‘BULLY OR GET BULLIED’ – Saracens v Harlequins… aka The London Derby

How do the head coaches and key players of rival London clubs, Saracens and Harlequins feel about the huge derby match coming up this weekend?

We spoke to Saracens head coach Alex Austerberry and their World Player of the Year, Canadian star Sophie de Goede (below, left), plus Harlequins head coach Ross Chisholm and hooker Connie Powell (below, right), as they counted down to kick-off with a mixture of bravura, trepidation, and above all, excitement…

It’s no wonder that Saracens v Harlequins provides the climax to the second round of PWR league action this Sunday. Every ingredient you want is there. Harlequins rightly triumphant after their big win under the lights at the Stoop. Saracens licking their wounds from first round defeat, away from home.

Players who have worn both jerseys. Big international stars and teammates on each side, now pitted against each other. Leaders all over the pitch. Fast, physical, skilful, and incredibly smart sides. Two head coaches determined to win.

Historic Rivalry

Saracens head coach Alex Austerberry is up for the fight, admitting it’s going to be tough, and very physical.

“It’s obviously local rivals and we’ve played in a lot of big games so the backdrop to it is pretty huge. The history behind the game – and even if you go deeper from when it wasn’t Harlequins, if you trace back the roots to the Richmond days where the links are – it’s a very historical rivalry and one that’s very deep-rooted.”

In the PWR era, he says they’ve always been very tight games on the biggest of stages. And even three weeks ago, they were playing each other in a cup final. Which – spoiler alert – Sarries won.

“So there’s a rich, relatively new history to it,” adds Austerberry, “but it’s one that’s already quite deep.”

Emotion

Harlequins head coach Ross Chisholm agrees that this match is steeped in history throughout both clubs. “There’s always going to be that level of emotion with the game. You can’t get around that. It’s always going to be there in that London derby. But some of it is about making sure we’re not getting too focused on that.”

So he’s purely concentrating on their own gameplan. “Ultimately, we just want to focus on our Quins DNA and how we play the game and what areas we can really do effectively.”

For Chisholm, this means you win your lineups, win your scrums, make your tackles, all those rugby nuances. “Get those right… you give yourself a chance of winning.”

He also raised the anticipated physicality of the game several times, aware that Sarries will always be a physical battle. “Thing is, rugby is a physical game. It’s a collision-based sport where you’ve got to go and win collisions. How you win the collisions is determined by what players you have, the style you want to try and play, and some subtle nuances within the game.”

So, Chisholm reiterates, once you acknowledge the Sarries squad, the way they play and their experience, you must still approach them like most sides. “You get your breakdown right, you get your collision stuff right. Then the game takes care of itself.”

Stepping Up

After last week’s wake-up call, Austerberry knows Saracens need to play with little bit more possession, more territory and a bit more physicality aka making sure that they’re simply better. “We fell below the standard expectations of ourselves and the great thing about this league is you get to jump right back on the horse and play against one of your biggest rivals.”

He has a healthy respect for Quins, of course. But for Austerberry, this match is about Sarries being the best version of themselves. “It’s about us stepping up and stopping them being able to impart their game plan, which we didn’t necessarily do last week.”

Perhaps the biggest difference for Saracens is playing in front of the home crowd. “Oh, absolutely,” he grins. “I love StoneX. It’s a very raucous crowd.”

Austerberry praises the fans, saying they’re always very useful and can make a big difference. “When we’re going well they build and they keep that wave of momentum going. And when we need that little pick-me-up they’re there to inject it as well.”

“To have the volume – quite literally the volume of people and the volume they produce behind us – it does make your hair stand up on the back of your neck and it’s something we never take for granted.

“Even as a coach, you walk out the tunnel just before it gets started and you get excited.”

So Much Noise

For Harlequins hooker, Connie Powell (in action, above), nothing beats playing at the Stoop, especially on a Friday night. “That was insane,” she says of their opening match of the season. “But when we’re playing at Sarries especially, we get a load of travelling supporters.”

Last time they played at the StoneX, she says they had a big group of girls wearing vintage rugby Harlequins shirts. “As we ran out, they were making so much noise, and we could literally see them,” adds Powell. “That’s the most amazing support when you’re away from home.”

It makes a difference to the players when they know the game is going to be this tense. “To know you’ve got all the rest of your teammates, family, friends, fans and supporters up in the stands, you really feel it. Then if you hear the occasional Sarries fan booing or shouting, it just spurs you on even more.”

Powell believes that Quins will take the occasion in their stride, and the whole team will relish it.

Not that they’ll shy away from any challenging moments in the game. “You’ve got to go out there and be really confrontational, really physical,” she says. Probably the first catchphrase that comes to mind is ‘bully or get bullied’.”

You can almost hear Powell licking her lips at the prospect. “You can have the best game plan. You can have the smartest rugby brains on the pitch, but if you lose that physical battle against Sarries… or any of the teams in the Prem really at the minute. Look what happened to Sarries the other day at Gloucester. They lose that physical battle, and all of a sudden it’s hard to keep up… But we all get bullied when we play Sarries!”

The Edge

World Player of the Year, Saracens Sophie de Goede (below) smiles when I mention Powell’s mantra of ‘bully or get bullied’.

Sarries pride themselves on their physicality and taking the edge to their opposition, says de Goede.

“If you look at the team we have, not only is there physicality and edge, but there’s a real strong athleticism and art across all of our players.

“Usually you get your bully physicality from your forwards, but all of our forwards are highly skilled players too.

So hopefully we can bully mentally and get that edge, then not only will we bring physicality, but I think you’ll see like a really high skill level across the pitch.”

Extra Chill

There’s a sense of making up for lost time for de Goede, who missed an entire year with an ACL injury, then came roaring back to help Canada reach the World Cup Final. So she definitely looks forward to playing London rivals.

“Derbies are really cool games to play and my first year I was here it was Covid, so we didn’t really have a lot of fans in the stadium.” So the first time she really experienced a proper derby game was two seasons ago.

Her anticipation is palpable as she describes the atmosphere. “The energy in the crowd is massive and there’s just an extra build-up to the game. It feels more like the nerves you have going into a test match or a knockout round. So that’s what excites me most.”

“When you feel pressure, that’s the type of situations you want to play in. Nerves mean the game matters to you.”

Anytime she starts to feel nerves and excitement before a game it underlines its importance, so she is really looking forward to being able to go into one of those games this weekend.

Just like her head coach, Sophie de Goede loves walking out of the tunnel onto the StoneX pitch for a match. The goosebumps will be there, and it underlines how meaningful the game is when she gets that feeling.

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s what we’ll have this weekend.

“Then coupled with the energy of the crowd that always sends a little extra chill and excitement.

“So I’m sure we’ll have that coming out of the tunnel.”

Watch Saracens v Harlequins live at StoneX Stadium at 3pm on Sunday 2^nd November, or catch the game on TNT Sports.