Team News – Sale Sharks Women v Wasps Ladies – Allianz Premier 15s Round 6
Sale Sharks Women look forward to welcoming the West London outfit Wasps to the CorpAcq Stadium for Round 8 of the Allianz Premier 15s. Darren Lamon’s side will be full of confidence having beaten Worcester last time out at the CorpAcq and with a weekend off due to a postponement, they’ll be chomping at the bit to test themselves against 3rd place Wasps. Lamon has virtually a fully fit squad to pick from for tomorrow’s matchup and will be delighted to have Lauren Delany available having been back in Ireland last week for a training camp.
There’s a familiar look to the front row with the reliable and hard hitting trio of Pyrs, Kelly and Houghton joining forces once again and they’ll be looking to bring plenty of dynamism in the loose. There’ll be a Celtic feel again in the second row with young Scottish International Nicola Howat pairing up with the bulldozing Welsh International Teleri Wyn-Davies who are quickly becoming one of the most destructive lock partnerships in the league. Captain Beth Stafford continues in the no.8 shirt and she’s joined by Hannah Field who has been in outstanding form this season and been key to such an improved defence in recent weeks. Beth and Hannah are joined in the back row by Georgie Perris Redding who only made the move to the pack this season and is proving to be a real handful for oppositions with her footwork and power in and around the ruck.
‘Daz’ will be delighted to have both Mhairi Grieve and Katy Daley Mclean available for Saturday having steered the Sharks to victory last time out. It’s been a fantastic week for KDM who was announced in the World Rugby Team of the Decade which just shows the impact she has had on the Women’s game over the past ten years and continues to do so with this young Sale side. They will have Perrin and Calton outside them at 12 and 13 respectively and will be looking for both of their natural power games to get the Sharks on to the front foot and create space for the exciting back three. The back three remains the same with Alex Wallace retaining her place having scored the only try in the 11-0 win over Worcester, Welsh International Neumann is on the opposite wing and Lauren Delany will look to command the back field again from Full Back.
There’s a strong feel to the replacement bench and if the past few weeks are anything to go by, they’ll have a huge role to play against Wasps. Fielding and Abu-Marzouq rotate to the bench this week and they are joined by Brea Leung who will be looking to make her Sale Sharks debut this weekend. Lamon will be delighted to welcome back from injury second row Vicky Irwin who had a couple of destructive performances in rounds 1 and 2 and will be looking for her to bring a physical edge on Saturday. Hibbert-Jones, Roberts, Wooden and the powerful young centre Vicky Irwin (yes, there’s two of them) make up the rest of the bench and all four of them played pivotal roles in getting the Sharks over the line last time out.
As ever, we will be Live Streaming the fixture via Sale Sharks’ Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels, Kick Off is at 2:30pm, with Sharks Live starting at 2pm.
