Tom Hudson: 'We are consistently being competitive'

Tom Hudson is not one for excuses. Sale Sharks’ head coach purely wants to focus on the task at hand and hosting Saracens this weekend in the North West.

Although he admits that his team have been “hurt a little bit more than we’ve let on” in recent weeks.

Coming into Round 8 of the 2025/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby season Sharks are seventh in the table before the league leaders visit Cheshire ahead of a five-week break.

In the weeks up to now the 31-year-old has liked much of what his team have put out on the pitch. By his own admission the club are just two or three points shy of where he wanted the team to be by Christmas.

But the weather in the region has taken its toll. Consistent rain has battered the training fields and illness has affected his side. It has meant that the Christmas break can’t come soon enough for Sharks.

Even with all these factors, his team have remained as competitive as ever. At the end of their 26-26 draw with Exeter Chiefs in Round 5, Hudson was ready to go into the team huddle and praise his players, they were distraught at not picking up a win.

Now laden with a trio of Women’s Rugby World Cup winning Red Roses and scores more senior Test internationals, Sale are not content with just playing PWR rugby at the weekend. They want to compete.

In contrast the post-match huddle at the conclusion of last weekend’s 22-17 loss to Harlequins was the most disappointed post-match speech he had delivered.

“The beautiful side of it, we are consistently being competitive and in the game into the latter stages, which is brilliant,” Hudson said. “A club that’s happy with where they are right now would probably celebrate that and stay stuff like ‘brilliant, we’re competing’ and ‘we were so close’.

“We didn’t want to put that spin on it, because we didn’t think it would justify our language with our aspirations further down the line.”

Saracens are coming

The arrival of table-topping Saracens has caused something of a stir in the North West.

Hudson smiled as he recalled the “huge fallout” he has had with his coaching staff at Sale about how they wanted to approach this weekend’s game. It boiled down to two things; aim for points on the board or give it everything?

It is a decision that has, in part, been inspired by Loughborough Lightning’s efforts in Round 6.

Nathan Smith named his strongest possible side for the contest at StoneX Stadium and, although his team left with nothing to show for it, played the game their way.

“They spooked Saracens beyond belief and they’re sat here today having got no points out of it,” Hudson said. “Or do you go a bit riskier? Try a few things with selection, with game plans that might work against you regarding the eventual scoreline but could mean that we get a point out of it.

“We really fell out on that. What we’ve decided to do is go and give a ‘Loughborough performance’. That’s a bit of a spoiler. We want to show as much grit and determination (as possible).

“There is no secret, Saracens’ discipline is nothing short of shocking. If they want to know why they have not reached the heights of what they have in the last few years, it’s because their discipline is unbelievably poor.

“We need to be the ref’s favourite people on the weekend. We need to be able to wind up, hurt, occasionally mock, whilst being in the spirit of the game. But also not getting frantic in ourselves.”

When it comes to being in the faces of the North Londoners, Hudson has no doubt that his captain, Georgie Perris-Redding will be right at the heart of things. And he also knows what to expect.

In Zoe Harrison he recognises one of the best kickers of a ball in women’s rugby. So, somewhat ironically, the wind blowing into Saracens faces in both halves would be preferable.

Even so, Harrison is just one cog of a team that is flying at the moment and have brushed aside all but one of the seven opponents they have faced so far this league season.

While there is a small part of Hudson ready for the break, primarily so his training pitches can recover, he is not taking this weekend’s challenge lightly. His squad have lofty ambitions and all the ability to prove it. So, roll on Round 8.