Jarrell-Searcy recreates World Cup magic in year of change

Erica Jarrell-Searcy kicked off the Premiership Women’s Rugby season in customary fashion, earning try of the week in Sale Sharks’ opening weekend victory over Leicester Tigers.

Her brilliant solo try saw her carry from the halfway line, handing-off two Leicester players on the way, before breaking for the tryline and diving over in style.

For the millions who followed the Red Roses through the World Cup this summer, it was all too familiar a sight and was reminiscent of her break in the tournament opener at the Stadium of Light.

On that occasion, the USA international received the ball on the 10-metre line to burst past Saracens’ Jess Breach and, in a near carbon copy of her opening PWR try, make for the line.

But while both provided moments to savour for the second row, the mechanics of the rugby itself is just second nature.

“That try was, I mean, that's just rugby,” she said. “It was really cool. I tell people all the time I sort of blacked out, so I wish I had more memories of what that actually felt like.

“But it was a pretty cool thing to do in front of that crowd. In the moment, it's just rugby, it's the job and it's fun the whole time. 

“On reflection, it sank in how cool it was [to play on that stage]. Seeing all the videos of the fans puts it into more perspective than you could ever really feel on the pitch with all the adrenaline. 

“I love watching all the content that came out of that, all the fans reposting pictures. It was all such a blur, so I was happy to go through and share memories with people that way.”

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And while returning to the PWR and the stadiums that evoke memories of the USA’s World Cup journey will prove special on their own, the season is also notable for Jarrell-Searcy for another reason.

It will mark the first time she has officially been on the team as a wife, having tied the knot with partner and fellow Sale Sharks forward Kay Jarrell-Searcy.

While Kay has been out with an ACL injury since they got married, Erica may never had made it to northwest England without her help.

“She really got me to Sale. I was borderline not capped enough to get a visa to come here. When I first asked Sale, I needed two more caps,” the 26-year-old explained.

“They had no reason to respond to me, so credit to them for responding to me, but also credit to [Kay] to go into Katy’s office and be like, ‘Hey, did you get a text message from an American today? Because she said you didn't text her back.’

“She honestly got me across the pond to begin with, and I credit all of my international success to having been in the PWR for the last two years.”

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And while the impact on the pitch has clearly been immeasurable, the rugby chat does not stop at home for the Jarrell-Searcy’s.

“I jokingly call her Coach Kay. She's a very experienced, savvy, sneaky little flanker, and so she likes to instil funny little skills in the second row that second rows shouldn't be doing,” said Jarrell-Searcy.

“But we have grub club when we walk the dog and stuff like that, so she's always just using me as her little action figure of like, ‘What can I make this girl do at rugby that would be entertaining to watch?’ So it's a fun little game we play.”

While Kay continues her recovery, it has been a fast turnaround from World Cup action to the PWR for Erica.

At Sale Sharks, that has meant getting used to fresh set of players, with the side that finished bottom last year investing heavily to turn that around.

They have already picked up more points than last season’s total – with a bonus-point win against Leicester Tigers and bonus-point defeat to Loughborough Lightning.

It represents strong steps towards Jarrell-Searcy’s aims for the season, but there is no doubt they will be chasing more when the new-look squad truly begin to gel.

“We should win more games than we lose is a fair place to start,” she said.

“I'm tempted to want to say lofty goals like top four just because we've been having some really, really good training nights, but obviously that's a huge ask from where we finished last season.

“There's potential there, and regardless of where we finish on the table, we're going to be scoring tries and we're going to be putting on a pretty exciting show.”