Saracens star de Goede bidding to make up for lost time

World Player of the Year Sophie de Goede is bidding to make up for lost time with Saracens after missing an entire season of PWR action.

The second row tore her ACL ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, and had 13 months on the sidelines before going to the World Cup with Canada, who reached the final before falling to the Red Roses at Twickenham.

Saracens also came within a whisker of silverware last year, beaten by Gloucester-Hartpury in the showpiece, but De Goede feels this could be the spark the North Londoners need to go one step further.

She said: “I wasn't a part of the team last year because I was rehabbing, but it was tough to watch them get so close and fall short.

“Since I've been at Sarries, I haven't had the opportunity to win a championship. I’ve got close, but I've fallen short.

“I would love to add to the history that Sarries has of bringing home titles and also help them get that one step further this year by winning the championship.”

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Saracens head coach Alex Austerberry will also be returning from the Canada World Cup camp with de Goede, who was among the competition's standout players and picked up her World Player of the Year prize after the final.

The coach oversaw Canada’s defence at the tournament and will no doubt have gleaned a huge amount from his time with the second-best team in the world.

“I think every coach is influenced by all the different environments that we go into,” de Goede said.

“So maybe he'll take some Canadian influence, but certainly having the Canadian players in [the Saracens squad] as well will help influence some of our style of play at Saracens.

“It will be really entertaining to see how that evolves over the season, and hopefully how we can keep putting out really strong performances that are entertaining for fans, because ultimately we want to keep that momentum from the World Cup.”

There is certainly a strong contingent of Canadians at the North London outfit.

Six players from the frozen north ply their trade at Sarries, creating a home away from home for those who have travelled across the globe to further their careers.

De Goede said: “All of us live in the same house with Tori. Tori Sellers is the only UK player who lives there, so she's an honorary Canadian.

“It's pretty sweet to feel comfortable, we had a Canadian Thanksgiving this week. We all had a little moment of saying ‘Happy Thanksgiving! What are you grateful for? What are you thankful for?’”

“When you're living away from home, there's like all these stressors going on. To be able to come back home and be with people that you're comfortable with is special.”