14 December 2019

Saracens pull off an astonishing comeback to beat Harlequins after trailing 24-0

It was a tale of two halves at The Stoop as Saracens put on a masterclass comeback to continue their perfect season against Harlequins.

Quins struck first through Shanaugh Brown and fly-half Emily Scott added the extras to put Quins 7-0 up.

Emily Scott made an impressive break just a few minutes later as Quins looked to extend the lead. The hosts then piled on the pressure before Rachael Burford crashed over the line eight minutes in.

As the half progressed Quins forced Sarries into uncharacteristic errors - the worst coming when the defending champions' number eight Poppy Cleall was yellow carded after 17 minutes for being offside.

The visitors were a woman down and couldn't put a defensive line in place to stop the third try by Anna Caplice. Scott missed another conversion and so Quins were 17-0 up after 20 minutes.

Quins after their fourth try (Twitter: Harlequins Women)

A knock-on by Quins' Scott went unnoticed by the referee, much to Sarries dismay, and one minute later Quins found their bonus point.

Scotland international Chloe Rollie ran in an incredible try as the full-back beat several defenders to score the hosts fourth of the afternoon.  

Scott put boot to ball to add the conversion extending the score to 24-0 - and a comeback for Sarries looked unlikely.

But it was now Saracens turn to attack and after a few penalties and phases of pressure, number seven Vicky Fleetwood scored and Lisa Martin got the conversion to post Sarries' first points of the afternoon.

And so it was 24-7 at the break.

At the start of the second half everything seemed to be going Sarries way with three quick penalties in their favour.

The back-to-back champs then showed what they were made of as replacement Rocky Clarke brought them back into the game with their second try. Scottish international Martin secured the conversion to bring the score to 24-14.

Sarries were not finished scoring through Marlie Packer with 21 minutes left on the clock and, with Martin adding the extras, the visitors were suddenly within one try of completing an amazing comeback.

Packer goes over to give the defending champions hope of a comeback (Twitter: Saracens Women)

Quins Heather Cowell gave Sarries a helping hand as she received a yellow card with less than ten minutes to go.

The Stoop's visiting fans erupted a few minutes later as Cleall scored a try and Martin kicked the conversion to put Sarries ahead for the first time in the match.

Saracens captain Lotte Clapp wasn't settling with that and sniffed out another score making an incredible break to release Packer to score again.

Sarries were now six points ahead at 33-27 with just four minutes to go and held on to claim victory in the Premier 15s most amazing comeback in its three seasons.

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