TEAM NEWS | Sale Sharks Women vs Saracens Women (PWR Rd 2)
Back-row Poppy Cleall wants her side to kick on again on Saturday evening against Sale Sharks.
After last weekend's opening day victory over Trailfinders Women at StoneX Stadium, Saracens make their first away trip of the league campaign this weekend, to face a Sharks side that have shown impressive qualities in their pre-season outings.
The evening kick-off is going to be a new challenge for plenty within the squad this weekend, but Cleall believes that being able to quieten the vocal Sale support will be a key factor for her side.
"Sale have a really passionate and vocal crowd up there that always get behind them. We need to make a positive start and that will hopefully quieten them a bit. At the end of the day, yes it's a late kick-off and something new for a lot of the squad but we just need to focus and control what we can control."
Last weekend's victory over Trailfinders was the perfect start to the league season for Saracens, with Cleall explaining that they had been able to tidy up certain parts of their game from the PWR Up clash against the same side two weeks earlier.
"It was a good start against Trailfinders. There is plenty to work on still though and that's exciting. We probably gave them too much space to attack into during the match but when we had attacking opportunities ourselves, we took them too, which is a big positive."
Ahead of this one, the Saracens coaching staff have kept a largely consistent squad from that opening round victory.
The front-row remains unchanged with Akina Gondwe, Bryony Field and Carmen Tremelling starting again.
In the second-row, Joia Bennett and Sophie Tansley reprise their partnership, whilst the back-row sees one change, with Lucy Lawford-Wilby coming in for her Premiership Women's Rugby debut alongside co-captain May Campbell and Cleall.
Leanne Infante gets her first start of the season at scrum-half, partnering Amelia MacDougall, whilst the centre paring of co-captain Sarah McKenna and Emma Hardy remains unchanged.
There is a further change in the back three too, with Sydney Gregson coming in for her first appearance of the season, alongside Isla Alejandro and Jemma-Jo Linkins.
The replacements see Daisy Fitzgerald, Maya Montiel, Chloe Flanagan and Bryony Cleall retain their places from last weekend, with Cara Wardle named in the matchday squad alongside them.
Tori Sellors will look to add a spark from the bench too, alongside Beth Blacklock and Chantelle Miell, who scored on her Saracens return last weekend.
With a number of players still away at WXV, tomorrow evening is another opportunity for members of the wider playing squad to stake a claim for a match jersey alongside the more experienced members of the side. Building depth is going to be key this season and Cleall feels that her side have got a perfect balance within the group.
"We want to start trying to build momentum early. There are plenty of things we can take from the Trailfinders game, but it's also going to benefit us much more later in the season, with other players coming back in. Squad depth is going to be crucial this season and we've already seen that we've got a number of youngsters who can step up to the mark. It's a really exciting time to be involved."
Saracens Women's Team vs Sale Sharks Women:
1. Akina Gondwe
2. Bryony Field
3. Carmen Tremelling
4. Joia Bennett
5. Sophie Tansley
6. Lucy Lawford-Wilby
7. May Campbell (Co-captain)
8. Poppy Cleall
9. Leanne Infante
10. Amelia MacDougall
11. Isla Alejandro
12. Sarah McKenna (Co-captain)
13. Emma Hardy
14. Sydney Gregson
15. Jemma-Jo Linkins
Replacements:
16. Daisy Fitzgerald
17. Maya Montiel
18. Chloe Flanagan
19. Bryony Cleall
20. Cara Wardle
21. Tori Sellors
22. Beth Blacklock
23. Chantelle Miell
