Gloucester-Hartpury hold off Harlequins comeback at Twickenham to maintain unbeaten streak in PWR

Gloucester-Hartpury remained unbeaten in the Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby as they defeated Harlequins 31-19.

The encounter kicked off the 15th edition of Big Game at Twickenham, but Gloucester ruined the party with an impressive opening half.

The visitors hit Harlequins with four tries in the first 32 minutes through Hannah Jones, Mia Venner, Sam Monaghan and Sisilia Tuipulotu. Emma Sing scored three of the four conversions.

A try from Hannah Sims just before half-time got Harlequins on the scoreboard, but Gloucester went into the break with a 19-point advantage.

It looked as if Harlequins might be able to pull off an unlikely comeback when early second-half tries from Emily Scott and Babalwa Latsha closed the deficit to 26-19, and the hosts were bolstered when Gloucester had a try disallowed for a forward pass in the 60th minute.

But Rachel Lund extinguished any hopes of a recovery when she scored a last-minute try for Gloucester, securing their fourth victory in as many matches.

"Everything was ticking today," Gloucester head coach Sean Lynn told TNT Sports. "Everything we’ve been going over in training, everything on the attack side of it, everything was ticking.

"But credit to Harlequins, we just couldn't get a foothold in that second half."

Defending champions Gloucester are third in the Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby table, behind Saracens and Exeter Chiefs but with a game in hand.

Meanwhile, Harlequins are eighth after a disappointing start to the campaign, with just one win in five matches.

The first Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby matches of 2024 will start on Saturday, January 6, as Gloucester take on Loughborough Lightning. Harlequins have a crucial encounter against winless Leicester Tigers.

TNT Sports will then show live action from the Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby with Exeter Chiefs v Trailfinders Women on Sunday, January 7.

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