Harrison nears England return on long road back from ACL injury

Saracens fly-half, who has 46 Red Roses caps, has not featured for England since the 2022 World Cup final

At times it was far from pretty, but Saracens wore down Leicester Tigers to fasten their grip on second spot – and the likelihood of a home semi-final – in Premiership Women’s Rugby.
What did make more pleasant viewing on Sunday afternoon was Zoe Harrison’s performance in her first competitive start in more than three months as she continues to rack up valuable minutes since her return from a serious knee injury.
The England fly-half has not featured for the Red Roses since the 2022 World Cup final after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in February last year, but her significant contribution in her side’s 54-19 victory was reflective of a player who is nearing her best.
With England head coach John Mitchell naming his Women’s Six Nations squad next Monday, her performance at the StoneX could hardly have been better timed – as did those of several other Saracens.
Harrison is one of several Saracens players expected to be involved in the Red Roses’ training camp at St George’s Park this week. Her nine-month spell on the sidelines, which meant she missed last year’s Women’s Six Nations and the inaugural WXV tournament, saw Holly Aitchison wear the No 10 shirt in 2023, as the Red Roses went the whole calendar year unbeaten.
In her first start since Nov 25, she made a serious impression. The 25-year-old was instrumental in unlocking vital field position for the hosts early on when she nailed a peach of a 50:22 that put an inspired Tigers outfit under pressure, before poking through a grubber that tested the visitors’ scrambling defence. She also cleverly exploited space behind Leicester’s defence with a chip that proved the attacking platform for Jess Breach’s second-half score.
If her out-of-hand kicking stood out, her ability to thrive in the contact area was equally evident. She muscled her way through four Leicester players to dot down and execute a well-worked team try and distributed well on the occasions when Saracens did have possession. Her place-kicking was on the money, too, with her attempt to convert Lotte Clapp’s 68th-minute try the only blemish on her report card.
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Having had her minutes carefully managed since returning from her ACL injury last autumn, the 46-times capped England international insisted she was not entertaining any thoughts about starting for the Red Roses in this year’s championship. “I’ve been out for a year. I don’t expect big magical things to happen,” she said. “Hopefully getting into camp, training and seeing if I get selected. I’m trying to go in and get a feel for it again. I’m trying to work on being sharper and that’s the main thing.”
With Helena Rowland increasingly being given the fly-half reins at Loughborough Lightning, it makes for an intriguing battle for the No 10 shirt. Rowland has been deployed at full-back, centre and fly-half throughout her England career but it is in the latter position where she has been most effective in adding fizz to Loughborugh’s attack.
Cleall was a surprise omission from England’s Six Nations training squad in January, despite stringing together a series of eye-catching performances in the first half of the domestic season. She is likely to be named in England’s three-day training camp this week owing to the positive manner in which she has responded to being left out.
She was her usual ruthless self against Tigers, with her sharpness around the scrum leading to Harrison’s opening try. The back-rower showed real endeavour to chase and gather Harrison’s chip that led to Jess Breach’s second-half score, before bulldozing her way over for her side’s final try that added extra sheen to the scoreline.
For all her fine work in the loose, she was sin-binned by referee Nikki O’Donnell for backchat in a high-pressure incident where the Saracen appeared to sustain head-on-head contact from Leicester’s Jade Jones.
Such episodes are unlikely to leave a glowing impression on Mitchell, who is known to value players’ temperaments as much as their rugby ability. “You look at characters probably over comparing the skill-sets because of the equality between each of the players,” he told Telegraph Sport last month, when pressed on selection criteria.
Sydney Gregson and Sharifa Kasolo are two other faces expected to be included in England’s training camp this week. Gregson, a dynamic centre who has established herself in Saracens’ back-line this season, earned the first of her three England caps as a 19-year-old in the 2015 Women’s Six Nations.
The 28-year-old has been one of Saracens’ most consistent players since returning from a 13-month lay-off – also because of an ACL injury – which saw her miss the majority of the club’s title-winning 2021-22 season.
Kasolo, an abrasive flanker, was involved in England’s January training squad. The former netballer picked up a rugby ball after being scouted at a freshers’ fair at Loughborough University a few years ago and has become a focal point of Saracens’ pack this year.
The physical back-row made a series of leg-busting carries but was hooked for Marlie Packer on the 50-minute mark, as Saracens brought firepower off the bench to pull clear of a valiant Tigers side that, for all its growing pains, is showing signs of settling into the women’s top flight.