Premiership Women’s Rugby final: Saracens v Trailfinders
Venue: The Stoop Date: Sunday, 28 June Kick-off: 15:00 BST
Coverage: Follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app; listen to commentary on BBC Radio London (BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra) and BBC Sounds
Trailfinders’ England captain Meg Jones says they are targeting an “underdog victory” in their first Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) final.
The West Londoners only joined the PWR in 2023 and had never finished higher than sixth. They secured fourth spot before beating triple champions Gloucester-Hartpury 29-26 at Kingsholm in their semi-final on June 14.
Trailfinders now face three-time champions Saracens at the Stoop this Sunday, with the North London outfit chasing a record fourth title.
“I honestly didn’t think I’d be here,” Jones told BBC Sport. “It would be an underdog story and mean a huge amount to the club. And on the back of the season we’ve had, it would mean a great deal to me as well.”
Jones, 29, only joined Trailfinders from Leicester ahead of this season, alongside the likes of Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm and Canadian international Clare Gallagher.
Jones admits she didn’t expect them to be challenging the PWR final.
“Probably not at the start of the season, but I don’t actually think that far ahead. There are so many variables.
“We always set for the top four, and when we’d beaten Gloucester [in the regular season] a couple of weeks before the play-offs, we thought ‘Wow, we’re really clicking here. We know the plan'”.
Jones has won 33 England caps, including winning the 2025 World Cup final, but says she did not really feel settled in West London until after Christmas.
“You get all these big characters coming in, myself included, and you don’t want to stamp too much of your mark on it.
“With team sports, you test the water, see what works and try and get the best out of the group. But that takes time, building that rapport.”
“We just needed simplicity, and we probably got that wrong at the front end of the season, whereas now we have all these amazing rugby players, everyone knows what we’re trying to do, and we’ve made it very simple.”
