Gloucester-Hartpury extended their unbeaten start to the 2022/23 Allianz Premier 15s season to 4 games and remain top of the league after a huge 7-53 win over the reigning champions Saracens.

After three wins on the bounce against Exeter, Bristol and Wasps, Gloucester-Hartpury faced what was thought to be their toughest challenge of the season so far, when they visited Stone X Stadium on Saturday.

But, it was Gloucester-Hartpury who controlled the game from start to finish as a ruthless performance saw them rack up nine tries at the home of the 2021/22 Premier 15s winners.

Hooker Kelsey Jones opened the Gloucester-Hartpury account inside two minutes in what would set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. She crossed on the back of an unstoppable rolling maul.

Captain Mo Hunt popped up ten minutes later to race in for the visitors second. Full back Emma Sing added the conversion.

And Gloucester-Hartpury had their bonus point wrapped up in the first half with another three tries before the interval.

First, Lisa Neumann, a late call up from the bench, dotted down in the corner, before Sophie Bridger scored the pick of the bunch when she hit a hard line in midfield after a line out and carved through the Saracens defence, beating multiple defenders to score the bonus point try. Bethan Lewis scored Gloucester-Hartpury's fifth just before half-time with Sing adding another conversion to take a 0-29 lead into the break.

There was no danger of Gloucester-Hartpury letting up after half-time. They scored another four tries in the third quarter to all but guarantee victory. A penalty try and a try from Sisilia Tuipulotu were interspersed with another two tries from the league's top try scorer Ellie Rugman who made sure she wasn't missing out on the action.

Sharifa Kasolo got the home side on the board in the 66th minute but it was too little too late as a rampant Gloucester-Hartpury saw out a 7-53 win thanks to some strong defending in their own 22 in the closing stages.

Fly-half Lleucu George was awarded the Player of the Match award after pulling the strings nicely all day.

Gloucester-Hartpury welcome DMP Sharks to the Alpas Arena on Saturday (2pm KO) as Sean Lynn's side look to go into the Christmas break unbeaten.

Gloucester-Hartpury inflict heavy defeat on Saracens to stay top

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