The Power Pod (00:00.11)
you

The Power Pod (00:13.326)
It was actually 46.39 and I think when you said 50 you meant 50 points difference and you were actually wrong. So thank you and good night.

Her monstrous 40 tries scored across round 12 with 15 of them at Valles Way on Saturday. record crowd in Bristol enjoying the West Country Derby on Sunday while lightning struck in the late game against the three time winner, Saracens. Some massive games and some important results that we're going to look back on in a round that saw the top four race really starting to take shape.

We'll look ahead to who plays next, including that blockbuster clash in Devon. And of course, we'll talk about how you can learn the art of giving team talks through the phenomenon that is podcasting, because that is Philip Patussiat. I'm Nick Heath, and this is the Powerpoll.

The Power Pod (01:10.79)
Hello everybody, welcome, welcome, welcome. How are you? Philippa Tuttiet, how are you first of all? my gosh, yeah good. Still taking in all the reaction from Trail Finders. Kimbo, gotta love Kimbo. That first voice you heard was indeed assistant coach at Ealing Trail Finders, Kim Oliver, double World Cup player with England's Red Roses.

Um, and, uh, yes, for anybody that, uh, that hasn't seen the clip on our socials, uh, well, Philippa, turns out that, um, you know, I mean, I was getting it in the neck. God knows what would have happened if you'd have actually been there. Um, you may remember that last week, Philippa said, uh, says, you know, if trail finders aren't careful, this could be a 50 pointer. And well, Kate Zachary put that in the team WhatsApp group and.

everyone was walking up to me at Trail Finders. I decided basically to meet Elmer Smith and go, I haven't seen you in ages. Should we go for a little new year watch at Trail Finders? That's a nice local West London game. So we popped along and yeah, I basically had people giving me evils, staring me down, going 50 points, is it 50 points? Right. Well, I was like, oh, it wasn't even me. was Philippa who said I know, sorry Nick. It's okay. I'm prepared to wear it. We're a team. We're a team. And yeah, it was, they were all, they were all.

very proud that it had been the motivation they needed. they were beautiful. Well, hey, look, controversial comment leads to a trifest. Nick, we need to think about more things to say. We've got to throw these bombshells out there. But in fairness, I did actually mean, sounds like I'm creeping now, I didn't mean they were going to 50-nil them. I just thought that Harlequins could put 50.

points. actually didn't, I don't think I really mentioned what trail would score and I thought they would score, in fairness to them, I didn't actually see them scoring as high as they did. So credit trail finders, you brought a wicked game. was really entertaining and what seemed like a freezing cold night as well. Credit for you for going down and watching. Cause we was in the debate about the pitch being frozen or playable or. Yeah. And actually I learned a bit here because you can, I always thought that if the referee said the game is playable, then you play the game.

The Power Pod (03:24.686)
And if they said it wasn't, if it's not, it's not. But actually learned that the referee will say that it's playable and then the two captains will each decide if they agree and are happy to play the game. And if one captain decides that they're not, then they don't play the game. So Jade Conker was under a little bit of pressure, I think, because she was like, well, actually it is beginning to freeze up on this pitch a little bit. And actually with those fake 4G pitches, it can almost get a bit harder than a natural ground sometimes. And I'm told that that

reinstalled new pitch at Valis Way is wood chip. so actually the rather than it being rubber crumb, some of the work, is really boring, but anyway, some of the wood actually absorbs moisture. So when it gets down to freezing, it has the effect more of going a little firmer. So there was a little concern over a few players thumping the ground when it was.

pretty much touching zero. yeah, I mean, even after the game, you they'd won the game, I was walking down the corridor to go to the bathroom and Chloe Rowley walked past me and just went, oh yeah, oh yeah, 50 points. I was like, they're still that happy even though they've won the game, not won the game, but come close. I mean, I am just gonna say they conceded 46. I know I was way off. I was way off. Yeah, clearly.

Anyway, we love at Trail Finders. We love the fact that so many people listening. Welcome to the Power Pod. you're new around here, we are winning friends and influencing people across the league. How's your week been anyway, Philippa? Other than that? Oh gosh. Yeah, really good. Thank you. Settled in for the big game. Bristol Gloucester had friends around for that and that was brilliant as well. Really enjoyed that. How was that for you calling that game? What an occasion. Yeah, really, really, really.

really lucky to be able to have had that opportunity. And yeah, I had a chat with Katie Daley-McLean beforehand and said, look, we've probably got quite a few new eyeballs coming onto this one. So I think we might need to do our best version of subtly explaining a few more things in the game. Now, actually, you know, the bosses at TNT Sports are really keen for that to be how rugby is covered anyway, because we know rugby is not the simplest game. Even fans who've watched it for a long time need clarification over certain things. And I think I like to think me and Katie fulfilled that brief.

The Power Pod (05:39.118)
and certainly received a few messages from people who were watching. So yeah, we know all the eyeballs were on it. Did the game quite deliver as to how we might have liked? Maybe not quite, but I'm sure we will get to that because it is time then for us to look back at round 12. Absolutely. So let's kick it off with that game. Trail Finders 39, Harlequins 46. So 15 tries scored in this one. Two teams that love a high ball in play.

The Queen's came out flying 14-0 up in nine minutes courtesy of Silvia Tirani and Claudia Peña before Conkel, Kildon and Connie Powell all crossed over. Trail Finders tried to stay in it, keeping the door open at half time when Kate Zachary scored their third to make it 17-31. But what a second half. Trail Finders powered their way back to lead the game with 10 minutes to go, Kate Zachary second making it 39-36.

before Keris Phillips and Kayleigh Powell closed it out to ensure Quinn's stayed on top of the table. Yeah, a treat to have been there for this one in terms of that contest. What a game. There were a couple of worrying moments. mean, with that pitch being pretty solid in the temperatures, both teams lost players early to injury. Anamal Meta for Trail Finders going off after a couple of minutes after I'd given her the big build up to Elmer Smith in the sideline. And Alex Callender, think, who took a bit of a head knock for Quinn's at six minutes.

But plenty of top performers for both sides. I was continuing my love of what I see from Claudia Peña as well. So I couldn't resist. I grabbed a chance to speak with the young Spanish international after the match. And I just wanted to find out a little bit about how her rugby journey began. I started at eight years old. I played in Barcelona. I started playing with the boys and then I came back with the women like three years ago. So that's...

playing with boys, I think, gave me lot of challenge to grow up as technically, because I think that I didn't have the strong and the physique that they have, so I had to improve in other ways more technically. And then when I play with women, it's just a challenge every day, just trying to improve and at the same time trying to get my teammates better and also they get me better.

The Power Pod (08:03.198)
Lovely just having the chance to speak to Claudia Peña. And I thought it was quite interesting actually, because like many of the players that we've known through generations, Philippa, many women's players have either played with brothers, we've heard that story, know, Nolly Waterman and plenty of others alongside her. then those that, know, like Claudia and others who say, well, I started having to play with the boys at a boys club. And I just thought the growth of the women's game

will be hopefully taking us to a place where you're not going to have to just play with a boys team to prove yourself and get there. But then there was a tiny bit of me that thought, gosh, I wonder whether some of these players really come through and excel because they had to compete with boys at a certain level and prove themselves. I'm not saying it's the way the world should be, but you see in someone like Claudia Pena, she says it was about trying to train alongside, but then actually now she's getting technically more proficient.

when she's training around other women. But yeah, I just thought it was an interesting point as to how that evolution of women's players will be changing when hopefully there are more peer group players, more fellow women taking and girls taking up the sport. Yeah, know like specifically here in Wales, we had a big drive about five or six years ago and we developed these hubs. So girls from under eights could be playing in a girls rugby team. But I also remember speaking to some parents and some players that said, actually, I quite like playing with the boys.

You know, they wanted to have the option and I think that's good to have the option. If you just want to play with, with girls, great. If you want to play essentially mixed rugby for as long as you can for as safely as you can. think that's pretty good too. know, Jones being down in Cardiff here, she used to play for Cardiff Queens and they had a fantastic, still do a girl's set up. So, so she was able to play girls rugby, but she would play mixed touch rugby. And that I think is an extra bonus because it just changes the dynamic and the speed of play as well.

you're receiving a pass that can one minute be a little bit softer, next minute it's a bit harder. You've got to make a pass to different lines of running because players, boys, girls run at different speeds. I just think that development, that awareness, it can only be a good thing. Yeah, love that. So the Trail Finders game then, I mean, what a match. If you haven't seen the highlights, please find them. The option of the little boot downfield for Kate Zachary to dive over in the corner was just sumptuous.

The Power Pod (10:25.326)
There were some lovely moments. Jade Conchall, 22 carries, two clean breaks and another super performance from her. Yeah, absolutely. Jade Conchall stand out. There were actually six Harlequin players in that team of the week, the most obviously by any team. But I also want to give a shout to Rory Wood. I believe this was this her first start for Trail Finders or her second? She's literally just come in the Canadian prop. Six foot, hello, and prop in and gave a lovely offload actually to a try.

She's a good acquisition for Trailfinders. Yeah, yeah. Okay, nice. Well, that was how things turned out at Valles Way. It was a really entertaining game. A hatload of points. And the hot chocolate was decent as well.

So that was good. Right. Leicester Tigers 38, Sale Sharks 17 as we move to Mattioli Woods-Welford Road on Saturday's second game. Tigers back home looking for their first home win in the PWR while Sale searching for their first victory of the season full stop. Meg Jones scored her first with her first involvement of the game. Emily Henrich scoring Tigers second with the Sharks' leaky defense remaining the case.

with Meg Jones making it a 17 minute hat trick. Charlotte Frey scored Tigers fifth for a halftime of 31-0, the story really written at that point. But the second half did see sale come to life. Sophie Hopkins, Katie Benson, Iona Antwis scoring to see sale win the second half, 17 points to seven. But the Meg Jones show had really done the damage first half. Yeah, certainly did. Like you say, sale came out that second half, didn't they? They made much more of a game of it, but it was a little bit too late.

Although I do just want to give a little acknowledgement to, know I keep talking about her, but she's awesome. Julia McCoyler, you talk about that Meg Jones try. Okay. So I was watching this. She scores on what would have been the eighth phase. Okay. But seven phases leading up to it. Guess how many of those phases Julia was directly involved in out of the seven? Seven? No, impossible. Come on, Nick. Let me give me the build up.

The Power Pod (12:30.956)
She was involved in four. Now, when you bear in mind, some of them were carries. So she's on the floor. physically can't be in the next phase, but on one of them, she did actually get up and she made herself available. She was in direct for four of those, whether it was carrying, whether it was an offload, whether it was rucking, which led eventually to the Meg Jones try. So Meg Jones, course, twinkle toes, unbelievable, but you got to acknowledge these players in the backfield doing things that give her that front football to do the magical thing she's doing.

Yeah, I love that. Well, I'm saying seven because Omicoyla has just been absolutely brilliant all season. But yeah, Meg Jones, I 70 meters carried, 13 tackles, three tries. Context, Lizzie Duffy, who played at 15 for sale, had the second best meters and that was just 39. So, yeah, great to see Leicester Tigers able to do it. You just, you know, can they find that space and have that time against the other teams? That's going to be their big test, isn't it? OK, so the big one, Bristol Bears 17, Gloucester, Hartbury 40 being played at

Ashton Gait. A slightly stodgy first half saw Gloucester Harbury take an early lead through an Emersingh try before Bristol hit back through Millie David. Two successive deliberate knock-ons by the Cherry and Whites in defence saw a fly half Blakey George sent to the Sin Bin before Elisa Joyce Butchers did what is normally the domain of her wife out on the wing with the most ridiculous but amazing dummy I think the lead has ever seen.

But second half, the defending champion stepped up. Mo Hunt, of course, it was going to be her. She helped to turn the momentum with a sniping score before Lund, Muir, Venner and Georgia Brooke finished things off. Yes, didn't they? Really, really impressed by Gloucester Harpry's second half. think, yeah, was first half. I got word from Claire Thomas actually while she was waiting to speak to Dave Ward midway through the first half. He sort of turned to her and said,

as she said to me, is that this has almost got the feel of a bit of a cup tie to it. It was nip and tuck and just the sort of game that wouldn't really find its flow. yeah, but, you know, certainly the defending champions able to do it second half. First up, the crowd, 9,240. Great record for a standalone PWR match. match, I should say. Of course, we've had decent crowds at Queen's home for finals and various things like that.

The Power Pod (14:56.078)
the sort of hybrid crowd that we had at Twickenham for Queens. But yeah, over 9,000, certainly a record for Bristol. And yeah, it was interesting. Katie Daly-McLean on commentary alongside me, sort of was looking at me when we were having to decide the player of the match. was like, Mo Hunt or Maud Muir? Or we were sort of going through Kate Williams and she was sort of pointing at them and I was like, any of them? So we all cropped, like they've all been pretty decent. And then she just pointed to Mo again and just went.

kind of turned the game with that momentum snipe and then actually the offload that got more Murian as well. But when we went down pit side, the Gloucester Hartley players were like, I think most of the team are thinking Georgia Brock should have got this because she came straight on, won three turnovers, got a try as well. And again, influence of the commentator, the podcast, I I made a comment that said, if you want turnovers, then that's what you want Georgia Brock for. If you want smiles, you want someone else.

And I went down to Bixside and saw Georgia and said, oh, by the way, I said, I'll get an apology in first, because I made a fun little remark. she was like, no, you're fine. I've already heard it. My mom's over there. Someone's already told her. was like, So there we are. Well, there we go. And then the comment leads to a performance. Here we go. Yeah, quite. So it was, as we should mention,

the introduction of a particular debutant in the PWR. Ilona Marr was there. She might not have touched the ball. Fate was always going to have it that way, really, wasn't it? But here is a chance to hear Ilona's thoughts on how things went when she was chatting post-match with TNT Sports. So Jenny Drummond and Katie Daly-McLean. I was really nervous going in, like putting my bib away and my jacket on. And then as I got in and made the first hit, I was like, oh!

It's just rugby. Like this is something that I do that I love and I felt very comfortable to the point where I was like, look at the time, like, give me 10 more, give me 10 more minutes, I'm ready. Well, talk us through kind of the buildup because it has, as soon as your name was announced, as soon as the signing was announced, it was a big buildup. Put Christmas, New Year in the middle of it. That's not easy. And then also a bit jet lag. Yeah. So what's it been like the last kind of week or so? It's been definitely a lot. mean, I'm trying to, I want to go out the field and do well for my teammates and.

The Power Pod (17:09.73)
be there because I'm deserving and I understand it. it's, you know, lot of system play. It's so different than sevens where it's like get balls run. This is like, there's so many steps in between to get that ball. But I've been doing my best in practice is trying to really absorb everything I can. And how are the girls doing of kind of translating that kind of you called it tongues when we just chatting there that rugby language that's just very different. Like you say to sevens. It's so different. think I'm just kind of being a silent observer right now. Just trying to like soak it all in because there's so many things being thrown around.

and then like this word leads to this and that. But what's been so great is the team is so ready to help me with anything. Like even if somebody in my same position I'm going to go and play for, like they're like ask me any questions, I'm ready to help you. Holly, whether it's a forward back, it's really an environment that's ready for me to learn. It is amazing to think, you know, it's been a long time since she's played 15s, back in her college days. The game has evolved. Yes, of course, she's a world class 7s player. She's got the skills, she's got the physicality, the athleticism, but to join...

one of the best teams in the league in the best team in the sorry, the best league in the world. Like pressure is on her, but fair play, you know, she is just open to learning, you know, to make herself, to have someone who's so up there, 8 million followers, know, doing strictly the American version to come and then make yourself so vulnerable to just learning, you know, putting your hands up and going, just, just teach me, I will learn. Like it's just credit to her, isn't it? It's real testament of her character.

Yeah, I thought it was hilarious when the camera came down and we had a little look at her on the bench and she was sort of giving it the smiles and the thing. And I thought, how do you balance the personality and reactions at that point to be able to know that that's why the camera's there, to not be arrogant about it, to also try and have a bit of fun with it and not have your teammates hate you. And she managed to achieve all of that. And I made people laugh and make people smile, you know? And I just thought,

That was absolutely brilliant. yeah, social media, I've seen some of the comments on stuff and said, well, she was rubbish or, what's the point and all this kind of stuff. completely miserable people who haven't got a life, frankly. And some really horrendous comments around, you know, her body and various other things, which I'm not going to entertain, but are the reason she is the beacon of body positivity that she is and that people will listen to what she's got to say.

The Power Pod (19:29.39)
And look, it's great for the league. It's great for the eyeballs that we've had on it. And she will, like you say, she'll continue to improve. I think she might be a little lucky that no one was looking too closely on her first contact because she came running in and there was the suggestion of the very, at least the very top of a bicep in quite an upright hit. So I've had a couple of people say she was lucky not to get a yellow on her first contact. So I'm sure she will learn to.

to bend those knees and get a little lower given her tall frame. But look, it's lovely to have her in the league and all of the circus that will come with it. Although it was the circus that was the undoing of Bristol on Sunday. They were good, weren't they? they were really good. Yeah. What a given nod though to Fee Lewis at Scrum Half due to the, we mentioned last week's pod, the injuries there. She's come in and it looked like she'd been there all season. Like talk about just slotting in. I thought she did a really good performance, but I...

was a little bit frustrated second half when they were camped in their 22. And I know it's the Bristol way. They don't really like to kick, but it was carry, carry, carry, carry. And you would just go in, you're to get turned over in a second. You're going to get turned over in a second and you got turned over. And it just thinking like Fi Lu has got a great box kick. know, know the

The Power Pod (20:49.856)
You know, if Dave Ward wants, you know, high ball in play time and you know, that hole, we don't want to kick the ball away. Want to play positive rugby. That's cool. That's great. But you know, really good box kick is an attacking play because you're looking to get that ball back. And if you've got the right runners there, and let's be honest, when it comes to Bristol, you haven't even got to look for your wingers. Like Sarah Boone or give chase. Like, you could just, you could just put it up. Everyone would go up and there's a really good chance you're going to get that ball back, but it just changes.

the scene, changes the picture, because at times it felt almost like it was a Gloucester-Harprey turnover training drill, you know, where the coach would pen you in a four meter cone square and say, look, you're just going to keep carrying because I want you to work on your turnover. You know, it was like, I just felt they just could have just changed it up a little bit.

Yeah, well, we felt we had to point out in commentary because, you know, if you've got new eyeballs on it and they're like, oh, okay, so they seem to be carrying it a lot in their 22. Maybe the rule is that you can't kick it from there because surely that's the most sensible thing to do. So we felt like we really had to keep emphasizing, you know, we don't really know why they don't kick it. It felt, I don't know, suicidal at times. They were just in that 22 and not really going in a lateral losing meters. just thought, just kick it, just get rid of it.

So yeah, whether that will change, whether there's, you know, are other reasons they're sticking to that as their DNA, I'm not sure. while having more possession is great, if it's just in your 22 and you're fighting to get out, I really don't see the value. But there we are. I'm not paid to be a head coach. What do I know?

word on Millie David as well. She made sure that she stays top of the log with getting another one on the board. So that was 12 tries for her and it was Renika Bonner of course who made way for Elona Mar to get on. But yeah, great crowd. Gloucester Harp we're continuing to show the sort of form that has seen them have a great December.

The Power Pod (22:44.374)
and kick on into the new year. All right, Loughborough Lightning 22, Saracens 17. Since Stadium at Franklin's Gardens, my goodness, what a result. Loughborough concluding 2024 with a 50-pointer against Sale, and how delighted were they with this result to start 2025. Chrissie Scherfield was on top form, opening the scoring with a screamer.

off the shoulder in midfield, adding another later on, nearly an intercept as well. Saracen's hitting back with a Zoe Harrison try, which was soon responded to by another red rose, Saidiya Kabea, celebrating her 50th Loughborough Lightning appearance with a score at the back of a dominant maul. Sydney Gregson found her way to the corner after a well-worked team try for Saris before Scherfield's second, as Lightning reasserted their lead to 17-10 at the break. And Emily Scarratt, the welcome recipient of another Scherfield surge on the Saris line, and a Saris fight back.

was too little too late, albeit they did bag the losing bonus. Wow. wow, indeed. What a game. It was Loughborough's first ever win against Saracens. That is huge. And when you put it into the context of their season, let's be honest, after the first couple of rounds, we wouldn't have predicted that. But credit to them. Hopefully this is the moment, isn't it, where they click and we see the best of them.

And look, returning Rachel Malcolm was there. She's back from that injury, which was really good to see. And understandably, she was a little bit happy. Yeah, very special. I think for so many reasons, like I've been a part of this team since day one and we've never beaten Tarrasins. You know, they're a team to be reckoned with. They're always in the top four, top two. And I think, you know, we've worked incredibly hard as a team and it's just so special to see the fruits of that labour. And I think, you we absolutely deserve that win today.

the girls were outstanding in the fight from minute one to minute 80, whatever it was, was incredible and very special for me as well. Back in amongst, I'm really mis-sling with the girls. It's been tough being on the sidelines, but it's just, yeah, makes moments like that more special. That result was just skittling through the WhatsApp groups on Sunday evening. I know we shared it in our group. There were others that were sharing it. It was just like, my goodness, have you seen this? Huge. know, Lightning Go Above Trail Finders into sixth in the table. First time they've been in that position since round four.

The Power Pod (25:04.75)
and look, know, the Saris went for an early quick tap when they got a penalty, Rosie Galligan, thundering in, put it off to Marley Packer bowling over, but Packer was held up. They put the effort in. just thought, hold on. is that, that for so many teams, that would have been a five or seven pointer. Just thought it was early, a real sign of the, of the defensive intent and, and Scherfield's first try. just, I love seeing wingers coming off the wing, looking for work. I don't think we see it as much in the women's game.

think probably one of the best exponents of it, you know, lovely to see her now back fit and playing as Claudia McDonald. She always would just pop up places. Chris Ashton, ultimately one of the best in the world game, I think in terms of the men's who used to do it. so I love seeing that more of that, please. I actually would have loved Ilona Mar to have been doing that. She clearly won't be, won't be comfortable yet to perhaps do that, but yeah, come firing off, come, come and, come and closely support a carry around a rock and thunder through.

And yeah, and I just thought Saracens discipline a few times when they were under pressure, particularly second half when when Loughborough were really going for the jugular and discipline wise, they didn't have the worst concession of penalties over the game like 21 like they did against Bristol, but they were conceding in those key periods under pressure that allowed Loughborough to build the meters and then then get into those those gold zone scoring opportunities. Fair play Nathan Smith side. They did it.

They certainly did talk about Chrissy Scherfield, also Aleph Kelter. She was everywhere. You know, I was watching her in a couple of her contact runs and it's like, it's one thing to be running hard, fast, direct, picking that line. And for most people that's their carry, right? They do that. They make contact, they go down. For Aleph Kelter, that's like only half the carry for her.

When someone makes contact with her, she's like, right, now here we go. Like arms are up and legs are going. Cause it's like, cause she's hockey, wasn't she ice hockey? I'm pretty sure she was under twenties, like American ice hockey player. It's as if, and you know, they're crazy, but they've got all their pads and their helmets and whatever. And they go and smash it. It's like she runs into contact like an ice hockey player would. She's just incredible and makes meters every time. it's.

The Power Pod (27:14.318)
no one can get over it because it's such a mess. Like our arms are everywhere, legs are everywhere and all of sudden the ball comes back. And you remember at the very beginning of the season, we did that thing where we sort did that like dream try scoring scenario where you've got Scarrett to Kelter and then there's Skurfi and like all these names. I really felt that this was the first game where you could have said that, you know, like every player, these big names put up their hands and put in a performance. And it was really enjoyable to see. And you know, I know a lot of people are like,

Well, did Saris perform badly? And I actually don't think they did perform badly. I think they had some really good points, but I do think the pressure told in the second half. And I think it was a lot more down to Loughborough just playing with such intensity and looking so organized. And when you're organized, those quick rucks and then that ability to play something out the back.

It just flows so much more. It's almost like you're preempting, although you never take it for granted. And you know, you're always aware to make sure you've got players in the ruck and secure the ball and you don't want to think too far ahead, but they seem to have that nice balance of awareness, intensity, but knowing what to do next. And this, really hope this is that moment where we say, from this moment on, Loughborough, like they're up there now, you know? Yeah.

Yeah, I totally agree with you on that as well. It's almost like she runs in one line to take the contact and then she's going to use that momentum to bounce in and go and and fight someone else and take them on. She was actually top of the meters. She made 97 meters. I haven't got the detail on that as to how many of those were post contact meters, but I imagine it was 97 of them because of how effective she is on that. yeah, look, it was...

It was a brilliant result for Nathan Smith's side. And yeah, as you say, it'll be interesting to see how they kick on. I'm sure we'll discuss a little bit of the Loughborough Lightning effect on the league a little bit later on. So shall we get into our round 13 preview then and look ahead to next week? Yes, let's do it.

The Power Pod (29:13.714)
All right then. So we have another West Country clash awaiting us. It all begins on Saturday. Gloucester Harpry welcoming Loughborough Lightning to the Fort Ed Harpry Stadium at two o'clock. Well, at the same time in North London, the Wolfpack in Saracens seeing a visit from Leicester Tigers to the Stone X. That one will be live on YouTube. On Sunday, sales sharks, host dealing trail finders kick off two o'clock. You can catch that via the Global Yo app. And an hour later on Sunday, Seas the Weekends.

biggest fixture, arguably, Exeter Chiefs looking to defend Fortress Sandy Park against a wounded Bristol Bears side in front of the TNT sports cameras. It's Harlequins who have the buy this weekend. yeah, Saturday 2 o'clock then. Gloucester, Harbury, Loughborough Lightning, Yeah, awesome. OK, so Gloucester, Harbury, their run really nicely.

They've won four of last five and that includes victories over some of the top dogs, Bristol, Exeter, Chiefs and Saris. Loughborough Lightning have been showing these glimpses throughout the season. We've been waxing lyrical about the quality they possess. Their victory at home over Sarisons that past weekend might just be the watershed moment for them. Gloucester Harbury, no doubt, keen to keep chasing Quinn's knowing full well that Bristol have a game in hand and Chiefs have...

Yeah, they do. Exeter Chiefs are played nine compared to those teams that have played 11 at the minute. And look, we just spoke about Loughborough and is it any surprise that their fortunes have started to improve since Sadiq Abaya returned, started performing, Alef Kelter joined the lineup as we mentioned, Rachel Malcolm back in the fray, Chrissie Scherfield on top form. I you can really understand how excited Nathan Smith was about his team at the start of the season, but also how frustrated he's been waiting to get a few of his shiniest cars on the road.

Yeah, absolutely. And it was the scoring in the variety of ways as well that I thought was really impressive by, by Loughborough Lightning, know, changing that point of attack continuously and some really nice defensive reads, especially in that, that back line, can see Scarrett and Kelter, you know, trust is there, the communication is there because they're, they're two players as well that move very differently, which when it comes to a defensive partnership as centres, you've really got to know one another and be able to react to one another. And I thought that's developing really nicely. Yeah.

The Power Pod (31:28.27)
It's going to be at the Fourhead-Harpry Stadium. So this is a pretty big game. It's not going to be in a spanking big stadium. I wonder whether Loughborough Lightning might just use that to their advantage without there being as big a machine behind the defending champions as to if they can turn up there and have a good go at Gloucester-Harpry. How do you see this one going? I don't know.

Gloucester Harbury just looks so assured at the moment. Do remember back at the beginning of the season, Sean Lin, you know, when they dropped a couple of early games and he was just so calm about it, wasn't he? And he was just like, yeah, this happened. We'll see how the season goes. Has he got a crystal ball? Did he just know, look guys, don't worry, come December, January, we'll be on it. We'll smash it. Because it is literally that little phase has just gone and now they're just back to Gloucester Harbury, full confidence.

They're playing like they did when they sort of had that surgence of developing their game plan and everyone stepping up. When they were the underdogs and they were just performing and it was a circus and it was fun, you can almost see that vibe coming back, which is incredibly impressive when they've been playing, you know, they've been at the top for so long. Yeah, it didn't look like the three Pete was on.

when we were sort sitting towards the end of November, but actually that brilliant December that they've had really discovering that form. think that performance against Exeter really, really allowed Gloucester Harpry to show what they're on and Mo Hunt getting player of the match thought she was great at the weekend. She's continuing to show the sort of form that they want from co-captain to her and Zoe Allcroft working really well. So,

So yeah, that unfortunately it won't be streamed. So you'll have to do your best to keep up with the result of that as it comes in. We will hope that we'll get some footage on that on the highlights as well. But that is the first game of the weekend. All right. The second one then is Sarisens against Leicester Tigers. Yeah. So Saris sitting in fourth against Leicester Tigers sitting in eighth. This is going to be played at the Stonac Stadium. Things have not gone according to plan for the Wolfpack.

The Power Pod (33:31.532)
They're in fourth and they've lost two of the last five games. Bristol who are fifth are seven points behind them, but have that game in hand. For Tigers, they need a big win to put some belief in their systems after their first home win, an 80 minute performance against what you could call a bit of a vulnerable looking Saracens would be a huge shot in the arm for them. Yeah. I've just tried to picture Alex Osterby reacting to us calling them vulnerable looking Saracens.

I'm not sure that's going to go down well, it? But yeah, they've had a couple of results they would certainly have been on, like to have been on the other side of. perhaps you could argue that Bristol, a couple of Bristol's recent results are actually helping Saracens out because, you know, they've fallen a bit away from that top four and Saracens are now in fourth. I actually wanted to give a shout out to Sam, by the way, of the Women's Rugby Show, who was peddling a line last week that I quite like about that top four, just...

about the impact of teams like Loughborough Lightning, who, while they're not gonna make it into that top four, what impact will they have on how that looks by the end of the season? Because, you know, they've got, Loughborough are gonna play Gloucester, Exeter, Tigers, Bristol, and Trail Finders.

you know, they've got Exeter at home. So that could be an interesting one for them to play. It's not one that's going to affect Saracens too much, but how those others end up, depending on the strength of performances by Loughborough, is quite an interesting way to look at how the business end of the season is going to turn out. Yeah, certainly. And you know what, regards to like calling them vulnerable, I would say they're wounded. They've got to be wounded. Like you probably just got to be wounded. That's the first time you've ever lost to Loughborough Lightning.

There's that cliche, isn't it about wounded animal. You can either be vulnerable or you could be at your most lethal now. And we'll see a retaliation. We've seen retaliations before. Remember, beginning of December, they lost to Gloucester, Hartbury very next round beat Bristol and stats were all against them yet. They found a way to win. you felt like that was a retaliation sort of win. So that I have no doubt they are going to be incredibly fueled, incredibly frustrated. saw that frustration towards the end of the game against Loughborough.

The Power Pod (35:46.11)
And it's how they use that now going into this. Tigers have got the best, I think, chance to go into this game with that confidence. They've got a bit of momentum behind them. I really enjoyed their offloading play that they were playing against Sale. Now to counteract that argument, know, Sale's defense wasn't as strong as obviously Saris is going to be. So those offloading opportunities were on for Tigers. Will they have that against Saris? I'm not sure, but if they can get some quick work ball, if they can get those offloads in.

know, Tigers look like they're enjoying their rugby right now. I do see, you know, Saris winning this, but I can see Tigers putting some points on the board. Yeah. If Tom Hudson can clone Meg Jones in the next week, the next few days, then that would help as well, wouldn't it? Word on May Campbell, by the way, 11 tries, placing her second on the tally. But she has won 22 turnovers, top of the charts, the next best being teammate Gabby Sempft, who's on 11. So that gives you a sense of how many turnovers May Campbell.

is winning. We certainly mentioned her name a lot in the first half of the season, not so much recently, but she is still doing the business. yes, a word there for May Campbell. yeah, that one is going to be live streamed if you want to catch Saracens against Leicester Tigers on Saturday, two o'clock.

Okay, Sunday then, two o'clock, Sail Sharks who are in ninth against Trail Finders in seventh, that one at the Corpax Stadium at Hayward Road. Sail Sharks still in search of that elusive first win of the season. They've been finishing matches better. Those two late scores away from home in Leicester would have been a moral boost. They did at least win that second half for Trail Finders. Just three wins in ten which

doesn't really feel like a true reflection of their quality. And Barney Madison would certainly like his team to be better at finishing those games. And look, they did come back into that game against Queen's, just then letting it slip in the last 10 minutes, but certainly very, very close. Yeah. And, you know, we've got to bear in mind they had that long break, didn't they, over Christmas? So to come back against one of the in-form teams and literally hit the ground running, absolute credit to Trailfinders. And I can totally understand their frustration because

The Power Pod (37:50.51)
Trail funders are always in the game. And we talk about their attacking rugby. They scored 47 tries over the season. That's a lot of tries, seven last round, but the difference between them and Harlequins is the points conceded, you know, and that's the difference between top and where they're sitting at the table. So I think a real goal for them against sale and as brutal as it is for sale, I think he's going to keep them to a nil. You know, there's, I can't imagine there would be any targets, particularly on, the amount of tries scored. It's obviously win the game, but.

let's keep a clean sheet. Let's keep them to nil because that's got to be their sort of progression. Yeah. I was chatting actually at Trail Finders last week to Ollie in the bar afterwards who looks after their defense and he was sort of saying, I know you sort of said that our defense is this. I was like, okay, here we go. Being held to account again. But he was like, actually, you know, we are working on it, but what you've said hasn't been too far wrong. So they know that they certainly need to tighten up what they're letting in the back.

what they're letting in at the back whilst also going forward. yeah, it's just, you know, proven to be a tough season for sale sharks. And you do sense that Trail Finders are the ones who'll be keen to try and hit a little bit of form away from home and continue their run of at least performing and scoring. So, yeah, we'll see how that one goes. The second game then on Sunday is Exeter Chiefs against Bristol. This is the huge one in the West Country.

third against fifth. And well, remember when Chiefs couldn't do anything wrong? Well, they're now in third. Joint points with Saracens. They want to chase down Quinn's who are on their nine game winning streak, of course, for Bears. They are stuck in that much despised fifth place. They need a win to close that gap. Promises to be a cracker. I mean, are we going to start talking yet about whether Bristol Bears have got enough in them to be able to get out of that fifth position? Because

You know, well, while Chiefs are level on those points, they've got those two games in hand. If they win both of those, they'll be top of the log. So Bristol, they're in fifth, they're seven points off. There's work to do. Are the teams above them going to cough up the points they need to be able to reel them in and get back into that top four? Tricky. Tricky. I think again, Exodus Chiefs are wounded, aren't they? You know, that loss down in Sandy Park for them now to be back at Sandy Park, they're going to have a massive point to prove because

The Power Pod (40:15.246)
know, the last game that they lost, especially after being beaten so convincingly, it was at 41-12, Gloucester Harbury went down and, know, it wasn't just the scoreline, it was the manner of the game, you know, they were dominated. they've, they're going to have a big point to prove. so I, this is, this is a really tough one to, to, to call, but I, I do think it's going to be going as to achieve sway. Yeah. I Bristol had 58 % possession, 42 % territory. So

Again, it kind of comes back to that point we were making in our review of last week's game against Gloucester Harpere, you know, are they playing in the right areas? And producer Caleb has written, he only remembers one kick in their own 22, and that was a pretty poor one from number eight, Romarston Mulhern. So, you know, I mean, when they play well, it shows Alicia Joyce Butcher, by the way, a word on that dummy, because I did say it on commentary, but I thought you would know exactly what I was on about, because actually I had this discussion.

with my husband and a couple of touch players about how you execute the perfect dummy. And we did it in a coaching session with a touch team we working with. And we talking about how you can do it, different, you can make it your own style. But we also said most of the dummies, or certainly for me personally, I'm not the sort of flashy player that thinks of a dummy in advance too often, but sometimes you get yourself to a position where you're thinking you need to give it and you're like, well, actually, or maybe, it be a longer?

and you've sort of gestured for it long enough that the defense have completely bought the fact that you are buying it. And then you go, hold on a minute, they've gone. Oh, right. Well, I may as well not give this and go. And all of that happens, you know, within a third of a second, but it's all good. And that for me is totally what happened with Alicia Joyce Butchers. I don't think she was like, I'm going to sell you and I'm going to go. was like, on a minute, you've gone. And then she went and I just thought, however it comes.

live off it for days, but yeah, it was a glorious moment. I really enjoyed that. Yeah, she had, she's either oversold it or like you say, it was meant to be a ball back inside because she turns every part of her body. And quite often when you teach a dummy, you say, turn your shoulders, look towards, but you keep your hips straight because it's with your hips straight, then you can kick off and you can go to the opposite way of where you're showing the ball's going to go.

The Power Pod (42:33.678)
But she completely did. She was running sideways. She was doing the lateral shuffles down the sideline. Her shoulders are gone, her hips are gone, her head's gone. And then all of a sudden it was Pip Hendy, wasn't it? I'd completely turned inside to the point where bless her, she did a roly poly. It was hilarious. With all due respect to Pip Hendy, someone get turned Who is class? Yeah, absolutely brilliant player. Seeing someone get turned that much inside out was comedy. I really enjoyed that.

Yeah, good. And you know, the question will the lady the hour be in the squad? Will she start Ilona Ma? You know, this is another tricky one for for Dave Ward, isn't it? Because it's it's not a work experience job. Now he has got a lot of players that that are injured. We've we've covered that list. But if you've got Rene Cabana and Millie David, who arguably are going to need to are going to know more about where they need to be and where they're to finish. Now, Millie David went down injured. don't know

how serious that is. She had a few tears and rises. She left the pitch. We hope it's not serious. And you don't know with a young player, whether just a bit of a knock and a bit of a scare has caused that or whether the physios has said this isn't looking good. we await. We certainly hope that Millie David is okay. That would obviously open the door for Ilona Marr. But yeah, it's how much you're giving this player the experience that they want coming to the league versus actually I really need to put knowledgeable performers in those positions.

so that they can do the business. yeah, that is going to be on the TNT cameras Sunday, three o'clock. Exeter Chiefs against Bristol Bears. Suzie Aperby against Dave Ward. I think that will be tasty. All right, should we look at the table then just to bring you up to speed? Quinn's managing to hold on to top spot despite the scare at Trail Finders. 45 points played 11. Gloucester Harpry also played 11 now on 43 in second. Exeter Chiefs we mentioned, they have two games in hand now. So they're on 38 points.

but they could be on 48 if they get five points from the two games they've yet to play. And Saracens then in fourth also played 11 on 38 points as well. Then it's that seven point gap to Bristol who are on 31. Loughborough Lightning have moved into sixth on 23. Trail Finders 20. Tigers 11 and Sail Sharks still without a point.

The Power Pod (44:51.534)
Alright, we have put out the call for a few bits of reaction on the powerline and I'm delighted to say that we had quite a few people get in touch. So let us cross over to our first contributor. Happy New Year everyone! My highlight of round 12 is Tigers bonus point win against Sharks 38-17. First home win, nice! Surprisingly, stats are against Tigers with possession of 44 %

territory 37 percent. However there are stats and there is a Meg Jones who has a flow. What a great performance! It was freezing cold but it was definitely worth to come. Looking forward for next home game against Lovebird Lightning. Cheers! So that was Mikolai. Thank you so much Mikolai. Love to hear from you. There are stats and then there's Meg Jones. Absolutely love that. Okay let's just move to our next one then. Thank you Mikolai. We're gonna get through these.

Hi, it's Henry from Ealing. I was at the Trail Finders v. Quinn's game. I was really delighted at the score. My favourite bit was Kate Zachary's second try. Even though everyone thought that Quinn's would win, I knew that Ealing had enough skill to give Quinn's a run for their money. Anyway, I've heard that Loughborough are playing Ealing at 7.45pm, which seems late, especially for younger fans.

Which brings me onto my question. What will it take for the women's game to get prioritized? Thank you. Henry. Great question. And I don't know whether it's in this particular case, let's explain. This is around the finals round. So the final round, all teams are going to be playing on a Friday night at 7.45. Yes. I appreciate that is a bit late for little ones.

And we want to make sure that the game is accessible for everyone, but I also think there needs to be a variety in the kickoff times and actually some day times and then some evenings where on a Friday night, know, older generation are going to go out, have a few beers, make a night of it. You know, that's part of the game as well. In regards to prioritizing the women's game.

The Power Pod (47:06.114)
The calendar is so busy for any sport and especially with rugby and it is finding a way to fit it all in. And we have to remember this is a Six Nations weekend. So I guess the argument would be, which would you prefer for the games to be on a Saturday afternoon and clash with a men's Six Nations game, or would you prefer them to be on their own on a Friday evening? Maybe, you know, neither is 100 % the right answer, but it's making the best of a tricky situation maybe.

Well explained, Philippa. Yes. Yeah. And worth mentioning, you know, for anybody who doesn't know that round 18, the final round, all the games will kick off at the same time as they tend to do for the final round of any league competition. But this year it is going to be Friday night, Friday the 21st of Feb, all four games kicking off at the same time at 7.45. So enjoy a bit of Friday night lights in the PWR because actually we don't get to too much over the course of the regular season.

Super. All right, we have just two more Powerline friends to hear from. Let's hear from Connie in Canada. This is a little quick one. The best moment of round 12 was hearing that Loughborough beat Saracens. What a win! There we go. Her favourite moment from the weekend, Loughborough lightning beating Saracens. As simple as that. That's all that needed to be said. Connie, thank you so much. Lovely to hear from you.

And then we have a clip here from Rob and Rob is never short of giving us a contribution here on the Powerline. So I'm going to play the first half of his clip at one and a half times speed. If you haven't seen it yet, get onto the Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club YouTube channel and check out the live stream of Trailfinders v Harlequins because that was an absolute joy to watch. Probably the most fun I've had watching a PWR game that didn't involve Chiefs because...

what a spectacle. 15 tries. They didn't even show them all on the highlights package on the PWI YouTube. It was just a brilliant, brilliant game to watch. Queen's ahead, obviously, at half time. It looked like it was maybe edging in one direction, but Trail Finders clawed their way back, took the lead second half. Not known for their pack dominance, but they were solid in the scrum. They got their line out more working, know, picked up points that way. Just fought all the way to the 80 minutes. Your last 10 minutes were so tense. what a game. What a game. So, yeah, thank you.

The Power Pod (49:19.886)
Trail Finders for sorting out your live stream this season because that was a genuine pleasure to watch. Thank you, Rob. Yes, it is good when we can have more of these live streams to support. And you're absolutely right. What a game that was. We have discussed it, I think, at length and known the influence of the PowerPod. And lovely to have all of your influences too on the Powerline. Do keep in touch with us. 07 08 07 1 6 2 1 9. It's on our Instagram as well at the PowerPod underscore.

so we can hear from you. Okay, one question time. Well, we missed it last week because we had a lot to pack into our bumper New Year episode, but we do now have the opportunity to hear from Bulu Mataitonga, or as she's known, I think, who can give us her response and perhaps a little education as to what having a carver session is all about. Hi PowerPod, Baz here. Thanks to my friend Bimba for my one question.

The question was, what famous person do you want to have a kava session with? I just want to speak about kava first, spelled K-A-V-A. Kava is a traditional drink from Fiji and many other Pacific islands. In Fiji, we call it yongona, grog, or kava. It's a non-alcoholic drink made from the root of the kava plant, which is grounded up and strained with water. In Fijian culture, kava is used at gatherings such as weddings, farewells,

graduations or just at the house. It's also a symbol of connection with your community and allows you to slow down from the busy pace of life and relax. With that being said, the famous person I'd like to have kava with is probably Bowden Barrett. He's one of my favorite rugby players to watch and I feel like you just enjoy the chill vibes. And for my one question, I'd like to ask Katana Howard at Sealsharks, who is her favorite League of Legends champion?

Thank you.

The Power Pod (51:18.146)
That was cool, wasn't it? A little bit of education as well. Yeah, absolutely. Have you ever had kava? I haven't, no, you? Okay. Yeah, yeah. Went traveling after uni and had a couple of days on some of the Fijian islands and yeah, had it. It's a required taste, but a great experience to say I've joined in on a kava session. yeah, it is proper. Everyone sit down around the fire. They make the kava in this big bowl and then you get it served in half a coconut for your kava.

Yeah, so wicked and good follow-up question as well. Interested in that one? Yeah, Katana Howard, we are coming for you. There we go. Right, any other business then before we move to your power play? Only seven shows left. Only seven more opportunities to cause some controversy. Yeah, and for my alarm to go off at 6 a.m. on a Wednesday.

So not that I'm counting down the episode at all, but it's always better when I see your lovely smiling face. All right. Let's finish off then, Philippa, with your power play for this week. Right. Okay. So it won't be a surprise. We're going to Trail Finders. Okay. That high scoring game. And there was a moment in the game where you just had to sit back and applaud the effort, the determination of Kate Zachary.

Second half, 70 minutes. Now, let's be honest, she's one of the more senior players in the team. And yet in this moment in time, in fact, not in this moment, throughout the game, she's one of the fittest and fastest players on the team. Like it's incredible. The ball goes to ground. She is the first one to react straight up off the defensive line. She hacks it forward. She then continues to outpace all of the Harlequins players that are there to get to the ball again, to kick it forward again and score the try.

And like I say, the work rate, the fitness, the awareness, the determination to get up off that line, but also imagine doing like a 70 minute run, finishing off with a sprint, getting off a treadmill, and then someone saying, right, I need you to kick this ball exactly four meters. Like, who can do that? You'd be hoofing it into the car park. Like to have that skillful touch to know exactly how far to kick that ball, to keep it under control, to score, and it gave them the lead. Like, unbelievable, Kate Zachary.

The Power Pod (53:38.062)
So I appreciate this probably sounds like I'm creeping. I'm not. Go back, watch it. It's amazing. It's the power play. Is this excellent stuff? mean, is this just because you're worried we've fallen out with Kate Zachary because of what said last week and she put us in the WhatsApp group? I know. And I secretly want her to be my best friend. So I'm really sorry, Kate Zachary. Yeah, excellent. Well, that's what you get when you've got a back rower come centre as Kate Zachary has been for club and country. But that is a super selection for the power play. I heartily

endorse it. All right, we are out of time here. It's been lovely to look back on. Well, I felt like it's been a really busy episode, but thanks to all of our contributors as well. Philippa, what does the next week have for you? Next week has for me, it's my mum's birthday, big birthday as well. So we've got a whole weekend of sort of family shenanigans going on. So yeah, real family time. But what about you? You're back into rugby Europe.

Excellent. Happy birthday, Mamitatiya. Yes, I am doing a bit of premier sports. So down to Exeter and then in Bath over this weekend. And yeah, also hoping that I can clock eyes on.

on that Exeter game on Saturday as well at some point, or maybe that'll be one to watch on the train on the way home. But yes, that is about it from us. Thank you so much, everybody. Thank you, Philippa. We'll see you next week. The Power Pod is a level production produced by Caleb Matomba. Cheerio. Bye.