PWR Press Conference: Barney Maddison and Francesca McGhie
Ahead of Round Six in the PWR, Head Coach Barney Maddison and Scottish international Francesca McGhie answered questions from the media.
Trailfinders Women travel to Kingsholm this week for the Round Six fixture against Gloucester-Hartpury. Maddison and McGhie spoke to the media ahead of the clash with the PWR league leaders.
When asked about the Round Five performance against Saracens, Barney Maddison said:
“Saracens are a top team and just from a physicality point of view, we were miles off and that showed in the game. We had two strong performances before that game and last week wasn’t the best.
“Saracens had great speed of ball and that is hard to defend.”
McGhie added:
“As Barney said, Saracens are one of the top teams and it takes time to get there.
“Our errors compounded and I think they probably just exploited that.
“We’re a new team and building trust across the season is important and we’re definitely getting there. We have proved it against Bristol and Sale and we just need to perform against the best teams.”
When asked about playing alongside her fellow back line players, McGhie said:
“Having played with Claire Gallagher and Meg Jones previously at Leicester, not much has changed between the connection there. Playing alongside Julia Schell and Grace White have been great too.
“I think our back line is working pretty well together and I think everyone is enjoying it as well. If you’re having fun and playing good rugby, that’s what matters.”
In response to a question regarding how his side can improve ahead of Round Six, Maddison said:
“In Round Five, we didn’t have much ball. We spent a lot of time defending. We want to keep more of the ball and we have to be more physical. Both Saracens and Gloucester are top teams – that’s the reason they’re at the top of the table. We have to match their physicality.
“Our connection as a side comes with playing together more in our training sessions, which have been great over the last couple of weeks. We’re just looking to bring that into the game this weekend.”
With Black Fern Maia Roos joining the Club as injury cover alongside fellow Kiwis Alana Borland and Georgia Ponsonby, Maddison was asked how the New Zealand approach to rugby has elevated Trailfinders’ training sessions:
“Maia has been class. The way in which the Black Ferns players train is really interesting. They train in smaller numbers before they meet together as a wider Black Ferns team. That means they work on microskills and they focus on the smaller details.
“I can already see that coming through in our training sessions with how they interact with other players. It’s great to see how the influences of other environments are brought into this one.”