'We’ve got to put our best foot forward': how Harlequins are contending with injuries

Midweek Harlequins confirmed the extent of the injuries Ross Chisholm is contending with at the Twickenham Stoop.

Headline amongst a list of 10 stricken players was the confirmation that Layla Sae’s time in Premiership Women’s Rugby is over with an ACL injury.

The news came a month after the Black Fern arrived in West London alongside her international teammate Liana Mikaele-Tu’u. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Experienced Scotland and South Africa lock forwards Sarah Bonar and Danelle Lochner, have a three to four month wait until their return to the pitch, while Wales back-row Alex Callendar is six to eight weeks away.

“Seeing the injury list that went out this list that went out this week, we have suffered quite a few injuries in that back five post-World Cup and Layla adds to that list,” Chisholm said.

“It’s something that we can’t control too much of, and we’ve just got to put our best foot forward.

“My job as head coach is to try and create cohesion in the group that sometimes is constantly changing at the moment.

“I don’t think we’ve fielded the same side for the first four games. There’s good things about that, but there’s also some downside to that.”

There is some good news for Harlequins. At the time of writing Spain prop Laura Delgado and Ireland flanker Aoife Wafer are both two to three weeks away from a return.

Even with such a wealth of experienced, talented players away Chisholm has been impressed with the individual form of several key players.

The head coached named Mikaele-Tu’u, Jade Konkel, Nicole Wythe, Ella Cromack and Kayleigh Powell among the players that have impressed him most in a squad pushed to its limits.

Heading into Round 6 of the 2025/26 PWR season, Harlequins have a trip to Leicester Tigers.

The West Londoners hope that Mattioli Woods Welford Road can be the hunting ground for a return to winning ways.

After an opening weekend win over Loughborough Lightning, Chisholm has watched his team falter against Saracens, Gloucester Hartpury and Exeter Chiefs.

“Results haven’t gone the way we wanted them to go, and I think we just tried to focus on the performance rather than the result too much,” Chisholm said.

“Gloucester and Exeter are two really good sides that we push right to the limit, and on a different day you get over the line.

“I think we did loads of good stuff but also there’s loads of stuff that we can reflect on and get better, because there are reasons we lost those games.

“We were really poor against Sarries and we hold our hands up to that. We were nowhere near where we needed to be.

“If you’re slightly off on your day, any team can beat anyone and that’s almost what we’re focused on in these next three games.”