Sharp's focus on derby delight after Saracens beat Harlequins

There are few things that bring as much joy to the Saracens faithful as a win over Harlequins and Lotte Sharp knows this better than most.

Back-to-back Premier 15s final triumphs in 2018 and 2019, a semi-final victory in 2022 and a comprehensive 31-0 league rout in 2023 continue to live long in Saracens folklore.

Yet, while Sharp will never have to look far for her favourite moments in black and red, the Saracens co-captain remains hungry for more.

The wing twice crashing over the white line as Alex Austerberry's side ran out 33-10 winners at the Stoop in their latest encounter, with her second score seeing Sharp fly over under the sticks after combining with Poppy Cleall.

“You still get the adrenaline. You still get the buzz,” she said. “No matter how many times I’ve done it, it just still feels amazing. There’s been a few games here where we’ve come up against Quins and been under the pump and managed to turn it around.

“A few years ago there was a similar try where we went end-to-end with a few offloads, me and Poppy Cleall again and I’m actually excited to find that back and see how it mirrors up against the ones I scored.

“The fans that came and the buzz of the stadium, I’ve never had that at the Stoop and it was fun. It was huge. We need all the points we can get at the moment and that’s what we did today.”  

Relentless 🔥@SaracensWomen did not stop until Lotte Sharp crossed the whitewash 👏#PWR | #PoweredDifferently pic.twitter.com/I86wIifGYP

— Premiership Women's Rugby (@ThePWR) January 25, 2025

Saracens made the trip to Twickenham amidst perhaps the most inconsistent season Sharp's experienced across her 10 years in North London.

Last year's semi-finalists opened their campaign with four wins on the trot but saw aspirations of reclaiming the Premiership Women's Rugby title begin to fade after consecutive defeats to Exeter Chiefs and Harlequins in November.

While only a handful of games remain before this season's play-off semi-finals, the result at the Stoop leaves Saracens in control of their own destiny - a role Sharp is relishing.

She added: “Alex [Austerberry] keeps talking about controlling our own destiny. There’s so much going on in the league, lots of movement and exciting scorelines and we need to keep focusing on what we can do and what we can control and today that was one game where we knew we needed to get a good scoreline and get a good bonus point to put ourselves in the best possible place at the end of the season.

“I was just so impressed with the girls and how we went there. We knew it was a huge game and they were going to put us under a lot of pressure. I don’t think we got too stressed out over it. We stayed composed and played in the right areas of the pitch.

“We are just looking at ourselves and focusing on ourselves and hopefully that takes care of what needs to be done.

Monday Morning Smiles 😁🤳#YourSaracens💫 pic.twitter.com/44JuBrzOsH

— Saracens Women (@SaracensWomen) January 27, 2025

USA Rugby international Sharp has set her sights on using the PWR as the launchpad to similar success at international level, with the Pacific Four and a Rugby World Cup not long on the horizon.

She said: “I'm so excited for Pacific Four after the end of this season and I'm hoping to be in the mix of that depending on selection. “I'm definitely putting my hat in the ring for it and then there's World Cup prep from there on and I’m looking forward to being in the mix with Ilona [Maher].

“I’ve never met her but I’m looking forward to meeting her and playing with her because she’s an amazing player and she’s doing so much for the women’s game at the moment.  

“It’s exciting the way the game’s going in the US. We’ve got a new head coach in Sione Fukofuka and he’s taking USA Rugby to another level. He has come in and he’s changing the game and developing players at a great speed so I’m really excited to go into camp with them.  

“It’ll be exciting to see where that team goes.”