Full name | Sale Sharks Women |
---|---|
Union | RFU |
Founded | 2020 |
Ground(s) | Heywood Road |
Coach(es) | Rachel Taylor |
Captain(s) | Lauren Delany & Georgie Perris-Redding |
League(s) | PWR |
Sale Sharks Women are a women's rugby union club based in Sale, Greater Manchester, England. They were founded in 2020 as the women's team of Premiership Rugby side Sale Sharks. They currently compete in Premiership Women's Rugby, the highest division of women's rugby union in England.
On 30 January 2020, Premiership Rugby side Sale Sharks announced that they would apply for place in the Premier 15s League ahead of the 2020–21 season, [1] committing £1 million over a three-year period to their women's section. [2] Their application was successful, [3] and on 6 April, Sale Sharks Women were entered into the league alongside Exeter Chiefs Women, replacing Waterloo and Richmond. [4]
Sale's application to be a part of the Premier 15s from the 2023/24 season onwards was initially rejected by the RFU. [5] The club would later receive a conditional offer to fill one of the two remaining places in the league in February 2023. [6]
Sale Sharks Women play their home matches at Heywood Road (currently named CorpAcq Stadium for sponsorship reasons) in Sale, Greater Manchester, and train at Carrington Lane, the Sale Sharks High Performance Centre owned by Sale FC. [7]
Premiership | Domestic Cup | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Competition | Final Position | Points | Play-offs | Competition | Performance |
2020–21 | Allianz Premier 15s | 9th | 19 | N/A | No competition | N/A |
2021–22 | Allianz Premier 15s | 9th | 14 | Allianz Cup | 3rd in pool | |
2022–23 | Allianz Premier 15s | 7th | 35 | Allianz Cup | 7th | |
2023–24 | Premiership Women's Rugby | 8th | 13 | Allianz Cup | 6th |
As of September 2023 [8]
Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup whilst playing for Sale Sharks:
Tournament | Players selected | England players | Other national team players |
---|---|---|---|
2021 ![]() | 11 | Rachel McLachlan, Molly Wright, Sarah Law, Lisa Thomson ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Role | Name |
---|---|
Head of Operations for Women's Rugby | ![]() |
Women's Performance Lead | ![]() |
Women's Performance Coach | ![]() |
The Women's Premiership, also called the RFUW Premiership was the top level of women's rugby union in England until 2017. It was formed in 1990 and was run by the Rugby Football Union for Women. It was superseded in the 2017/18 season by Premier 15s.
Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, it is one of the oldest existing football clubs. It adopted the nickname Sharks in 1999.
Darlington Mowden Park Sharks Ladies Rugby Football Club is a women's rugby union club in Darlington, County Durham, England founded in 1996. Their top try scorer Louisa Ramsey became the first player to score over 10 tries for Scotland. They are the ladies team of Darlington Mowden Park R.F.C. and played in the Allianz Premier 15s until 2023. They also play their home games at The Darlington Arena.
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Sara Louise Cox is an English rugby union referee and former rugby union footballer. In 2016, she became the world's first professional female rugby union referee, and in 2018 she became the first woman to referee a Premiership Rugby Cup match. On 25 September 2021, she became the first woman to referee a Premiership Rugby Union Match when she took centre field for a fixture between Harlequins and Worcester Warriors at the Stoop.
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Gwenllian Pyrs is a Welsh rugby union player who plays loosehead prop for the Wales women's national rugby union team and Sale Sharks Women of Premier 15s. She made her debut for the Wales rugby union team in 2017 and has played in 15 matches for the national side. Pyrs has played for Scarlets, RGC Women, Caernarfon RFC and Firwood Waterloo at the club level. She works as a farmer, sheepdog breeder and trainer as well as a rugby hub officer for the Welsh Rugby Union while continuing her rugby career.
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Detysha Martin Harper is an English rugby union player. She represents England women's national rugby union team internationally and plays for Sale Sharks at club level.
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