need it because Sarah McKenna and Sydney Gregson are long standing, fantastic players. But if that is a battle in the centres, that's going to be interesting. We'll all be keeping a close eye at 11 o'clock on Friday as those teams come out and

We should mention, we mentioned it at the start, we know that the PWR final for season 24-25 is going to be at the Stonex on the 16th of March. And yeah, I think that they've been wanting to bring the final to the Stonex for a while.

The can often be that by the time we get to June time, the stone X has started to convert itself more to athletics. So actually the capacity has dropped and all that kind of stuff. So the fact that we've got this shorter season and it's going to be in the middle of March means that it suits a Saris to be able to host it, which I guess is good news for them. It is on the 16th of March. That is the day after Super Saturday in the men's six nations.

That's my only concern, Philippa, is everybody going to have completely had their rugby fill and not you as our rugby fill, but their rugby fill? yeah, that, don't know, I don't know how you avoid it, but I think it is something to be conscious of. it is. it is, it's just so, so hard to find spaces. And if we talk so much about the rugby calendar and how hectic it is, and that's why traditionally

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women have finished off a little bit later, so they haven't had to compete with those sort of games. But as we know, it's their hands sort of being forced with regards to the Rugby World Cup and pulling that back. Look, I don't think it'll affect any of sort of die-hard women's fans, obviously, but it is a shame. I don't know. Depends how bad people's hangovers are, you know? And I guess it depends how England do as well, you know? know, we could look at it another way, which is to say that the Men's Six Nation will be an extended amuse-bouche.

for the main event. They're the curtain raisers. Wow. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, it is going to be at the Stonics and we did have a chance to hear from Saracens this week and from Alex Osterbury about that final heading to North London. It obviously is brilliant to have it here. I think it's recognition to all the work.

the clubs done and has done for a very long time to be at the forefront of the game. A little bit of added pressure now to make sure that we go one step further than we've done the last couple of years, but it's a great incentive, but it will be a great spectacle and hopefully we'll be part of that.

form and a point to prove. But yeah, we sort of heard from two coaches there and I know Dave Ward's very much like that was last season, we're about this season, we're all about moving forward. then obviously Saris are feeling that they have got a point to prove and always embraced that challenge against Bristol Bears. Interesting tactically, no coach will ever tell you what they're targeting the other team. They always say, don't they, we're focusing on us. But I would have thought if they were targeting anything, we know Bristol Bears love to play as in pass the ball, the highest

passers, if that's the Queen's English, I'm not sure, or the King's English, should I say. They pass the ball a lot. So how do you stop that? You stop that with a really aggressive defense. So they're going to be looking to push hard in those centers and try and shut them down. Conversely, then I think for Saris, they get so much momentum from their set piece that really lifts them every time they win that scrum, they get that line out more. So that's where Bristol Bears have got to try and target. It's going to be a really interesting game.

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And like you say, will that bi-week effect Bristol Bears? Let's see. Yeah. Well, you can join me and Philippa on TNT Sports 1. We're going to be there on Saturday for that 12 o'clock kickoff. We've got a good team on this one, haven't we? think Ugo's part of the team. Katie Daly-McLean is going to be there as well. So yeah, we are really looking forward to bringing that one to you. So hopefully you can join us to kick off your Saturday as we bring you Bristol.

against Saracens. The next game of the weekend is going to be Loughborough Lightning against Sale Sharks. So Lightning obviously played 2-1-0. Sale also winless but they did have that buy in week one. So Lightning in seventh thanks to the four-try bonus point they did get against Trailfinders. Look it was a 38-15 win for Loughborough Lightning in this fixture last season. We've heard from Nathan Smith saying he'll be bringing some of his big guns back in.

That'll be interesting. When we're talking about big guns, the way, we're talking about Rachel Malcolm, captain of Scotland. We're talking about Emily Scarratt, former World Rugby Player of the Year. And in my opinion, one of the best players all rounders out there, Helena Rowland. So, wow, this, I don't know how this game is going to go. The list of stars that are to come back for Loughborough Lightning is pretty insane. He says, just having a little dig for the list. Anne Young, Ailis Martin, Helen Nelson, Christine Belial. We know

obviously her story and she's been out for a bit. yeah, Bo Westcombe Evans back, Lily Ives' champion, Catho Donald, Sadia Cabello on the injury list for the USA, Alev Kelter, and Bulo Mataitonga, Catherine Treda, Hallie Taufou. Yeah, it's an insane list. And look, while the performances haven't been up to standard for the Loughborough coaches, it's going to be interesting to see who they stick with.

who gets the shepherd's crook. Laura Keats, Red Roses Rugby World Cup winner has clearly enjoyed seeing the younger talent given a chance. I think it's just been a really exciting opportunity for some of the younger players to kind of put their hands up. We've been going hard at each other in training and that's purposefully to kind of give the coaches that bit of headache when it comes to selection. We know that we've got some really experienced girls coming back in, but I think it's been a real testament to the players, the young players that we've got that they have.

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really been putting their hand up and fighting hard so that it's not an easy selection. they certainly are going to be giving some headaches, aren't they? And hopefully a really competitive training environment, which is what you need as well. For sales sharks, could we see the Italian duo this weekend? So as we know, Beatrice Ragoni went there, was it last season? She signed for them last season? Yes. Signed for them last season. you know what? This has got to be testament.

to the culture that they have at sail because we all know Beatrice O'Ghony hates the cold and not only has she stayed, but she's convinced one of her mates to come over as well. So Sophia Stephane is joining her for sail shark. So we'll be interested to see if those two get a shout this weekend. Yeah. And this is a game that Loughborough Lightning have to win that, that new coaching ticket of Nathan Smith, Charlie Beckett.

It doesn't want to become strained too early. So they're really going to hope they get the win home. And just talking to those young players who have stepped up and might give them a headache. Clearly, some of them won't be based on their defensive performances in London last weekend. But I've got to give a shout out to Becky Boyd. 25 tackles against Trail Finders. That was the most of anyone in round two. And what was the 20-year-old's second top flight appearance and first in the back row?

That's how things are looking again. Another match where those lineups across this whole weekend are going to really tell us a story. Gloucester-Harprey against Exeter-Chiefs, other huge game, repeat of the semi-final, three o'clock on Saturday. I'm wondering whether I can get from Ashton Gate at the end of our game, jump in the car and zip up the road and get up to King's Home to watch as much of that as I possibly can. Top two in the league, big game.

Both teams unbeaten, both teams maximum 10 points. It was 31-24 to Gloucester-Harpry in the fixture in March. You don't need to set it up anymore. This is going to be such a great game, isn't it? I think the question is, we talked about extra chiefs at home. Can we now talk about extra two chiefs playing like that away from home? That's always been their kind of little Achilles heel. Gloucester-Harpry certainly got the dominance in this fixture. They won the last four.

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against Exeter. Will that be playing on Exeter's mind? I don't know. But Gloucester-Harpry, not only, I think they're in a great position because not only have they got so many superstars ready to come back into that line, but actually the players that have been there have performed phenomenally well as well. So you talk about coaching headaches. Wow. I think Gloucester-Harpry, Sean Lind, the head coach there has probably got the biggest headache of the weekend.

Yeah, and Susie Appleby, former coach of Gloucester-Harpry a number of years ago now. But yeah, I remember actually when they went and played at King's Home last and didn't get the win. And Susie was like, well, you can't do much without the ball really, can you? You can't do much if you're not going to fire a shot. And that's going to be the key, I think, for Exeter Chiefs. But I think those little signings, think the way they've been able to step up since last season, bring a few more of those bigger names back with a salary cap slightly higher.

I think that might have Suzy a little happier with what the prospect is going to be, but it's going to be a challenge. And look, I think we might've mentioned it before, but that Welsh international team doesn't seem to perform to the sum of its parts. And a number of those players are Gloucester-Harpry players. How many of them are going to be named this weekend? And can they flick back into that club system and be able to look as devastating? I think there's going to be ring rust potentially from Gloucester-Harpry.

Can the Chiefs get there and turn them over? Yeah, I think this is going to be really interesting, which is why I will be racing on the motorway to try and get to King's Home. Yeah, and actually we should also mention, shouldn't we, Claky George, the normal starting fly-half, fly-half of Wales, has injured her knee. Don't know too much at the moment, but she did miss the last game of WXV where Wales played Japan.

it's going to be a different looking side when she's not at the helm for a couple of weeks. Well, let's look at the last game of the weekend. This one's on Sunday, Leicester Tigers against Harlequins. And it's a quarter to six kickoff on Sunday evening, which to me is a horrible time to play a game at Matioli Woods, Welford Road, well, to play a game anywhere. But both teams are going to have to wait all weekend to play this one. They've both played two, lost two.

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It's Tigers first home game of the season, Quinn's first game on the road. It was just a nine point win for Harlequins last season away, 24 points to 33. So yeah, I just really don't envy these teams playing at that sort of time. You've got to wait a whole weekend to then play that game. Do you think that the Leicester Tigers game plan that has shown at times, particularly second half down at Sanding Park, is it robust enough?

to hold out for this Quinn's team who are, you know, they're coming for their first win of the season as well. Yeah. I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Leicester Tigers at times, they have the sense of a new team at pre-season where you see those glimmers, you see those moments where you're like, yeah, that was really good. But then quite quickly it's not backed up. And Harlequins, we've talked about the fact that they have created these opportunities for themselves. They're not quite converting. That will be a

big focus for them this weekend and their defense has steadily improved round by round. So I do favor Harlequins in this one. It's their first one away. So that's always a challenge at the beginning of the season. But Leicester Tigers, I haven't quite seen enough for me for them to get this win. game is taking place after the men play. And I was up there for one of those games last season. It does at the minute, the take up of the interest around the Leicester Tigers women's team.

could do with a bit of a boost. So if you are in that area and Sunday evening you fancy a couple of hours of watching Sir William's Rugby then do get down to Matioli Woods Welford Road. You know when I was there last time it was quite an exodus of the Tigers faithful after the men had played and had that quite old school feeling of just a sort of hundred or so people kicking around a fairly large stadium. So I think it would be great if we can see the fan base you know stay on.

or a few more people come through the gates for that women's late on Sunday. Okay, so yeah, as the table looks then we've just had two rounds, Saracens, Gloucester, Hartbury first and second maximum 10 points, then it's Exeter Chiefs, Trail Finders find themselves in fourth at the minute. And then Bristol, Harlequins, Loughborough Lightning, Leicester Tigers and Sail Sharks. That is how the PWR table is looking after two rounds.

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Okay, I think it's time to give our powerline a little nudge and we actually this week unforgivably team out there. We've not heard from anybody on the powerline. 078080716219. We want to hear your reviews. We want to know what you've been watching. We want to know what you're looking forward to. So do get in touch with us. We did though have a text which is

unexpected, but people know the number and they're using it to communicate with us. And it was from Mikolai who said, I really enjoy the PowerPod. It's a good addition to the PWR highlights. Keep up the good work. So thank you. The missing piece in the PWR environment is a mobile app to follow games. It would be nice to have an app with live scores, predictors, et cetera. If you could pass my request to relevant people, I will be thankful. Well, consider it passed, Mikolai, and thank you very much for the message. Look, I think it's one of those things that as the league grows,

these sorts of things will be looked at. Ultimately, the reset of the last season and a bit as we've just started has a sort of it's almost like a startup again, as far as as Premiership Women's Rugby is concerned. So is an app priority number one? I'm sure it's in in the mix as well, as will be no doubt a title sponsor from next season. So so yeah, I think I think an app is probably a nice idea. Absolutely. And the Fantasy League as well.

I'd love to play a bit of Fantasy League on the women's premiership because I am useless at the football one. I'm having a shocker. So it'd great if I could actually try and play a game I might know a little bit more about. Yeah, there we go. So don't forget to keep in touch with us. The Powerline 078080 716 219.

You may remember last week we had a small hiatus in our one question relay but fear not we have tracked down Roe Master Mulholland to answer Rachel Lund's question about when can we expect the next Mackie's Around the World review. Hey it's Renita Master Mulholland here from Bristol Bears. So to answer Lundie's question the review is coming I promise you. Yeah it's on its way it's going to be a good one but you know we've got a bit of a backlog so make sure you follow.

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on Instagram. Macky's all over the world. I promise you it's worth it. And then my question is to Sainab Alemah from Leicester. What animal would win in a fight a bear or a tiger?

a classic of its genre, the old who would win in a fight question. And isn't it just a joy, Phil, to hear that lovely West Country accent? my gosh, no one says Maccas like a Bristolian. Just gorgeous. We will bring you the answer next week. We might have the answer already, but we're going to keep you waiting. And it's a great answer. So we will we will bring you the answer from Zee next time around.

Now we seem to have stumbled upon this Power Pals phrase. It reminds me of that episode of Friends. See ya pals. But we're here now, people are using it, I'm happy to go with it. So we're gonna stick with it. It's a great pleasure of mine on Sunday to have met a couple of our fans. Yes, Philippa, producer Caleb, we've got fans. Have a listen to this.

So I've come down pitch side after our game here at Trail Finders and I have found, I think, two of our biggest and maybe youngest Power Pod fans. Hello, what was your name? Alice. Hi Alice, and your name? Henry. Hello Alice and Henry. Alice, you've got a Trail Finder stop on, what have you been doing today?

I've been ball-goaling this match for the first time. Did you get your hands on the ball a few times? Yes, there was lot of tries, so I had an opportunity to go and put the balls down on the centre line. yeah, you did. And have you been playing the game a bit as you've been growing up? Yeah, just, yeah, but my brothers started... played when they were younger and I've just started playing, so I'm really enjoying it. Excellent. That sounds good to me. And, Henry, you've got a nice bright top on. Have you been running around today as well? Yes.

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I had training before and then I left training early so I could be guard of honour in this game. wow, have you been guard of honour before? Yeah. You have? Just a regular job these days? Yeah. I love that. And do you get down to Trail Finders often then to cheer on the women? yeah. And it's an entertaining game, isn't it, when they're scoring ten tries? Yeah.

Excellent. listen, it's really lovely to meet you both. And you've been listening to the Power Pod? Yes. we love you. We haven't got any merch yet. We're not as established as any others. If we had any, I'm sure we'd give some away. Well, we look forward to you continuing to listen. Who's your favourite player here? I like Emma Taylor and Abbi Dowd and Kendra because Emma Taylor and Kendra, they coached me and Abbi Dowd is one of my favourite wingers. I love that. Well, you'll have enjoyed how they were going at WXV, I'm sure, over

course of the Internassas as well. We're lovely to meet you both, continue enjoying your rugby and we hope to catch up with you soon. Well there we are, two youngsters and actually Mum Rabina made a really good point to me which is that they enjoy sitting around on a Friday and listening to the show, a nice preview to the weekend and they've also said that our podcast is nice and clean so it's good wholesome family listening so we will do our best to make sure that we keep it that way.

I shall, we'll have to keep bleeping for this potty mouth. But other than that, we'll, do our very best. any other business this week? Well, there was this tiny, small little tournament that concluded at the weekend, the top 18 international women's teams playing in the WXV. yeah, so, that concluded on the weekend. now know who our title winners are. So WXV won was England going back to back champions.

I mean, I am, I'm so excited to see how much better this team can get. But the question is who can challenge them now, Canada in that final. Did you know they were only together for four weeks prior to going into WXV? That's all they had four weeks and they challenged England. There was the first time I've seen a team forcing England to play in a way they weren't comfortable. And that was the first time in a long time, you know? So if they can keep building, wow, what a competition that could be.

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WXV2 went to Australia, so Scotland were in the final trying to go for that back-to-back championship, unfortunately. Australia just too good in the end. And then for three, it actually went to Spain. Fijiana played them in the final game and really challenged them right up into the wire, but Spain came away with it. So we now know all our teams that are going to be in the Rugby World Cup. And a special little shout out to Samoa, first time they're back in since 2014.

Yeah, that's lovely, isn't it? and yeah, by the time you listen to this, we may have our World Cup pools, of course, the draw taking place Thursday this week on the one show. So lovely bit of high profile, high visibility, these are the sorts of things we want. And of course, it's in the UK going to be on the BBC that one show. so yeah, I think that's

That's really good. I've got one other little bit of other business for you and I'm going to do more of this next week because I like the idea that we are connected to those of you out there that are involved in grassroots rugby and perhaps monthly here on the PowerPod, we can do a bit of a shout out for any clubs that are doing maybe taster sessions, open training sessions where they might be looking for new women, new girls to come along and play the game. I have one here just as an example.

Roz Wiggins, we're looking for new players at Sandbatch RUFC, girls from under 12 to under 18 and women looking for a new challenge. Training is from six till seven for girls and seven to eight for women every Wednesday at Sandbatch Rugby Club in Cheshire. So I've got a couple more of those that we'll get through next week, but hopefully we can just connect ourselves to Community Rugby a little bit and give people a chance to go and try this brilliant game if they haven't, if they're fans of it.

fans of the Power Pod, fans of the women's game, then why not try and pull a pair of boots on and go and support a local club? hopefully we can make that a little bit of a monthly feature. And I also just wanted to say to everybody out there, if you're enjoying the Power Pod, if you're finding it entertaining and useful, and our analysis is not dreary and really entertaining, which hopefully we're aiming for, then tell your mates.

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Please do tell people about us. We're grateful for everybody that's been listening and subscribing, but we really want to spread the word of the Power Pod. So do tell people to tune in. Right, Phil, I have rambled enough. It is time for Philippa Tuttie's Power Play. Okay. So the Power Play this week is going to come out of the Exeter game. And you actually alluded to it when you were doing your review. So a player called Nancy McGillray has been out injured for 17 months.

That is a long time. That is a really, really long time. And she was only supposed to have 20 minutes. was her first game back on the 22nd minute. She gets an intercept, runs the length of the field and scored the try. And it was just such an amazing moment. Not only a brilliant skillset and a brilliant read, but literally the entire Exeter team, all the bench, everyone came around her and I just, it embodied kind of sports and that family and that connection that you can have because

my heart goes out to her as a player. I thankfully touched a lot of wood. I never had a serious injury like that, but even two months out, three months out, I was pulling my hair out. To go through a 17 month that's credit to her for coming back looking so fit, so sharp and just lovely that she's in such a supportive environment and everybody loves an intercept. It's the best feeling in the world when you get something like that. that is my power play to Nancy McGillivray.

Well done. Welcome back. Can't wait to see more of you. That's super. I love that. A super shout. I'm more concerned about the fact that there was any time in your career where you nearly pulled your hair out because you have my favorite hair of anyone on or off field.

in the women's game. that would have been very traumatic for me to witness. Funny story, I'll just say on that. When my son first went to school, they do this like, you know, who's in your family type of thing. So they draw a picture, okay. So he comes out and he's so excited. He's like, I drew everyone, I drew everyone. was like, lash, okay. And he was like, but I couldn't draw you. I said, hush, I'm the one that gets left out. And he's like, yeah, but it's okay, because my teacher helped me. I said, all right, okay. So I opened up this bit of paper.

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And if you can imagine a figure that's a cross between a Dolly Parton and an Elvis, that's what my hair looked like. I mean, it had serious backcomb. I said, that's lovely. said, how, did you describe me to your teacher? And he said, well, I just told her that you got a big swoosh. there you go. Forever since I've got a swoosh. Excellent. Well, I love your swoosh and you know, I've.

I love it whether it's on you, whether it's on boy band members from the 90s. thank you. Okay, yes. I could do with updating. appreciate that. All right. That is it. It's gone by in a flash. Our idea of keeping these podcasts down to 20, 30 minutes has gone straight out the window, but so much to get our teeth into and we hope that you've appreciated.

everything we've reviewed and previewed. We're moving into round three of Premiership Women's Rugby. We hope you enjoy whatever games you're to go and see. Keep in touch with us on the PowerPod. Shall I see you at Ashton Gate on Saturday? Yes, we're back on the mic together. Let's do it. Yeah, let's do it. All right, everybody. The PowerPod is a level production produced by Caleb Matambwa.