Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby: Nel Metcalfe's hat-trick helps Gloucester-Hartpury to dominant win over Harlequins

Gloucester-Hartpury defeated Harlequins 57-24 at Kingsholm Stadium to extend their unbeaten Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby run.

The defending champions are now 14 points clear at the top of the table after their 13th successive victory this season, although second-place Saracens do have two matches in hand.

Nel Metcalfe was the standout player in Gloucester-Hartpury’s dominant victory against Harlequins, scoring a hat-trick of tries in the second half.

It was Harlequins that struck first, however, taking a 7-0 lead after a try from Shaunagh Brown and a successful conversion.

Gloucester-Hartpury were able to draw level less than 10 minutes later, with Sarah Beckett storming over the line and Emma Sing scoring her first conversion of the match.

The hosts then extended their lead through a Maud Muir try and another conversion from Sing, but Heather Cowell narrowed the gap for Harlequins with a try out wide.

Gloucester-Hartpury pulled away again just before half-time, with Beckett scoring her second try of the match and Sing getting her third conversion.

Metcalfe secured a try bonus point for Gloucester-Hartpury when she got over the line as the second half got underway, and her team then started to run riot.

Pip Hendy was the next Gloucester-Hartpury to score a try, before Neve Jones got two of her own and Metcalfe completed her hat-trick. Sing also scored two more conversions.

Two consolation tries from Connie Powell were not enough to get Harlequins back into the fixture.

The victory confirmed a top-two finish for Gloucester-Hartpury this season, which means their play-off semi-final match will take place at home.

The Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby season, shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+, will now take a break during the staging of the Women’s Six Nations.

- - -

TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media