Emma Wassell and her Trailfinders Women team mates have been training in sweltering temperatures this week – and they want to bring the heat to proceedings when they play versus Saracens in the English top flight PWR final on Sunday.
The 78-cap Scotland second-row feels that two recent wins over the three-time defending champions Gloucester Hartpury has given the squad an extra bit of belief that they can really aim for success in the end of season showpiece clash.
Before this season, the Trailfinders had never made the top four and the end of season play-offs in England’s top flight, but now they are just 80 minutes away from potentially lifting a trophy at the end of what has been a very long campaign.
Two key recent results that helped put them into Sunday’s final with the 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2021/22 champions Saracens at the Twickenham Stoop at 3pm came against Gloucester Hartpury.
On May 31, they beat them at home in the regular season and then, on June 14, they beat them away from home 29-26 in the last four.
“Beating Gloucester Hartpury towards the end of the league campaign gave us confidence going into the semi-final, but at the same time we knew that the latter was a one-off game which began at 0-0 again,” Wassell, 31, explained.
“We didn’t have a huge amount of pressure on us to win that semi-final game, we obviously went into it as the underdogs.
“A huge goal of ours this season was getting into the top four and that felt like a success in itself, but once we were in the situation where we were in a semi-final we had a huge amount of belief that we could win it.
“That balance of not too much external pressure on us and internal belief I think really worked well for us that day.
“Particularly in the first half we played some of our best rugby of the season to date and the kind of rugby that we want to play, but in the second half it was much tougher as Gloucester fought back.
“In the end we were just so delighted to come away with the win.
“After the game there was a bit of shock actually that we had made it to the final, but we have had time to process that now and this week we have been fully focused on the final.
“Maybe because of the semi-final result there is more pressure on us and more eyes on us now, but that won’t impact things much. We still have great belief as a squad and there’s no reason why we can’t go out and win the final.
“We know what we can do if we get things right and what we can achieve if we produce an 80-minute performance.”
In rugby we often hear about back-row combinations, centre pairings and the like with second-row partnerships often going under the radar.
However, it is a crucial part of any team and Wassell and New Zealand international Alana Borland have linked up very effectively in recent weeks in that area.
“I’m a strong believer that a second-row partnership is so important to any team, the bond becomes so strong the more you play together with someone,” Wassell said.
“Alana an incredible rugby player and I’ve just really enjoyed being able to, eventually, get a run of games alongside her.
“At the start of the season I was out injured and then she got concussed early on when I returned and was playing a bit of six as well.
“It wasn’t actually until the recent Gloucester home game that we linked up in the second-row properly, but it’s just been so nice because we’ve become really good friends off the pitch this season and now we are working well on it.
“We have a lot of leaders in our close-knit group and she is such a strong leader when it comes to the lineout and other areas.”
Finals are big occasions in any player’s career and this one will be special for Wassell because her brother Terry is heading down from the north of Scotland to watch and she cannot wait to see him and the Trailfinders’ support cheering on the squad from the sidelines come kick-off time.
Before that, she also cannot wait to see her Scotland colleagues past and present Christine Belisle, Sarah Bonar, Caity Mattinson and Jenny Maxwell turn out for the famous select side the Barbarians on Saturday at Allianz Stadium Twickenham versus Wales.
“I am buzzing for them all to get the honour of running out for the Barbarians, they all deserve this chance,” Wassell concluded.
“And hopefully they can have a great Saturday with the Baa Baas and I can have a great Sunday with Trailfinders, these are exciting times and what a weekend it should be to close out season 2025/26.”
Wassel will start the PWR final for Trailfinders while Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm is back from injury and has earned a place on the bench.
Emma Wassell, second right, and other finalists are pictured – thanks to the PWR
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