Sale Sharks Women host Loughborough Lightning at the Corpacq Stadium on Saturday in round 13 of the Allianz Premier 15s
Katy Daley-Mclean is chasing an 80-minute performance from her side this weekend as Sale Sharks Women prepare to face Loughborough Lightning in the sides’ third meeting this season.
Sharks conceded 31 unanswered points to Bristol Bears in a disordered second-half performance last time out, despite going in at half time all square, but the club’s Women’s Performance lead said it wasn’t ability that was hindering her team.
Katy said: “It’s always tough when you get a nasty losing streak – I said to the girls in the circle after Bristol that the reason we feel disappointed is because we knew we had an opportunity to beat them.
“We’ve got a six-day turnaround this week so recovery was a big focus before our main rugby session and then getting stuck into Loughborough on Saturday.
“We know Loughborough have been on the up and that they’ve got some new players in, but, from a coaching perspective, we’re going into this game knowing we can definitely compete with them.
“What this group knows is that they can play rugby for 40 minutes and every test now is about trying to sustain that first 40 and taking it into the second.
“It’s just about continuing to build – our performances are much better, we’ve just got to find a way to allow the score to reflect that.”
Sharks beat Loughborough in the Allianz Cup earlier this season, scoring seven tries in a dominant performance featuring a stunning hat-trick from Hollie Bawden. But Sharks’ Premier 15s matchup against the Leicestershire-based side was a different story, with Loughborough coming out on top, scoring 27 unanswered points.
Leading from the front for Lightning is captain and England international hooker Lark Davies, who currently sits atop the Premier 15s try scoring tally with 13 five-pointers this season so far.
Loughborough won their last two league games against Durham DMP and Wasps by comfortable margins. They sit two spots above Sharks in the Allianz Premier 15s table at seventh.
Previous results:
11 Dec 2021 – Loughborough Lightning 27 Sale Sharks Women 0
30 Oct 2021 – Sale Sharks Women 43 Loughborough Lightning 15
28 May 2021 – Loughborough Lightning 26 Sale Sharks Women 12
10 Oct 2020 – Sale Sharks Women 7 Loughborough Lightning 29
