SPEED MERCHANT. Saracens star Liv Apps is in the form of her life for the PWR Final

The PWR Player of the Season, Liv Apps, folds herself onto the seat opposite me, almost floating after Saracens’ thrilling 40-38 semi-final victory over the gallant Exeter Chiefs. And the Canada star is ready to talk.

The scrum half has swiftly become a fan favourite at the StoneX Stadium, with her ridiculously speedy runs, her control and quick moves around the scrum, and the ability to seemingly conjure up tries out of nowhere.

This is the third time I’ve spoken to Apps this year and the form of both club and player has been frightening. The timing could not be better, as Saracens reach the business end of the season with a PWR final against Trailfinders.

Olivia ‘Liv’ Apps might have made her name playing 7s for Canada, but she has taken to 15s rugby seamlessly. In 2024 she starred in the Paris Olympics in the 7s, captaining Canada to the silver medal. In 2025 at the World Cup in the 15s, she helped her nation all the way to the final, coming off the bench against the Red Roses to win another silver. Versatile she certainly is.

Remarkably, Apps was signed as ‘injury cover’ by Saracens for the 2025-26 season – and ended up deservedly winning the PWR Player of the Season award. To be honest, only the likes of Harlequins’ Aoife Wafer, Gloucester’s Emma Sing, and Sarries clubmate Zoe Harrison came close.

Apps’ distinctive appearance, due to her alopecia universalis since childhood, means she is easy to pick out in the thick of the action, but opposition teams still can’t stop her. In the exciting, topsy-turvy PWR semi-final, Saracens made line breaks 15 to Exeter’s 7, and made 641 metres to Exeter’s 407.

Each side scored six tries, with two for Red Roses star Jess Breach, and another two for Apps, who was also Player of the Match. Yet Apps felt that Exeter were “definitely the better team today”.

Vision Thing

Speaking to the Saracens head coach, Alex Austerberry, you can see how highly he regards Apps.

“She’s an incredible rugby player,” he says. “We’ve seen that on the 7s circuit for numerous years. I’ve seen it first-hand working with her in different capacities.”

Austerberry lists Apps’ seemingly endless qualities: “the way that she approaches the game, the skills that she has, the vision she has, the desire and physical attributes just to be able to play at the speed and level she does is incredible.”

And, he adds, “her most incredible attribute is the person that she is; she’s one of the most decent human beings that I’ve come across. And that’s saying something, as I’m fortunate to work with some incredible humans here at Saracens.”

Of course, Austerberry already knew Apps, as he was one of Canada’s coaches at the 2025 World Cup. He notes that she’s jumped into a new environment “playing more 15s than she’s probably ever done outside of World Cup campaigns – like a duck to water”.

His overall verdict is that Apps has been outstanding, with the bonus being that she has also challenged Tori Sellors and helped her development at scrum half. “We’ve seen a really accelerated growth in Tori’s game, which will only be great for us as a club and potentially for England going forward. And then we’ve still got Ella [Wyrwas] to welcome back, hopefully once she’s back from injury.”

Austerberry grins as he says: “I think I’ve run out of superlatives for Liv Apps. She’s a fantastic rugby player and even better human.”

My own theory is that Apps, much like Zoe Harrison, has that rare thing, a high rugby IQ. You can see these players sizing up the game. It almost slows down for them…

“Yeah, a bit like Neo in The Matrix!” says Austerberry. “I think we’re very lucky and it’s credit to the players, but it’s also a credit to the coaching staff, enabling these players and empowering them to make decisions and feel free to be in the moment.”

This is Saracens’ policy when looking at recruiting or developing players, including someone like Harrison, who has been at the club from a very young age.

“They’re here for a reason,” he says, “Why stifle their creativity? Why put a leash or put a cage around them?”

Perfect Pairing

After I tell Liv Apps how loudly Austerberry has been singing her praises, I want to know why she’s taken to the PWR, as he says, “like a duck to water.” I ask if it might be as much to do with her character and personality as her play…

“I’d like to think so,” she says modestly. “I’m somebody that wants to make an impact in any team I’m in.

“And for me, it’s more than just rugby. I want to enjoy my experience with the team and I really enjoy team sports. That’s why I do it.”

Apps says the Saracens team environment has been really complementary to her personality and being able to express herself on the field. “Feeling really confident and comfortable in a group allows you to play your best rugby,” she says, “And I think the style of rugby that Saracens wants to play does complement my skill set. So yeah, I feel like it was a really perfect pairing.”

One thing that’s definitely helped Apps settle at Saracens is having a lot of Canadians in the squad. “That just allows me to feel comfortable much quicker,” she says. “And then I could get up to speed really fast.”

For Apps and her compatriots, another bonus was their national head coach Kevin Rouet coming in as an attack coach at Saracens. “Bringing in some of the Canadian style really showcases my strengths as a scrum half.

“Playing with a lot of tempo, playing with a lot of speed,” she says, “and also having a lot of internationals around me that can read and react off my style of play really helps me look good! I think it’s just a combination of that.”

Whirlwind

Looking across the Saracens squad, Apps reckons they’ve been able to take their wide range of skill sets as rugby players, then see how they could use that to their advantage in the exciting style of rugby they play. It’s that simple.

“We have one of the best fly-halves in the world with Zoe Harrison, (below, left)” says Apps, “and the pack we have. We have Marlie Packer (below, right), people like Poppy Cleall, so we can create something out of nothing. I think that’s where we found a lot of success this year in scoring a lot of points.”

When I ask Apps how she’s managed to knock the PWR sideways and win every award available – when she was only signed as an emergency cover – she is typically modest.

“I feel like it’s been a bit of a whirlwind year for me,” she says, “I didn’t really come with many expectations, so maybe that’s part of why it was so successful.”

Her season highlights centre around making the move to England and playing in the PWR, having watched this league for quite a few years.

“Coming off the World Cup, just that decision to come here is definitely the highlight for me. And I think the Saracens club is a perfect fit for me and my rugby, but also me as a person.

“Being able to play with so many Canadians and then play with so many quality players and internationals is definitely a highlight.”

House of Fun

I am curious about the house she shares with all the other Canadians, and tease her that there are around a hundred of them in there.

“Yeah, a hundred other Canadians!” she laughs: ”There’s eight of us, seven Canadians together (Apps, plus Sophie de Goede, Alysha Corrigan, Gabby Senft, Paige Farries, Julia Omokhuale, and Laetitia Royer), and then another English player (Tori Sellors, the other scrum half).

“It’s been a good season together. We aren’t sick of each other yet, so it’s actually kind of sad that’s coming to an end.”

“Yes,” says Apps, “It can be like mad at times, I guess. It’s a bit crazy, but also the house is quite big, so we can all go off to our own little corners of the house when we want to.

“Being an international, being away from home, having Canadians really just like is a big comfort, especially for me coming in my first year.

“We all know the experience of playing in England now and being internationals, and I think that just is such a game changer for me having comfort and a lot of familiarity and feeling like home away from home in a way.”

I can’t help but think that this set-up should be some sort of reality TV show. But Apps isn’t so sure: “We just talk about food the whole time, that probably would be the main topic of conversation, which is fine, probably food and spikeball. So it’d be entertaining for maybe ourselves to watch. But I’m not sure about anybody else.”

Final Countdown

For Liv Apps, this is her first experience of the PWR playoffs and now final. She’d already heard how the home semi-final at StoneX would be special – which it definitely was. Many of her teammates had friends and family coming over, and Apps had her own family coming from Canada to watch (bottom of page), making it an occasion in itself.

As ever, Apps knew that the first Saracens try would be an exciting moment, immediately giving energy to their supporters. And it certainly did, with Alisha Corrigan equalising for Sarries just two minutes after Claudia Moloney-MacDonald’s opener for Chiefs.

Then, she observes, “it was really back and forth and I feel like we were unsettled at times. I honestly think Exeter was definitely the better team today. They played their best rugby and we really struggled to do those simple things right.

“We struggled to exit, we struggled to play more in their end and they really capitalised on that. But that being said, I’m really proud of the girls for finding a way to win… and Jess [Breach, below, with Apps] has tried at the end… like, holy… Bless her!”

Once again, she admits that although she’s feeling a bit high on adrenaline in the moment, she knows they can’t rest on their laurels and have multiple fixes to work on ahead of the final against Trailfinders.

Try, Try Again

Liv Apps’ descriptions of her two tries not only tell the story of exactly how they happened, but also give full credit to everyone around her.

“My first try,” she says, “honestly we were really focused on frustrating Exeter on the breakdown because we knew that there are certain defensive policies that we wanted to basically exploit. So for me I knew that was going to be an opportunity eventually, but it was kind of a chaotic, messy moment.

“And then finding the space because they had they had underfolded and we played a bit of chaotic back and forth, and that sometimes disrupts the defence the most… and that allowed me to sneak through!”

As for the second try, she says: “Honestly it was just that the forwards literally did their job. And I tried to finish it off, so I can’t take much credit there.

“Our forwards were definitely under the pump today and they really showed up in the minutes that counted the most. I mean, that maul try, it’s basically there, and I finished up.”

Momentum Shift

The back and forth nature of the match was compelling to watch, so I wondered if it was equally thrilling for Apps to be part of a semi-final that turned on a sixpence?

“Yeah, like the momentum you mean of the game?” she clarifies. “I mean, for Exeter to literally come back in the end of the first half and score another try and take the lead when it was just simple.

“If we’d made the kick-off, then they don’t have the scrum, they don’t get the counter, they don’t kick to the corner. That was definitely in our control. So I definitely felt the momentum shift, but honestly, credit to the team.

“When we came in at half-time (above), it was all about: we know we can do this. We know we are the better team. It’s just a matter of not making errors in our end, and making sure we’re playing in their end.

“And I think that we were able to do that and able to stay quite composed, even though a lot of things didn’t go our way. But Exeter definitely were able to shift the momentum and, I mean, their class and their line-up and their scrum…”

One defining moment in the match was when Saracens’ flanker Marlie Packer got a yellow card and was off the pitch for 10 of the closing minutes of the first half.

“Yeah,” notes Apps, “I think Exeter scored two tries during that time [plus two conversions] and it really put us under the pump. So yeah, it was definitely a challenging second quarter, I would say, but we found a way.”

Space Invaders

The half-time team talk was pragmatic, but positive. “We definitely were like: guys, we need to clean up our kick receive, we’re not being clinical with our exits at all,” she says, “And so we tried to clean that up.”

Being in the moment, Saracens also talked about playing in Exeter’s end, notes Apps, “because we would have the wind in our favour.

“Defensively, things are looking really good when with space play, they just give the ball back to us. So let’s just be really excited about our kick counter.

“And those are basically the main messages: let’s just be really disciplined in our end, get the ball away, defence is looking really good, and then attack!”

The plan worked, with the space opening up around the ruck, and the Saracens keeping on exploiting that.

Bench Press

Arguably the other big advantage Saracens had in the semi-final was from the bench, which maybe felt stronger than Chiefs, with the likes of Poppy Cleall coming on.

Apps agrees: “Yeah, definitely like a player like Poppy coming on with so much experience. It really does add so much to our forward pack.

“Then you have players like Georgia Evans coming off the bench, who obviously has a lot of experience through the Welsh rugby union.

“And you have Emma Hardy who came on as 23, and she was phenomenal, an amazing impact, got a poach, got an unlucky ‘try-not-try’, but just had a phenomenal impact.

“We have so much confidence in our bench – and we try to give them confidence – because they’re the ones that are going to close up the games for us, and that’s literally the most important thing.

“That’s what we need from our bench, because anything can happen, and it takes 23 to really finish out a final.”

Starting Over

Last time out in the league, Saracens beat Trailfinders by a massive 80-14, scoring 12 – yes twelve – tries. But there are caveats.

Crucially, the Ealing visitors fielded a much-changed line-up on June 7th. For one thing, Red Roses captain Meg Jones wasn’t playing, and she’ll definitely be there for the PWR final. “Meg is great, she’s one of those players that likes to get under your skin. I’m just excited to play against her,” says Apps. “That’s just going to make the quality of the rugby so much better.”

Apps knows how different Trailfinders will look just three weeks later, at the Stoop on June 28th. “That Ealing game does not really reflect what we need to prepare for for the final. We definitely need to look at their semi-final at Gloucester [that Trailfinders won 29-26] to assess that.

“But I think for us the biggest learning we’ll be taking from the Exeter game was really what they did to unravel us a little bit and make sure we have that locked in for the Ealing game.

“I think if we do, then any opponent we face we’ll be able to handle. But it’s just those simple fixes for us that really will be the make or break.”

PWR Player of the Season, and Player of the Match in the semi-final, Apps has been amassing her fair share of highlights this season. Actually being in the play-offs is another one, she says, “but I’ll wait till the very end of the season to see what my true highlight is, I guess!”

My final question to Liv Apps is simply to ask if she’s staying at Saracens next season.

She smiles and says “TBD”.

Fingers crossed…

PWR final. Saracens v Trailfinders at Twickenham Stoop on Sunday June 28th, 2pm.

Tickets: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/harlequins/EDP/Event/Index/2108?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPOTM2NjE5NzQzMzkyNDU5AAGnLXaC3_JblxSyD63YTPfrTyCybcbZqleB5UOYlDIlKI1oWY-eL2klBPrkSpk_aem_fQPC1UjxayNbB5LtYbJlaQ

Also live on TNT Sport.

Photos: Helen M Jerome, Saracens