Austerberry expecting 'real battle' against Sale

After a break of several weeks, Saracens Women finally return to competitive cup action on Saturday, with an away day against Sale Sharks at the Corpacq Stadium.

The fixture marks the first of three consecutive cup fixtures for the side, with Loughborough Lightning making the visit to the StoneX Stadium next weekend, before a London derby with Wasps the following week.

Having suffered a defeat to Bristol Bears in their opening cup fixture, Alex Austerberry’s side will be looking to find improvements from that performance when they journey north.

“I can’t think of a better way to bounce back than with a trip to the north-west, against a team that have consistently brought it to us in the times we’ve played them,” smiled Austerberry.

The Director of Rugby has good reason to expect a challenging encounter on Saturday too. Across all three fixtures last season, the two sides scored a combined 173 points, although Saracens did secure victory in all three fixtures.

The Sharks won their most recent cup outing against Wasps a few weeks ago, and Austerberry is expecting this one to be another tough fixture for his side.

“It will be physical. They’ve had two tough encounters in the cup, so we’re expecting a real battle up there.”

When pressed on what to expect from an ever-improving Sharks side, Austerberry acknowledged that Sale will challenge his side right across the park.

“They’ll ask a lot of questions of us in attack, and we know that they’ll put us under a lot of pressure in defence. They’ve got a kicking game that can challenge us territorially but also allows them to score.”

Despite the obvious threats within the Sharks side, the Director of Rugby admitted that he was looking forward to what should be a huge contest.

“I think it’s going to be a great battle but one where we have to have our wits about us to ensure we manage the threats in front of us.”