Aitchison set to achieve ‘dream’ milestone at the home of Sale Sharks

Holly Aitchison is set to achieve her 50th international cap with the Red Roses in their WXV Global Series fixture against Australia.

The Sale Sharks fly-half will run out at the home of her club team, the CorpAcq Stadium.

“It’s literally a dream,” Aitchison says. “Michelle (Orange) has put an immense amount of work into the programme, which is what drew me to the club.

“It’ll be amazing to see the conversion of Sale Sharks fans to Red Roses fans, too. They’re unreal and always get behind us at the Morson Stadium.

Aitchison signed for Sale Sharks ahead of the 2025/26 PWR season, making the move up north from Bristol Bears.

The fly-half played all but one game in her debut season, heavily contributing to their longest ever winning streak, with 5 wins from 5 games.

“My time at Sale has been so happy, which I went there trying to find again. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that my happiness off pitch leads directly into my rugby.

“I’m in a really good place mentally and ready to get going with another season.”

Sale Sharks will kick-off their 2026/27 campaign on Saturday 21 November at home against Gloucester Hartpury. Tickets are available to purchase here.

Born in Southport, Aitchison’s rugby journey started at Firwood Waterloo RFC, less than 40 miles from where she’ll celebrate her 50th cap.

“I’ve got a big group of my family coming to the game - I think about 30 or 40 of them will be there! I need to try not to look up at them too much, I think I’ll be quite emotional and need to focus on the game.”

Saturday’s fixture will mark the Roses’ return to the North West of England, scheduled to be their first test match played there in 28 years.

“Regardless of what it means to me - having a game in the North West is huge. It’s a testament to the marketing and growth of the game in the last few years.”

The Red Roses will play Australia on Saturday 12 September at CorAcq Stadium in their WXV Global Series Campaign. Limited tickets are available here.