Sale Sharks has announced the addition of England Sevens player Jodie Ounsley to their high-performance women’s squad ahead of the club’s maiden season in the Premier 15’s.
Ounsley joins the Sharks from the England Sevens programme, having previously played for Sandal RUFC, Loughborough College and Yorkshire County, before gaining vital Premier 15s experience with Loughborough Lightning.
The 19-year-old has represented England at the HSBC World Rugby 7s competitions and has been a key figure in their progression through the World Rugby Series.
Darren Lamon, the Head Coach of Sale Sharks Women, hailed the signing as a significant boost ahead of the commencement of the Premier 15’s season. Commenting he said: “It’s fantastic to welcome Jodie to Sale Sharks, I feel it’s a great opportunity for the club to add a player of Jodie’s calibre to our ranks. She will bring a wealth of experience from across the women’s game, and it’s a great opportunity to develop her skillset further in the 15-a-side game.”
The signing takes the total number of players within the Sharks Women’s set up to 33 ahead of next season and Lamon also expressed his excitement about the potential his squad now has following the addition of Ounsley, whilst maintaining there are still more additions to come as the Women’s head coach looks to prime an assault on the Premier 15’s table.
“I believe we have already signed a healthy blend of young exciting players, along with some additional quality and experience from further afield but we need real strength in depth to properly compete at the top level so our recruitment drive will not stop here. We are still looking to add more depth to our squad in a number of key areas over the next month. The squad are an ambitious group and I firmly believe we have all the tools we need to achieve success when we start our training programme ahead of what is going to be a really exciting first season for us.”
Jodie was pleased to finally be able to represent her local premiership team and commented on what she believes is one of the most exciting opportunities in her career, she said: “ I’m proud to be joining Sale Sharks, as a northern girl I have wanted to be part of my local Premiership club for a long time and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to make that dream a reality. After visiting the Sharks training centre in Carrington, it’s clear that Sale are extremely ambitious, have an amazing professional program and some exciting plans to develop women’s rugby in the North West too. I really can’t wait to play my small part in the new squad and pull on that Sharks shirt for the first time.”
For more information on the Sale Sharks Women’s Team and the opportunities available to be involved, please email womensrugby@salesharks.com
