Sharks will play at the Salford Stadium for the first time to mark the club’s International Women’s Day celebrations, with Trailfinders visiting on March 9 as part of the Northern Rugby Matters campaign.
The campaign aims to increase awareness and celebrate rugby in the region, while raising important funding for Sale Sharks Women, and flanker Perris-Redding is excited by the opportunities that the fixture will bring.
She said: “It’s massive. As everyone knows, it’s historic for us and it’s something we’ve talked about and been in discussions about for a long time, so it’s super exciting.
“When it was announced to the girls, it brought a real buzz and we’re hoping it’s going to be not just a huge day for us, but for rugby in the north and in Manchester.
“Hopefully we can really drum up a crowd and get some fans behind us for that day.”
Sale Sharks are proud of their status as the only northern-based team in Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby and the 27-year-old is keen to use the spotlight as a springboard for greater participation in the sport locally.
“We can’t stay away from the battle we have up here in the north, we’re chasing the south with the game,” she said.
“With the Northern Rugby Matters campaign, this game will help us shine a light on the potential this team has. Not just this team but the north, and how it can become a hub of rugby.
“It will be a launch pad that we can use to grow the game and also empower those that are already in it.”
Round 14 kicks off on Friday 8 March when our champions, Gloucester-Hartpury face Harlequins at Kingsholm Stadium, in front of the live TNT Sports cameras.
The Sharks’ piece of history is at 2pm a day later with the weekend rounded off in fine style with Exeter Chiefs hosting Loughborough Lightning and the current leaders, Saracens making the trip to Bristol Bears on Sunday. In Round 11 both Saracens and Lightning set new league attendance records.
Perris-Redding is hoping the Sharks’ match will serve as a motivator to push her side on as they look to climb off the foot of the table.
“When we are in these big occasions and we are the underdogs, I think that’s when the girls really come alive,” the USA international said.
“For us, Trailfinders is a target game. It’s something we’re really going to grasp at, and we’d like a big win.
“We can’t hide from it, we’ve had a really tough run. We have had a lot of open, honest conversations about where we’re at as a squad and what we can do to be better moving forward.
“We need to find out how to become that squad that people don’t want to play because they know they’re going to fight for 80 minutes.
“I think it’s sort of finding that DNA again, that northern grit.”
With thanks to Premiership Women’s Rugby
