Sale Sharks
DUFFY GIVEN FRESH PERSPECTIVE AHEAD OF SHARKS COMEBACK
Six months on the sidelines has given Sale Sharks ace Lizzie Duffy a new perspective.
The 21-year-old had just returned from a Red Roses training camp in October fitter than ever for the new season, playing 20 minutes in her side’s opening Allianz Cup fixture against Leicester Tigers.
But the fly-half’s rugby world came crashing down when she broke her ankle in training.
“I’ve got a mental block of it actually happening,” she said. “It’s quite blurry, I remember hearing the noise, feeling the pain and then clutching my leg.
“It’s probably worked in my favour to not remember it.”
A long and arduous process to get back to her best followed, including two surgeries, and now the St. Helens native is set for her return in Sharks’ starting 15 for their Allianz Cup fifth-place play-off clash against Loughborough Lightning this weekend.
“With it being my first injury, I had a lot of emotions at once, not knowing what to expect,” she said.
“You see the rehabbers around the club and people with significant injuries but with yourself, you don’t really know what there is to come.
“Being a fly-half, I like having a plan and being in a routine, so I just wanted all the information at once, whether it was good news or bad news.
“It’s given me a completely new perspective on what those girls with long term injuries are going through.
"It’s taken this injury for me to put an extra arm around the people who are going through that and made me grow up in the sense of managing myself in a new way.”
After climbing the North West player pathway ranks and going onto represent England at U18 and U20 level, the West Park talent was promoted to Sharks’ senior squad in 2021.
Duffy has looked at home in a senior number 10 shirt ever since and hopes her winter setback is just a bump in the road of a long and prosperous rugby journey.
Whether it was using Sharks’ designated injury scooter to whiz around the gym or the invaluable mentorship of World Cup winner and fellow fly half Katy Daley-McLean, the club have been Duffy’s crutch through the rough and the smooth of her career so far.
“I wouldn’t say this to her face but Katy has been huge for game management, kicking style and all things fly half," she admitted. “There are not many people you’d want to learn from.
“Having the exposure with her for so long as well, it’s not just every couple of months she checks in but it’s a good few times a week.
“Constant progression and one-on-one support is something I don’t think many others can say they get.”
The weekend presents an opportunity for Duffy to get back on track and push for a strong end to Sale’s season.
After receiving her first senior England call up in March 2023, the rising star has one eye on competition across Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby as she bids to win her first international cap.
“There are definitely some nerves, being out for more than six months, I’m still feeling rusty but this is what you countdown to,” she said.
“I want to get through team run and get into the warm up and then as soon as I’m in that game, the nerves will disappear and I’ll be back where I belong.
“Going forward, my aim is to get back from ankle injury, all things going well, to get my first Red Roses cap whenever that may be.
“The competition at fly half is very competitive with Holly (Aitchison) being on form the way she is and Zoe (Harrison) coming back in.
"But there are also growing names with the likes of Ella Cromack, Millie Hyett - they’re on my radar being close to my age.
“It’s something that I’m going to have to keep developing and working hard on and hopefully I’ll get my shot."
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