Brittany Hogan: 'I get nerves going into every training session'

Ireland international Brittany Hogan is looking forward to getting the most out of her time with Sale Sharks.

Over the winter break the 38-cap forward began training with the club side she agreed to join in November.

For the County Down native, her move to Greater Manchester provides a fresh viewpoint and challenge after years competing on home soil. She has moved to the North West, bringing her partner, cat and dog in tow.

Now due to make her Premiership Women’s Rugby debut this weekend after recovery from MCL surgery, the 27-year-old could be lining up in a back-row that also contains Morwenna Talling and Georgie Perris-Redding.

“Whenever watching the games at home, you could see the talent,” Hogan said. “You could see the quality of passes of Holly (Aitchison) playing at 10, she could zip past players.

“The hooker throw, Amy (Cokayne) is throwing it to the back easily. Little bits like that really drew me to the club and to play and learn off those players.

“It’s really exciting. I kind of get nerves going into every training session. I’m going to have to really compete and try to earn my spot and earn the respect of my teammates.

“That’s just so different to what I’ve experienced before, and it is good in so many different ways.”

Part of what enticed Hogan across the Irish Sea was a message from Sharks defence coach, Charlie Beckett. The former Gloucester Rugby and Leicester Tigers forward sent a series of messages on social media that the back-row forward described as ‘empathetic’ and ‘compassionate’ in her Wednesday press conference.

Ultimately tempted to the North West after a visit to the club’s Carrington training base after Ireland’s 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup campaign concluded, the 27-year-old referenced that her desire to play in PWR had started two years ago.

An established international at that time, Hogan’s ambition to move to England was put on hold after the arrival of Scott Bemand as Ireland’s head coach.

“He brought this new brand of rugby that I wanted to stay with for a wee while,” Hogan said. “I wanted to make sure that I sucked up as much as I could from his expertise and what he had to offer the team.

“That coincided with me becoming a little more of a senior player and having that role in the team. I stayed. I developed. I wanted to do as much as I could and was fully prepared to qualify for the World Cup and to perform at that World Cup.

“Then, at the World Cup, every single game you were exposed to different players from Japan and Spain. We only have games in the Six Nations or Celtic Challenge; you would see the same faces against you every week.

“Whenever Charlie (Beckett) was chatting to me about it, it showed me that I could go over – it was an opportunity for me to have a lifestyle change.

“I have been involved in the centralised programme for the last eight years and I wanted to see a different four walls and go to a different place for a while.”

In recent years the Ireland internationals that call PWR home have earned the moniker ‘exiles’ in camp.

Hogan is now amongst those ranks and wants to emulate the likes of Sam Monaghan, Edel McMahon and Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald, who have all seen their performance levels skyrocket in England.

Playing alongside a number of England’s Red Roses, Scots, Italians and Spaniards is a surefire way to ensure that Hogan’s rugby will not go stale any time soon.

Good performances for her new club will also go a long way to securing a spot in Bemand’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations squad later this year. A task which starts this weekend with Sharks’ trip to Bristol Bears.

“Whenever they come over across the water to be in camp, it always raises standards,” Hogan said. “They push each other, they push us, they bring the compete element. They just have that extra bit of oomph in their system.

“All these girls who come over just raise things at camp. I hope with me being in this setup I can grow other aspects of my game that maybe I wasn’t exposed to or nurture aspects that I was exposed to and hopefully come back and have the same impact.”